Young Calorie Counters

For those in college, or those quickly approaching it, beware!!! The Freshman Fifteen - the bane of college calorie counters everywhere - is ready to take a new group of victims on campuses nationwide this fall!

For those who have felt the pain of the 15lbs of cafeteria food, hanging out in the dorm, not having your highschool extracurriculars, and just being too darned lazy to get out and about, join me in losing that weight! :) As an upcoming junior in college, i'm still waging war against the last 10lbs - who's with me?!?

*EDIT*

August 4th, 2008

To anyone just seeing this topic, please know that you're still welcome to join us! There are voluntary weigh-ins each Wednesday if you're interested. Whether you're headed to college, in it, or leaving it we're happy to have you! :D

So, as a group, would you guys be interested in doing weekly weigh ins or anything like that? We can come here for encouragement and to talk about our little victories too :)

(You know, like when you discover that your T-shirt no longer gets caught and held up by your butt when you wear it around... that was mine this week ;D) hehe

Yeah, I would definitely be interested!  And I wouldn't call this a victory, but I thought it was cool.  I measured out the amount of cereal that I eat for breakfast today, and it's actually about half as much as I thought I was eating.  I went back and fixed it on my log, and it turns out I was under my calorie limit twice in the last week - awesome!  So basically I need to measure everything until I figure this portion size thing out - apparently I'm terrible at eyeballing it.

Yeah that sounds great! I like the idea of weigh-ins, and maybe we could also do an exercise log? For example, saying carrie started running in the mornings, she could say "this past week, I got up early 3 times and jogged for 20 minutes, and next week I'm aiming for 3 times and 25 minutes". This way we can not only encourage what we're all doing for exercise, but also get ideas for what's possible. If one of us can do it, well then by golly we can all try!

Jecca - I like the idea of an exercise log too :) Maybe when we weigh in, we could announce our exercise goals for the next week, and then as we exercise through the week, we can come talk about how it went or any advice or anything.

Would a Friday weigh-in be allright with everyone? :) It means we're furthest from that worse weekend eating ;) hehe.

Carrie - haha, see? little victories. It's like finding $5 in your jeans. :)

Well I only have access to a scale on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, but I can just use my Wednesday weight on Fridays if that works best for everyone else. I'm pretty much flexible.

I have no problem with doing Wednesdays if that works better :)

Wednesday's fine for me!  I like the idea of the exercise log too - hopefully it will help keep me accountable :).

I'm going to go ahead and state that my goal for the next week will be to work out at least 4 times and to incorperate 30mins of cardio, 30 minutes of free weights and circuit training, and 30 minutes of calisthenics each time that I go. (maybe every other day)

Also, while my BMI on here says 22.3, on the metal scale at the gym says that my body fat percentage is 28! (Down from 31 on Sunday) So I'd like to try to get that to 25 or 26 by the end of next week. :)

Alrighty, well my goal for next week is to do 40 minutes of strength training on Monday and Wednesday, keeping my weights at the same as last week. Tuesday will be my low-intensity cardio day, with a 45 minute bike ride. And between Friday and Sunday I want to walk/jog/run at least 15km. Also, on either Friday or Saturday I will do 50 minutes of boxing.

Yay for fitness!

Next week is my last week at school, so I was planning on starting to work out after I get home.  My general plan is to go running every morning for at least a half hour.  Do you guys have any ideas about good exercises that I can do at home?  Everything I've read on here says that I'll lose muscle if I don't do some resistance training, and I don't really want to get a gym membership this summer.  

Aaah one more week...I can't wait :)!!!

There aren't many at-home exercises that I can think of off the top of my head that are very effective, BUT, there are a few that I definitely make a point to do.

Tricep dips are great, because you control how much weight you put on your triceps by how bent your knees are. Just sit on a chair or couch, move forward so you're supporting your weight with your arms instead of sitting, and then dip yourself. Like I said, you can make it as challenging as you like. Keep your knees really bent to begin, and then straighten them to increase the intensity. Play around with that a bit to see where you can only reasonably do two sets of 8-12, with the first set being a warm up and the second one with your legs straighter.

