dorm living and dieting......umm about that?

I am about to be a college junior and have been living in the dorms since my freshman year.......when i look back at the pictures of my first week at school and pictures now.........wow talk about the freshman 15 AND MULTIPLY THAT BY 3!! seriously its really difficult to eat healthy and be a college kid in the dorms!! the Cafe closes at 7pm and from then on its microwave meals, chips, coke and candy for dinner.....ANd i love the party scene but that also means late night eating and drinking (which im sure is a billion calories) man, whoever said peer pressure ends in high school obviously never went to college! :P

Has anyone else seen the effects of the FRESHMAN 15??

Any tips for healthy dorm living????

oh i have a fridge, a microwave, and a toaster-oven........and thats it guys!

I'll be a college sophmore in the fall. I DEFINITELY gained at least a good 13 pounds when I went to school and have had trouble managing my weight ever since.  I think part of the problem is that the college lifestyle leads to me being a lot less active, at least in my off season, I'm a competitive swimmer.  As soon as I come home - I drop the extra weight in a week. I've always been a super-healthy eater so I try to limit the amount of times I eat in my dining hall because I know there are very limited choices there and I'm always a sucker for social eating.  I know that the low quality food at my school doesn't help either, it's loaded with salt and preservatives.  When I do eat in my dining hall I ususally get wheat wraps or wheat bread for sandwiches, with turkey, lettuce and tomato, whatever vegetables or beans are available.  And I'll have the granola if I want something sweet.  I usually make Kashi oatmeal with raisins or flax in my room for breakfast.  But if milk is available you can keep good, whole-grain cereals in your room.  Get some blueberries or strawberries for your cereal too.  I only keep water in my fridge and if I need some flavor I buy Crystal Light to-go packets and make iced tea, I think those are 0-4 calories per serving.  I drink a lot of green tea as well, because you can just heat the water up in the microwave. Other than that, I always keep really healthy snacks like yogurt, fresh fruit, almonds and kashi or luna bars in my room so I'm not tempted to eat the plethora of junk food that's available.  I've come to accept the fact that I'm going to carry around a couple of extra pounds at school, just because I'm simply not moving all that much and of course, drinking on the weekends definitely adds up.  I'm at the gym every day and lift with strength coaches twice a week.  My advice is to do what you can to make healthy choices and you'll definitely feel better about yourself! Good luck with everything :]

I think when you live in the dorms (as I did for three years+summers as well! its fun being the only one whose 21 :D snicker...I was an evil junior)...you really have to learn your portions when eating in the dining hall. Mine always had salad bars, but its easy to overdo those....I'm sure you know the basic restaurant eating mantras...."no fried" "dressing on the side" "no oil" etc etc

Its good that you have access to a fridge, micro, toaster oven because that gives you tons of options. If yall are allowed to have a george forman grill (like $10 at wally world) then that would be a fabulous investment as well.

You didn't say how much $ you have for shopping for your own food...but if its a reasonable amount, you can google on healthy, cheap recipes that you can then tweak to fit your personal needs....

One thing that I realized is to invest in some good spices and learn which ones go together well...

to answer one of your questions....I dont know if I gained those first three years, I started paying attention to my weight senior year...I dont even know really how much I weighed...

i soo wanna sneak in a george forman!! im already sneaking in the toaster oven for the fall! haha

im pretty good on budget....... so im looking forward to buying healthy food!

my friends and I just need to stop eating out!! we all looked at our bank statement for one semester ........OMG the dollar amount was ridiculous!! or if i do go eat out just limit myself and always take some home to make my dollar last.

thanks for the reply's I have two more years of dorm living and then im off to the real world! :P

i love kashi products too! and ive been drinking nothing but water and the Crystal Light to-go packets......there actually pretty good and 10 calories....love it!

my school doesnt have a Great menu but they do have a great salad bar......i guess thats where i'll be in the fall ! :P

i am gonna try the green tea like you mentioned, ive heard a lot of people rave about it.

thanks bunches :)

sounds like you have a good plan! 

I was always too wimpy to sneak in a foreman grill :P

I'm gonna be a freshman in the fall & I'm still plotting to sneak a coffee maker & george foreman/toaster oven in. My hopes aren't too high =[ Not sure how I'm gonna survive haha.

But luckily, most colleges are at least becoming more aware of diet concerns, so try talking to your student government. Some schools are more willing than others to accommodate requests, but it's worth a shot!

I LOST weight in my freshman year, I think it was all the extra exercise and by that I mean all the dancing!!! As for my sophomore year- it all went downhill! I gained back the weight and a little extra, I think the freshman 15 gods were pissed... :)

So my advice to you- dance the night away!

I gained about 5 pounds my first semester, but luckily I found a workout buddy and took it off during second!

Some things that worked for me...

-Salad bar! About 5 days a week I would have this for lunch: huge salad with cottage cheese as dressing, an apple or other piece of fruit, and a tall glass of water.

-Coffee.  I got in the habit of finishing my dinner and/or lunch with a cup of coffee.  My body got to know that coffee meant no more eating, as in no dessert!

