Staying fit in college isn’t easy! “The Freshman 15,”and “The Sophomore 20” are hard to avoid. How could they not be? I loved college, but it kind of set me up for failure when it came to eating healthy and staying fit.
The cafeteria options are never the best – but they’re very addicting. Eating chicken strips and fries for every meal sounds amazing, but it’s definitely not something you should do. That’s not to say it’s impossible to stay fit in college, it’s just something that might take work. Unfortunately, you don’t have time to be counting calories, and going out of your way to only eat at healthy restaurants. You’re too busy with school, friends, and socializing to constantly worry about what you’re eating. I understand completely!
I struggled to stay fit in college, until I followed this not so strict plan:
Wear your work-out clothes to class. It’s easy to say you’re going to go to the gym. My freshman year of college, I woke up every morning planning to work out…and I never made it. So in order to make sure I made it to the gym, I wore my workout clothes to class. Trust me, it works! Wearing your gym clothes is a constant reminder to get to the gym!
Avoid “all you can eat” places. All you can eat buffets were my favorite part of college. Basically every place on campus let you eat as much as you wanted to. It was amazing, but so bad! I stuffed my face for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and I started to make myself sick. Not only was I gaining weight, my stomach was constantly upset and I started to feel nauseous on a daily basis. I cut down my portions, and that in return made me lose weight.
Don’t eat late at night. Never, never, never eat late at night! My biggest mistake in college was going to sleep right after eating a big meal. I wasn’t giving my stomach enough time to digest the food I just consumed, and that wasn’t good. Instead of eating dinner right before bed, try eating dinner as early as 5 p.m. Eating early helped me lose and maintain my weight.
Don’t keep unhealthy food in your dorm room. Say no to junk food! Throwing away the unhealthy snacks in my dorm room really changed my life. The food in my dorm room was making me gain weight, and my skin was breaking out! It was horrible. I decided to replace the unhealthy food with healthy snacks. Nut butter, carrots, berries, and yogurt were some of my favorites! Eliminating the junk food in your dorm room should be the first step in staying fit.
Walk as much as you can. Walking shouldn’t be too hard when you’re in college. Public transportation isn’t always the best on campus, so biking and walking should be rather easy. If you’re not already doing it, walk everywhere! Walk to your classes, to pick up food, to work out at the gym, etc. When you walk, you burn calories without even having to step foot in a gym.
Don’t deprive yourself from yummy foods. The last thing you should do is deprive yourself from your favorite foods! Canceling out certain foods will only make you crave them more. I tried to cut out everything sweet, and that lasted about 10 minutes before I stuffed a doughnut in my mouth. Don’t avoid dessert all together, just maintain some portion control.
Staying fit in college can happen! College is fun and time consuming, but your body is number one. Don’t forget to pay attention to yourself!