Pushups. Totally effective and I find RIDICULOUSLY challenging! I can do about 20 girly pushups, but still can't get myself down and back up for a real one. If you can't do them on your knees, start by doing them against the wall. It's really amazing how quickly you improve, just be sure not to do too many, and give yourself a day of rest before doing them again.

Planks are also really challenging. I'm not so good at explaining them, but really you probably know what all these are already and I'm just blabbering away. Anyways, I find holding planks makes me sweat big time.

OH, and my ultimate butt/upper leg kicker is sitting without a chair. Stand next to a wall, and then lower your body so that your knees make a 90 degree angle. Your back will be supported by the wall, and you push with your legs to stay up. Try doing three sets of that, holding for at least 45 seconds for each one. I tend to yell by the end of each one, because it really really drains you. Be sure to rest for 45 seconds in between them as well.

I went out and bought a workout video that has boxing and kickboxing on it. It's mostly cardio, but really drains you with all the punches and kicks. Maybe you could find a video like that to work your strength endurance. You won't be building muscle, but you shouldn't be losing it either, especially if you keep just a small deficit. But don't have a huge deficit because that isn't great for obtaining a "toned" look. I think it's safe to say that we're all after really nice toned looks!

You can get really creative with strength training at home. To do your biceps, you can probably find heavy enough things around the house that allow you only to do 8-12 reps. You can always use big jugs of water, or bags of sand, etc. Maybe a pail of sand? You might not know its exact weight, but that lack of a number won't impede your effort. Then you can likely use the same weight for a variety of exercises that you'll see listed on the sight. Instead of standard weights, you use your own.

Also, don't overdo it on the running. Start with just a few times a week, and always allow yourself a day to recover. You can walk on the off days, but you really really really don't want to overtrain and do more harm than good. I hurt my ankles from overtraining when I started running, and now I don't run more than once or twice a week. Just build up slowly. And find hilly areas! Or if you have sturdy stairs, try that too. I just can't stress enough that you shouldn't overdo it. Pushing yourself too much is baaaad, at least when you don't give your body time to recover from it!

Yay for the last week! And even though it's your last week and you're probably super busy, try to do an extra 15 minute walk every day. That'll de-stress you a little and shouldn't cause any super time problems. It'll also get you into the mind-set where you know it takes just a few minutes to do a little something exercise-y.

This is a huge reply and I am sorry about that. I work for minor baseball and Fridays are the slowest, most yawn-worthy days, and I tend to just read about health all day. Have a great weekend everyone!

That all sounds great guys =) And I'm glad you took the time to type out that list, Jecca. I do a few of those exercises (plank wears me out too! lol) but i'm seeing a few I haven't done that I'll have to add to my routine too! :D

I do a good leg one that I didn't see... (you guys may already know about it..) You are supposed to get down on the floor on all 4's (knees and hands). Then, in sets of ten or more, you lift one leg straight back and up as high as you can. you bring it back down by the floor (not touching it) and repeat. When you finish the first leg and are back in the all-4's position, you are supposed to bring your same leg up (keep it bent at the knee at a 90 degree angle for this one) to the side until it is parallel with the floor. Then lower the leg back down (again, not all the way touching the floor). Repeat 10 or more times. When you finish, you switch to the other leg and do both exercises on it. You can do multiple sets if you want :) Make sure to keep your palms flat on the ground.

Sorry, that feels like I didn't explain the lift your leg to the side one very well. You're supposed to look like a dog about to offend a fire hydrant. :P If anyone wants any more direction on that, let me know.

I'm starting college in fall and I'd love to be part of your "war on the freshman 15 group!" is today the first weigh in?

Anyway I was 113.8 this morning and my eventual goal is 105. I have prom tomorrow (yay!) so my work out goals include

Saturday: 5 hours of dancing :-P

Sunday: none

Monday: none

Tuesday: 45 minutes cardio, 20 minutes strength trianing

Wednesday: 45 minutes cardio, 1 hour yoga

Thursday: 45 minutes cardio, 20 minutes strength training

Friday: none

When I say "none" I just don't mean any extra, I still make an effort to park far away and walk as much as I can. Also, a goal for this week is to limit my eating while drinking alcohol. It's prom weekend so I KNOW I will be drinking but I'm goign to try to stick to straight shots and not like, pig out while I'm drinking like I usually do.