-Green tea.  I consumed at least a cup a day.  It was a great afternoon pick-me-up.

-Eat breakfast!  Seriously.  It is good.

-Trail mix.  I bought a nice big tub at World Market that lasted a while.  I just grabbed a small handful whenever I needed a quick snack.

-Lent.  I'm Catholic and I gave up dessert, so most of my weight loss occurred during this time!

-Cheat days.  Seriously, treat yourself.  Usually on Friday I would eat normally for breakfast and lunch, and then treat myself to whatever I wanted in the evening.  It made me feel like I could still enjoy myself with my friends, plus the "surprise" for my body seemed to kick up my metabolism.

EDIT: Also, if your school has a Food Committee, get on it.  One of my friends who is a vegetarian got on the committee to try and get some better meatless options, and ended up making a pretty big difference.  If you're not satisfied with your food service, see if you can make it better!

I didn't gain 15 pounds right away in college but over four years, I probably gained about 8-10 pounds, but a lot of that probably had to do with just getting older and not being 18 anymore.  And also eating bad and not watching. 

My advice is going to the grocery store and buying some food to keep in your fridge.  Maybe your cafeteria is one where you can "sneak" food out.  Maybe take a fruit or yogurt for later instead of eating junk once dinner is over.  I also liked buying breakfast granola bars to have on hand for when I was hungry.  Cereal also worked like a charm.  I also made a lot of frozen vegetables, which are especially good if you're not going to eat fresh vegetables so often that they'll get rotten before you do.

I lost about 5 pounds my freshman year, too.  And then I gained about 15 that summer. And then lost it. 

College is a hard place to be when you're trying to be healthy!

 

Original Post by laura43:

I LOST weight in my freshman year, I think it was all the extra exercise and by that I mean all the dancing!!! As for my sophomore year- it all went downhill! I gained back the weight and a little extra, I think the freshman 15 gods were pissed... :)

So my advice to you- dance the night away!

 

i soo wanna sneak in a george forman!!

They were "illegal" in the dorms at my university and I had one... no problems... used it to grill chicken before I went vegetarian and then used it to grill veggies and make healthy paninis.

My dorm had a kitchen in the basement that no one ever used. If you have this you could cook a really nice, healthy meal once a week and then eat your leftovers through the week.

The Freshman 15 is NOT a myth! It happens at one point or another but it is do-able.

I gained more like the freshman 25 in the dorms. I lost 10lbs the summer after my freshman year, then maintained for sophomore year. Now I'm working on that last 15 for this summer.

All i can say is dance, try not to drink heavily, and have home cooked healthy meals when you can, but it will still hit you no matter what.

why not take a class as an elective that gets you moving three time a week?  beginning dance classes, aerobics classes, tennis, swimming, there are tons.  just stay away from underwater basket weaving... thats no fun.

I too lost weight while in college.  I was danced at school, worked full time and walked to every single class.  My first two years I went to a fabulous small school and the cafeteria was wonderful.  they were always open (from like 7 am to 8 pm or something) while they only had meals out at meal time, I was always able to grab fresh fruit or a bagel.  and coffee. 

if you eat out too much, talk your friends into helping you prepare a get-together meal once or twice a week its fun and way cheaper and can be better for you.  you only have a microwave and toaster oven?  look for books online about dorm cooking and microwave cooking, there are tons!  get ONE!

I gained the freshman 15, that was pretty horrible during first semester.  Second semester when my parents were like OMG WHO ARE YOU because I was bigger I decided to loose some weight.  And I changed everything completely!

What worked for me was having breakfast in my dorm room.  I bought Almond Breeze and ate that with a cup of cereal.  I learned portion sizes and used them.  Then, when I got hungry, I went for the salad bar.  Dinner, I ate early because the dining commons closed early.  I stopped eating late at night, and drank tea instead.

Not only that but I made time to workout every single day for an hour.  The pounds like melted off.  Good luck!

coolness! i didnt know there were books on dorm room cooking!.......... i wish i could take a class but im up to 18 hrs and starting on my major classes but i'll so find time to work out......and makin time to eat breakfast sounds possible now that i'll have my own room instead of having  a roommate! :)

 

thanks bunches :P

I'm going to be a junior also and lived in the dorms my first 2 years. I always kept fat free yogurt, cheese sticks, granola bars, milk and cereal, 100 cal snacks, and some raw fruit and veggies.

For meals a lot of times i lived off of lean cuisines, smart ones, and healthy choice frozen dinners. I had a meal plan so sometimes i'd just make a big salad at the cafeteria

 

hope that helps, it's so hard in the dorm :(

I'm heading off to boarding school next year... so 9th grade..   Anybody other younger teens going to boarding school? How do you plan to stick to your diet? Im a little worried ill gain a ton of weight. Ive gotten in really good shape these past few months, and i dont want to erase everything ive worked for!

Does anybody know what its like at boarding school? Do many kids run in the mornings or are many kids cautious about eating healthy?