Shredding the Freshman 15 before Summer 2016

Starting college the Freshman 15 scared me to death. I feel like I pictured myself blowing up to twice my size like when Squidward ate all of those Krabby patties. Admittedly I did gain 5lbs, but I think that's mostly because at home I made most of my meals where as here I am eating out for every meal.

Although 5lbs is not a lot, I still notice it on my small frame. I'm fully aware that I could go on with my life and this weight would not impact my body more than just having to but a size up in shorts, but that's not who I am. I have worn the same jeans, shorts, and shirts since I was in middle school and that provides me with an odd sense of accomplishment. In high school it was easy to maintain my weight because I was dancing for 3 hours a day and most of my teachers wouldn't let us eat during class. However, I hit college where I ended my dance career and I entered the realm of professors not caring if you rolled up to class with an entire pizza. This transition right here is what most people attribute the gaining of the Freshman 15 to. Kids who were active in high school continue eating pizza like they did before but don't workout at the same intensity or frequency.

So with 39 days left until summer I decided I wanted to make a change. I set a goal of eating healthy and working out 5 days a week in order to tone a little before summer comes around. For me its not really about loosing weight, mostly because I don't have a scale in the dorm, but more about how I feel. I'm usually very aware of my body and can feel immediate changes when I start making healthy choices. Below I have outlined what I have determined as my plan for the next couple of weeks. The food part of my plan is also intertwined with an experiment I am doing concerning healthy eating in college. The goal is to see how healthy you can actually eat on the A&M campus and evaluate their claim of having a multitude of nutritious choices. Check out the college portion of my blog for these updates!

1. Workout 5 days a week: I have decided to achieve this by taking parts of a couch to 5k plan as well as some short workouts I found online. Below is an outline of what I have decided to do. My ab workout is just a combination of a bunch of videos and pictures that I have found online and changes day to day.

2. Eat three meals a day with 2 snacks: I eat breakfast either during or right after my morning classes so around 9:30 every morning. Lunch usually comes along around 1pm and my first snack follows at 3pm. Dinner is a little sketchy and changes times everyday. I usually go to bed around midnight so my second snack falls around 10pm.

3.Use my meal plan: This whole thing would be a lot easier if I just started eating like I did at home. Unfortunately, my parents have pre paid for a meal plan and if I don't use it they loose money. Therefore, one of my stipulations is that I must eat on campus food in order to use up this plan. This is where the experimental side comes in to play. My investigation of A&M's healthy options will be updated on the college page every couple of days as I travel through these next couple of weeks.

4. Allow myself to eat sweets: I have a major sweet tooth, especially when it comes to chocolate. Because of this I find it very hard to completely cut out dessert from my diet. Plus I'm a college kid working her butt off, I deserve some Ghirardelli every once and awhile. My goal is to only eat one dessert per day, so I've been seeking the best way to take care of my sweet tooth without breaking the calorie bank.

5. Track all of the food I eat: Speaking of breaking the calorie bank, I'll be using My Fitness Pal to track all of my calories. One advantage of A&M's food deal with Chartwell's is they have most of their calories posted online or automatically loaded in the My Fitness Pal app.

6. Eat foods that are nutritious, not just low in calories: As I mentioned in my hamburger post, I could easily just eat crappy food a couple times a day and fall under my calorie count. However, I want this to be a journey to fuel my body with healthy food, not just loose weight. Therefore, I must make a concious effort of eating fruits/vegtables/or both with each of my meals.

7. Don't stress if I fall off track: I think where a lot of people go wrong with dieting is they feel like if they have an off day, they are totally ruined. This is so far from the truth and I think it contributes to a really negative personal image. I am going to have days where I go over 1300 calories, eat 3 slices of pizza, inhale 3 donuts, and shove 4 snickers in my mouth. But guess what, I'll get up the next morning, eat breakfast, workout, and commend myself for continuing on this journey.

So there you go, 7 goals, 4 weeks, 1 summer body. I'd like to hear your feedback- What do you set as your goals when you start a diet or try to get back on track with healthy eating? What do you do that makes you largely successful and where do you feel you fall short?

- Megan