College students let's band together

i just posted this earlier and noticed not many ..actually zero responses...i'm so shocked lol....so i'm reposting..i'm really curious to see how u guys juggle losing weight and still enjoying the college lifestyle

let's band together and friggen lose that freshmen-senior shitty weight...whether it's 15, 20, or 50+...hehe it happens...the alcohol, the pizza, the ramen for us impoverished souls....hehe I say we try to beat the system..i say we have our nights out and drink with our buds without worrying about counting cals...so hey...i think we should add each other as friends...and figure out tricks to beat the system..post away if ud like as well..i've been trying for 2 months and it's been a lil difficult..lemme know ur main causes for weight gain guys!

my stats are: 5'5: 145, BMI about 24..oh and i'm 20 yrs old by the way
my goal: 125
it's been a bumpy road..and i mean bumpy..from gettin down to 139 and back up to 144..but hey atleast i'm a lb down!

my main cause of weight gain: alcohol, pizza, and taco bell...zing gotta love it...but now I've decided to reduce my intake...or i'm hoping....how can we still enjoy ourselves every once in awhile? I'm a big party animal so u guys lemme know..my biggest problem is

    yeas im listening........
on parties im like, ya know guys ill just take one glass of champane and nothing more, but i even do not drink it! haa...lol my habits drive my frineds crazy! its ok they have to take it up!:D

My college life style is the same as always. I don't go to parties or anything like that. I guess that's just me.

I'm going to start my diet this Sunday. I'm 18 years old, 5'4", and currently weigh 180. My goal is at least 160 so I can wear my size M shirts.

And it's difficult when your friends want to go out and eat. It's happened to me. But you have to let them know you are on a diet. If they are real friends they will understand and support you.

I'm 19 years old, 5'10.5'' and 146 lbs (I used to be 132 lbs before college). Well I used to party and drink more when I was in highschool than now, I guess I've gained because I don't get enough sleep and eat stupid things (back home I always had home cooked meals, tons of fruits and water... here I don't seem to care so much and eat junk all the time).

You can still party and lose weight and that's too not hard.  When you go somewhere just eat more healthy (and preferably less) during that day, when you get there don't touch the chips, cookies or whatever cuz that will only make you lose control. And if you want to get a buzz, having eaten less that day will help you get dizzy after less drinks than usual. And dance as much as you can! :)

That's about all I can think of right now. Hope it helps

20, BMI 19, 5 foot 7, 55 kilograms

don't join a meal plan, cook for yourself. when i was eating in my college dining hall I would have something like three deserts a night or eat Lucky Charms if I didn't like the food they were serving, waffles during weekends, french fries, soda...oh yikes.  Although I am proud to say in two years so far of college I have never ever eaten raman.  But less for nutrition than just taste.  Anyway, try to live in a dorm with a kitchen or get an apartment. 

If you smoke weed and get the munchies, keep raw vegetables around instead of junk food....you just want to munch, hence the name, gnaw on something good instead.  Some people say pot speeds up your metabolism, although I wouldn't know.

Technically I'm still taking classes, so I count as a college student.

I'm 30, and about to wrap up my music ed degree.  If you can take advice from one of us 'old guys', take this piece of advice that I learned the hard way.

Life is about choices, and the results that those choices give you.

Drinking and eating pizza isn't a rite of passage - it's just bad for you.  And this is coming from someone who drank 6-7 nights a week, probably a 12 pack a night, and worked at a pizza joint.

Party as hard as you want, but remember - you reap what you sow.  You put in 3500 calories of beer in one night?  That's a pound. 

I guess I can only advise you to treat your weight maintenance like you do your classes.  Sure, it'd be fun to skip them, but in the end - is it really good for you?

Hi, I'm also a college student--i'm 19, 5'2'', 193 lbs, going to be a junior--but I don't party, drink, eat pizza, etc., and neither do my friends.  Also, I'm still on campus working, so i get cafeteria food year-round...lucky me...

I don't know, I've found, though, that the cafeteria is do-able when counting calories--and the counting part has really helped me.  But I do feel like i'm at the mercy of the cafeteria staff.

I just started doing this about a week and a half ago, so I don't know how this is going to work out next semester, especially since I'll be studying abroad in England.

I would say, though, that one good thing about being a college student is that we get to use the indoor track, swimming pool, the exercise equipment, and the weight room for free (well, we pay tuition, so maybe that counts) instead of having to go to a gym.  Personally, I really like that.