Hi laf! :)

Yes, of course you are welcome to join us! Our first weigh in is actually next Wednesday, but its fine that you displayed your stats today :) Ooh, prom tomorrow? Awesome :) Make sure to have lots of fun! Its something you'll never do again afer highschool (well, unless you go to someone else's prom ;D)

Just make sure that you eat something before you drink and get lots of water after, or it'll be a painful Sunday morning! lol. Hope you have an absolute blast and thanks for joining our group! :D

I'm totally all for this! My freshman year I actually lost weight from all the walking and different kind of lifestyle I had then. But NOW that I'm juggling a nearly full-time job, full-time school, and driving all the time, as well as spending late nights drinking, playing flip-cup/beer-pong, 2am food runs, etc.. My body is NOT happy. I've put on nearly 30 lbs in the last year!!!! RIDICULOUS.

To combat this, I went 26 days with NO LIQUOR at all, and (after a Memorial Day Flip-Cup bbq) have completely cut out BEER. Too many calories, blah! Also, I've recently decided to become vegetarian (with the ultimate goal of becoming a vegan), so hopefully this helps.

I'm taking my first yoga class tomorrow @ 8:15 am (I found a place near my house that has $5 yoga classes 3x a week.... Effective AND cheap!), and today I just signed on up and this and am totally committed!!!

Hey lafoutloud and brendaleanne :)!  HAVE FUN AT PROM TONIGHT LAF!! Prom is awesome!  Congrats on cutting down on alcohol, brenda, I know how hard that can be.   Personally, I find that it's just not worth it to me to drink anymore, because to get drunk I need about five drinks, which is at least 500 calories.  I would much rather watch my friends make fools of themselves and then make fun of them when they sober up, hehe!  Oh, and that's cool about your yoga class, yoga is super fun :).

So as far as exercise goes this summer, this is what I'm thinking about doing.  I was thinking about running four days a week, and doing pushups, crunches, and other exercises like that the other three days.  So I'll try and jog for a half an hour on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and then I'll probably do pushups, crunches, and some of the other exercises that you guys talked about on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.  Does that sound like an okay plan?

I'm out for the count this week! I sprained my ankle BADLY last night and am rockin' the crunches for a bit. So I'm gonna have to be really careful about what I eat and step up my diet! Which I totally ruined this past weekend....

Your plan sounds super legit. I think I'm gonna bust out my old Tae-Bo tapes, since those totally kept me superfit back in the day.

Ooh, that sucks about your ankle...how'd you sprain it?

My words of advice to all incoming college freshmen...

BEWARE! You may THINK that you won't need to worry about the freshmen 15... but it will hit you...HARD! And it will hit you so fast that you won't even know when it happened.

Brenda - Hi, welcome to the group!! I'm sorry about your ankle >_< Being on crutches is rough... What happened?

Carrie - I t hink your workout plan sounds great :) Might want to add a little weight lifting after your cardio if you're trying to build up some muscle. Looks like it'll be a challenge!!

Laf - How was prom?? :) Did you have a blast??

On my own note, this was a really fun weekend... some victories, some defeats. I got my first pay check from my summer job this weekend (they pay every 2 weeks and skip the first paycheck, so i've been working a MONTH already...) Anyway, I was able to go out and buy some pants that weren't 10's! Guess what size I was? a FOUR! I was so excited! I went from about a 0 to a 7 in the summer between 8th and 9th grade ages ago and I never went back below 7 again. I've never even owned 4's. :) So that was my victory :D

Nowwwww... my defeats. Friday was my sister's birthday and she decided to go tooooo.... Outback Steakhouse. There is NOTHING healthy at Outback Steakhouse. I was committed to a full family-day so I didn't have time for a work out, and I went a little over my burn. Saturday and Sunday, my boyfriend was in town (we're a few hours apart over the summer) and I didn't get to work out at ALL... but I did do a lot of shopping, so maybe I burned some calories walking around and trying on clothes? =P We actually went to a big music festival on Sunday with dinner at... Olive Garden 0_o Yikes. Wayyyy over my burn.

But its not the end of the world; i'll be working out this week to make up for it and it was a really good weekend. I've been good for a while, so it was a nice little treat! :)