Darn you, college!!!

GAH! 116.4 pounds! I used to be 110! I want my happy weight back!

Hello, I'm 5'1", 19, and a college student slowly giving into treats at lunch and dinner.

I need advice on how to go about losing what I've gained.

My typical college diet:

Breakfast:
~2 apples (usually one red and one golden)

Lunch:
~ Bowl of spinach leaves with 15-20 cherry tomatoes, 20-25 carrots, and around a 1/2 cup of broccoli
~ An apple

Dinner:
~Same salad with a can of tuna or chicken

I'm just wondering if this is alright, and I don't really eat bread or anything like that because I just don't fill up from it.

My typical exercise routine:

~ 30 minute cardio (usually running on the treadmill or playing DDR)
~ Around 30 minute stomach toning

That's 3 times a week.

And keep in mind, it's college.

Advice?

Not enough food - not enough brain food.

You might be eating too little honestly - that's a very low amount of calories for a college student.  You should still try to have some whole grains and stuff too because that's not a very balanced diet as of right now.  Also - there's no dairy in that!  Unless you're lactose intolerant, and even if you are, calcium is one of the most necessary vitamins for women in their 20s and is also beneficiary to weight loss in a few studies.  I'm also in college and I envy your willpower if that's all you eat.  I stock my room with healthy snacks like whole grain chips and cereal (Cheerios) for my snacking.  All in all, I'd say you need to eat more balanced cause you're missing two very important food groups right now.

That doesn't sound like much food... and most of it is the same food groups.  Try to broaden your diet and eat a bit more and you might not give into the not so good for you snacks.

You're definitely not eating enough. Use the Burn Meter tool and find out what you burn on average, and have a deficit of no more than 1000 (I think over 800 is too high).

Also, those 0.4 pounds...that drives me nuts...don't worry about that little stuff.

You're a college student? Are you factoring in all the drinking? Unfortunately I have to assume that there is a lot of drinking, but hopefully you're careful and monitoring not only your calories but also your health.

Any of this help?

Original Post by xspiritoxliberox:

You might be eating too little honestly - that's a very low amount of calories for a college student.  You should still try to have some whole grains and stuff too because that's not a very balanced diet as of right now.  Also - there's no dairy in that!  Unless you're lactose intolerant, and even if you are, calcium is one of the most necessary vitamins for women in their 20s and is also beneficiary to weight loss in a few studies.  I'm also in college and I envy your willpower if that's all you eat.  I stock my room with healthy snacks like whole grain chips and cereal (Cheerios) for my snacking.  All in all, I'd say you need to eat more balanced cause you're missing two very important food groups right now.

She is getting calcium.  Spinach is VERY high in calcium.

Are you even getting 500 calories a day? I would be dying of starvation if I ate like this-I'm 5'2 113ish, 20 yrs old. I do work out a bit more than you but still. I would seriously die. Maybe you are bingeing b/c you eat so little most of the time? Seriously there is no way you would gain weight on that. Carbs are no the devil, too many of them are bad just like anything else. Fat too. You're diet is like that of a rabbit.

Original Post by ijiwaru_shizuka:

She is getting calcium.  Spinach is VERY high in calcium.

1 cup of spinach has 3% of the recommended daily intake of calcium.  Let's say those two salads total 4 cups of spinach.  That gets her 12% of the recommended daily intake.  Spinach has a lot of calcium per calorie - but it's so low-cal that you can't use it as your only calcium source.  To get 100% of your daily calcium from spinach, you'd need to eat 30 cups of the stuff every day - which, admittedly, would only be 200 calories, but nobody can eat that much spinach!

The main problem is that the OP is seriously undereating which is giving her the munchies and making her want treats with her meals.  Two apples is not a sufficient or balanced breakfast.

Then what should I do? Just give me a sample template and I'll see what I can do... I'm kinda hesitant of the food my college makes...

What do you drink every weekend...

I don't drink. Its disgusting.

I'm in college too and I've lost about 5 pounds since I've been here. I have similar stats to you too, I'm 4'11" and I reached 116 today starting from a little over 120 when I started school. My goal weight is 110 as well. I have just found a few "safe foods" I can eat. For me those are cottage cheese, vegetarian chilli, we have one prepackaged salmon salad that is sold in my cafeteria that is 325 calories (with dressing, without dressing it's 230 calories), hard boiled eggs, and turkey on whole wheat sandwiches.

Yesterday I ate:

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, 1/2 cup grapes, and 1 slice hearty whole wheat toast (100 cal, 4 grams of fiber)

Pre work-out snack: 1 banana

Lunch: Salmon salad with no dressing (230) and 1/2 cup cottage cheese on top (100)

Snack: 1 banana, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, a sprinkle of cinnamon and wheat bran

Dinner: small baked potato, 1/2 cup vegetarian chilli, and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese

Desert/treat: large tart nonfat fro-yo with strawberries

See? Much more balanced and satisfying!

Edited: forgot to add in a snack and it looked like I was undereating as well :-P

First, you have to find out what you burn normally. use "tools" and "burn Meter".

From there, eat about 800 calories less than that (unless the number is less than 1200...that should be your lowest). If it's hard to think of eating that little, do what I do: Workout a little harder. Keep in mind that calorie estimates on machines at the gym are not accurate.

Also, it sounds like you only have a few pounds to lose (I don't know what you're healthy weight is), so it will take a while.

Remember, the scale is just a number.

Original Post by twilitwing:

I don't drink. Its disgusting.

Mmmhmm.  Well, the two biggest culprits of the "freshman 15" are excessive drinking and binge eating/dietary changes in the caf.  College's have attempted to be more receptive to the latter issue as far as weight gain. 

I guess my other question would be...what do you eat on the other 4 days?  Having cookies or ice cream is fine, in moderation (you know this), but one one day it seems you don't eat enough and I'd gather, the following day, you're pretty hungry.

I agree you are under eating and especially since you are working out. I don't really see a lot of the basic food groups represented in your diet either. I see mostly vegetables and fruits. Great choices, but you need more then that and the fact you are only getting protein with one meal is kind of dismaying. Try to incorporate more protein and fats (which you are also majorly lacking into your diet.) Whole grains will not hurt you either. Oatmeal is a great choice for the morning paired with some fruit, maybe some peanut butter or nuts.

I think Lafoutloud's menu is pretty balanced and would be good to follow closely since she is also living off of the "college" diet. You need to nourish your body, you only have one. Be good to it.

Good luck. :)