As I posted yesterday, I had a friend from swimming ask me for some advice as to how to lose weight and be healthy at college. This is exactly what I sent to her as a resource. I hope to become more of an inspiration to others who are just beginning their journeys and I think that sharing my story is the first step!
Workouts:
In May, I started working out at the gym; I had an hour
before I needed to be at work so I would do the elliptical or the treadmill and
some free weights. The results came quickly to a halt because I just kept doing
the same thing day after day. So some friends
and I found a groupon to try Look Good Naked Bootcamp in downtown Stillwater
and it changed my life, honestly. The
bootcamp was an hour every morning (Monday through Friday) and it was the most
challenging workout I had ever done, but I loved every single minute of
it.
With bootcamp came a newfound passion for running. Wednesdays at bootcamp were cardio days and I
found that I didn’t hate running as much as I did in the past so I would go for
short runs after work every night and it became my therapy. At first it started as a long walk and then
each day I would add one block of running and then eventually I worked up to my
first 5k run in August. And when I loved
that I signed up for one in October on campus, then the 10k last weekend, and
now a half marathon in March! How in the
hell am I going to do 13.1 miles?!?
If you want to get into running I would suggest signing up
for a race and googling a training program and sticking to it. Those short mid-week runs definitely pay off
on your long weekend runs!
While I am at school I take advantage of the gym, the
outdoors, and of course classes. I
religiously go to Pilates, I LOVE IT! I
love that I am getting toned without getting bulky. I try and spend at least 60-120 minutes in
the gym every day. Some days I mix it up
with cardio and a class, or cardio and weights on my own, running outside, do
my own “bootcamp” in the local park, or use the football field and stairs for
sprints. You really just need to find what works for you and keep it rotating,
don’t get into a routine. Your body
craves routine and will get accustomed to it and you’ll stop losing weight and
that’s never fun.
Motivation:
Find people who are going to be behind you 1,000% because
you are going to need it more than you ever thought. My first motivation was my friend Bailey and
her significant weight loss during her first year of college, then it was my
best friend Katie and her love of running.
When we all got together the healthy eating habits and workouts quickly
followed, we loved all the time we spent together this summer working out and
eating together!
I would suggest you make yourself a motivation board. Make concrete goals and write them down. The more you see your goals the more you’ll
stick to them. I have my board posted on
the inside of my closet with my goal weight and activities I want to be able to
finish (half marathon, wakeboarding, finish a triathalon, etc.). I also have a
countdown of the pounds I still want to lose, every pound I lose I get to cross
off, which is always fulfilling.
Goals. They are your
best friend and your worst enemy. Start
your journey by making one or two big long term goals. When I started it was to wear a size 8 pair
of jeans for my cousin’s wedding which was in November and I did it. That kept me going even on the hardest of
days. Make your goals attainable; don’t
get too over confident in what you can lose.
Figure only about 1-2 pounds a week, that way you are more likely to
keep it off. Now it’s a size 6 before my birthday in January, hopefully I can
do it with the holidays!
Rewards. I used to
reward myself with food….all the time. Now
I try to make each goal a physical reward.
Here are some of the things I have used.
40 pounds-new GPS watch
45-new Johnnie hockey sweatshirt
50- $50 to shop
55- TBD
60- (this is my final goal) $100 for new clothes
Eating:
I cannot begin to explain how hard this was for me and my
family at the beginning of the summer.
My best advice is to eat clean as much as possible, which always proves
to be difficult in college, believe me I know.
All you need to remember to eat clean is “if it doesn’t have a mom or
come from the ground, you shouldn’t put it in your body”. Cut out processed foods, pop, alcohol, and
sugar…definitely easier said than done. I
have an unlimited meal plan when I am at college and I hate it. There is nothing I want to do more than cook
for myself. Try to remember to eat
balanced, clean meals as much as possible.
Lots of lean protein (chicken, pork, fish) and veggies.
Here’s a sample of a “normal” eating day for me while at
school (food journal entry from today):
6:15am breakfast
1 Quest Protein Bar
2 clementines
1c Bolthouse juice smoothie
7:00am Coffee before work
12oz skim latte
12:00 lunch
4 ounce chicken breast
2 cups of spinach
1T of each dressing (French and Blue cheese)
Small trail mix packet
2:30 snack
2 clementines
6:00 dinner
2/3 c mashed potato
½ c broccoli
2/3 c corn
¼ c gravy
½ cup of peach cobbler and frozen yogurt
Activity:
60 minutes on the elliptical
20 arms and stretching
I suggest starting a food journal, just a simple notebook to
write down approximately how much of each item you have on your plate. You’ll
be shocked at how much you eat in a day those first few weeks. I personally write down my serving size,
time, and I note how I felt if I didn’t feel good afterwards. I also try and circle one thing each day that
I want to work on cutting out for the rest of the week. For example, today I had one half of a cup of
peach cobbler for dessert in the dining center, that’s what I circled for the
day and want to cut out tomorrow.
DRINK WATER! When is started watching what I ate I would
drink 5-6 cans of diet coke a day, cut that out. Try and drink your body weight in ounces of
water per day for me that’s 175 ounces a day, difficult, but definitely do
able! I’m not sure if you drink coffee
or are a Starbucks/Caribou girl like me, but try swapping your mochas for
things like Tea’s (SO many health benefits), Americano, Skim Latte (do sugar
free syrup if you need a flavor boost), Soy Latte, or black coffee (no creamer
or sugar if possible).
Blogs:
Mama Laughlin
Skinny Meg
Fitness Blonde
Bailey’s Blog
Katie's Blog
katelynannlivinglife.blogspot.com
Until tomorrow :)
C
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