But yeah, I'm glad you started this post if only to make it easier to see that there are people my age doing this!

I gained freshmen weight and lost it all so in September I'm just going to be trying to maintain. Woo, I no longer have a meal plan! I'm a vegetarian and basically all I ate at every meal was a wrap or veggies - the veggies were ALWAYS soaked in grease!!!! Sooo gross! I hope I keep fit in 2nd year...kinda nervous!

This is awesome! I'm 19 5'3'' 116 and really athletic. I came to college at 105, and i'd like to be holding at 110. I don't drink and I eat pretty well, I think that gain was due to a) not the greatest food choices and b) muscle. I don't drink, so I'm glad it's not an issue. We all should help keep each other accountable!

I'm 21, going into my fourth year of college. Insteed of gaining freshman year, I definately lost instead. I was in dorms, I found all the food so gross I used to just skip the meal and eat something microwaved (usually popcorn I am ashamed to say). I did not know anything about nutrition or calories or feeding myself properly. I probably killed my metabolism too, hence why I gained so much when I went home and then moved out of dorms the following year. My downfall was easy, fast to make foods like pastas and prepackaged things. I thought that I didn't have time to make real meals so used to just make a box of pasta or something. After that disastor, I knew I needed to take charge of my health, because I felt like crap, slept all the time and was already getting to big for all my "big" clothes. So I just started cooking instead of ordering and resolved to stay healthy. So I cook all my meals now and nothing is prepackaged (except a few items I still like and when I'm strapped for time - but they are healthy options), and I realized that it can be just as fast to cook an easy healthy meal as waiting for a pizza to arrive. I now order out very very rarely, and then only because my friends wanted too, I usually won't eat much though, because I find it makes me feel like crap now. So far I have lost 60 lbs and kept it off! I still go out drinking with my friends, just not too excess. Its not fun when you drink until your puking everywhere anyways - whats the point of that? Just learn to consume alcohol in moderation. I like to drink wine too, so I usually stick to that or beer. It is usually difficult to fill up too much on those. I still go out for meals with my friends, just avoid fast food places like the plague. If you do go, get something healthy and who cares what they say? It's your body - the only one you get, do you want to keep treating it like a garbage can?

I am 21 as well, going into my last year of college and I can't wait to graduate! I noticed my weight gain after I began dating my boyfriend almost 2 years ago. He is the type that can eat and eat and eat and never gain a pound because he is so active in work and play. I didn't think about what I was eating then and just ate whatever he did...big mistake! Once I found this site I began portioning my food and exercising more. At first my boyfriend kept telling me all I had to do was exercise and eat whatever I want, but after 6 months he has seen the difference it has made; not only in my weight, but also my energy level and mood! Things we love to do together like backpacking are getting easier and easier for me. He is now behind me 100% and we have found many yummy & healthy recipes that we both love. We don't really eat out much at all, and when I go out with my friends I have a couple glasses of wine and don't worry about it (I just make sure I'm not doing it every night...maybe once a week or every two weeks). I realized I don't have to be a diet nazi to lose my extra weight, and I can have fun while doing it.

I'm 20, 158 and 5'7. My goal is at 140 but who knows? I might aim lower once I get there. My goal before was 160.

Last January I was at 195, so I've come a long way.

I'm an archeology major, and I plan on going to grad school to be a librarian. I started a recipe thread for healthy cheap student meals over in the recipies forum!

I am a college student too (well, just graduated from law school), but I am studying for the the Bar exam.  All I do - all day long - is listen to lectures, study and take practice exams - all day, everday.  That is my life - leaving little time to workout or do anything else active and I end up just snacking while I sit and study.

I am still trying to incorporate working out and cutting out snacks, especially unhealthy ones, but it's pretty difficult.

I am 5'2", 120 lbs, petite, and my goal is 100.  I used work out earlier and because of that I have some muscle, but the muscle has turned more 'bluky' since I haven't worked out in a while, so I am trying to add some light cardio and pilates in addition to cutting calories and eating healthy.  Most of the fat is in my belly and upper thighs.

Any suggestions would be super helpful. Thanks! :)

Maybe im just below the cut... but i actually lose weight when i moved out, untill i was forced to move back home (money issue in the freshman year)  ...ya its good to be able to eat twice  a day again...

I'm 19, 5'10, and currently around 140.

I started my first year around 145-150, and the first semester  of dorm food and lack of exercise wrecked havoc on me. I didn't drink at all, so that wasn't an issue. By January, I was around 165. I didn't weigh an extreme amount, but I had gained enough that my clothes fit horribly and I felt disgusting. I lived with my boyfriend second semester, but I still had to pay for my dorm, and therefore my meal plan. However, I didn't have any time during the lunch period to go there to eat, so I didn't have to worry about that anymore.

Make smart choices at the dining hall. You know what to look out for =) And the alcohol doesn't help much, so be sure not to overindulge. Good luck!

Hey! I'm 19, 5'6" and 158 pounds. I think that's the weight I began freshman year at. Halfway through the year I was probably up around 175-180. Eek!! So I joined CC, and now I am 158. Lost about 20 pounds and feel amaaazing.

a word of advice about dining halls: don''t compare your diet to that of your friends. Living in dorms I basically see every bite of food my best friends put into their mouths, and sometimes I'm like "Hey, she's having grilled cheese and fries for dinner, so why can't i?" well that kind of mentality simply doesn't work. we have different bodies and different metabolisms, and hey maybe she worked out for an hour this morning, i dont know. or maybe she skipped breakfast and lunch. i dont know.

favorite party drink: vodka and diet coke.

and when your room mates order a pizza, let yourself have one slice if it's killing you. but just one! then leave the room, brush your teeth, have a diet soda, whatever.

this is an awesome thread, I feel like I understand so many of you.  I am also 21, and going into my last year of college this year, so excited about graduating but nervous about being a 'real adult' ha.  I gained a lot my freshman year due to a lot of different reasons, my excuse for not working out ever was that I had to be gettting a workout from walking all around campus right? ha! well here I am 5'2 146 and I'm hoping to get down to around 115-125. I say around because I am planning on running a couple of 5ks in the fall and know I'll put on muscle weight but still be thin and fit.  115s like the magic number for me because that was the lowest I was in high school when I got my first drivers lisence and I hate looking at that number keep going up.

Anyway, I hope we can keep this thread going and continue to share and help eachother.  I'm a huge drinker too, hungover has I'm writing this, ha, so hopefully it'll help to hear from others who are in the same boat.

I gained about 10 pounds freshman year.. I think it was a combination of having a stovetop at my convenience but no real knowledge of how to cook (result: pasta, pasta, pasta, and more pasta) and also because I had completely stopped all physical activity .. In high school I did dance and well, freshman year, I did nothing. Then add to that NON STOP work.. if I wanted to drink or have fun with my friends, I had to do it in the dorm room while doing homework (art)

This year I'll be living in an apartment that hopefully has an oven and more counter space.. And this time I'll arrive equipped with healthy recipes and perhaps a less stressful scheduleeee...

I gained exactly 15 pounds freshman year. It came from the drinking and the munchies that came along with it (it's horrible to eat when drunk, especially since you feel uninhibited and you just eat a whole bunch without thinking about it). I've lost 5 of those pounds so far, but my weight has gotten sort of stable and I think it's because I've been putting a lot of effort into weight training, so I'm probably still losing fat. Anyway, I find that it's absolutely fine to have a meal plan, just as long as you eat the right stuff. I would eat cereal for breakfast, a turkey sandwich and sunchips for lunch, and then a gardenburger, a grilled chicken burger, or a boca burger for dinner. Then I would spend a lot of time at the gym (the gym at our school is great). I visited home three weeks before the end of the term, and then when I came back home at the end of the term, my mom was surprised at how different I looked after only three weeks. So, it's totally possible to eat dorm food and still lose weight.

I think that depends on your dorm. For example, I ate nothing other than veggies and wraps and still gained weight. It was awful because the veggies were DRENCHED in grease! :(

yeah, i guess each cafeteria is very different. i know i would have gained way more weight if my cafeteria had an all-you-can-eat buffet type set-up. instead we have a card with money stored on it, and pay for each item individually. during the school year my typical food intake would be:
breakfast- wheat toast with peanut butter, or a healthy cereal with skim milk and then a piece of fruit, and sometimes coffee or tea.
lunch- turkey sandwich on wheat bread, sometimes with avocado or mayonaise (if i had extra cals for the day) or a big salad with all kinds of veggies and beans (garbanzo, pinto) for protein, and a cup of tomato soup.
Dinner- chicken breast with two helpings of veggies or a garden burger.
I was lucky that my cafeteria focused on giving us healthy options. I go to school in San Francisco so half the students are vegetarians/vegans, and care about getting fresh, organic produce.