Need a buddy...Student trying to lead a healthy lifestyle with little time & money.. :)

Hey

As it says I'm a student, I've been trying to eat healthy and go to the gym. I weigh 170 lbs and I'm 5'10. I wanna go down to125 hopefully.

I go to the gym 4 days a week and do cardio+weights. I would really love to buddy up with someone who can share any healthy eating tips as I discorvered its expensive trying to eat healthy. It doesn't help the fact that I'm a broke student as well!!

Anybody in the same boat??How can I eat healthy cheap??

Any replies are welcome appreciated.

Hey! I'm a student too. Trying to get healthy as well. It's hard though for those reasons you mentioned. For being broke I buy a lot of apples, and potatoes. Apples again are good for you, a tad high in sugar, but its better than a bag of chips in the afternoon. I eat potatoes the off time. They are relatively low in calories, not the best thing for you if you go overboard with amount, butter and everything else, but I still enjoy em. 

Hey!  i'm in the same boat.  I'm most concerned about finding time to work out and trying to eat healthy study snacks.  Most of my food comes from the caf, which is lethal.  It would probably be better for me to go to the grocery store and buy nutritious snacks rather than rely on the late-night mini-mart in my commons block.  That can be expensive though...  I always grab for cereal, but that adds up in a hurry.

My stats are fairly similar to yours (5'10 female, aiming for 120lbs), so if you're ever looking for someone to relate to...

Anyways, calculus calls!

Good luck.

Hello there!  Sounds like you do well to get your exercising in - good for you! 

A healthy diet does not need to be any more expensive than what you are spending now.  Since you are very busy with school, time is of the essence for you.  I think most students fall down on their diets when they realize that there is seldom enough hours in a day to cook!  My advice is, stay away from pre-packaged meals.  I know they will save you time but check out the nutrition labels - sodium is usually sky-high and sugars are not far behind.  Anything fresh is good - fruits, veggies, nuts.  A tasty snack that won't do you completely in is taco "scoop" chips and salsa.  Popcorn is a good stand-by and a great breakfast is the Quaker Oatmeal instant breakfasts.  Most juices contain a lot of sugar so be careful.   If you must have pasta or bread, choose the whole wheat option.  Drink water, water and more water.  Most teas are good too - be careful of cream & sugar though. 

Once you become adept at using the tools here on cc, you will become more and more knowledgable about the foods you should be eating and maybe even more importantly, how your body reacts to what you eat. 

Good luck. 

Hey! I'm just like you (a new to this too). I'm a college student, 21 yrs old, and 5'10". I used to work out a lot more but had to cut back recently. I plan on starting back up again asap. I usually go jogging 3-4 miles every other day and inbetween those days do weights or other strength training. I want to get back down to 125-130 by the beginning of next year but Im the type of person that really needs motivation and not to feel like "im alone in this." Anyways I'm willing to help ya out if you help me out ESPECIALLY because thanksgiving and xmas are around the corner. My family is from the south (alabama, louisiana, memphis etc) and there is always a ton of food and alcohol at every family gathering. Anyways let me know if ya wanna hwlp me out!

Until recently I was a student. Here are my tips for you guys. (I did better as a student than I do now! I'm actually trying to get back into my student habits now!)

1. Alcohol - just be aware that it will fatten you up. Try and drink less, but better quality alcohol. Instead of a case of crappy beer, get yourself a couple pints of guinness, or instead of 10 highballs, a couple glasses of wine. Depends where you are and who you're with and what you like!

2. Eating out - don't do it all the time. This is where your money will go. I'm not saying you should never go out with your friends, but decide how often you can afford to and stick to it. I used to have a rule that I could only buy food 3 times a month. (For example, 1 lunch out and 2 chicken wing nights). Sometimes I'd eat before we went and then just share an appetizer or have some tea. It sounds silly but hey, I was healthy!

3. Freeze Meals if you have a freezer. Honestly, it doesn't take that much time to make meals and freeze them to microwave at school. Even pasta in sauce makes a great lunch. Just do it before your schedule gets really busy with exams and papers. There are tons of recipes online. Then to go with your meals, you just have to buy fresh vegetables.

4. Eat meals, all meals. With a random schedule, I found it tempting to eat randomly. You don't have to eat three meals a day - I used to eat four. Breakfast, lunch, after class supper, and late supper. That got rid of a lot of terrible snacking.

5. Food and Vegetable Budget. Eating is important. Set money aside in envelopes so that when the term is at an end and you're totally broke, you can still afford to eat well. Make a food budget for the month, and then make a separate budget for veggies. I had a $100 a month budget JUST for vegetables (and fruit). Every Saturday, I'd go to the store or market and spend ~$25 on ONLY veggies. It's worth every cent.

6. Eat breakfast. Oatmeal and porridge is a student's best friend. Some people hate it but it is seriously cheap, easy and quick, and has no sugar or processing etc. I have introduced so many roomates to porridge that claimed they hated it and it turned out that they just haven't tried it in so long they did like it! Sometimes it even makes an awesome midnight snack when you've stayed up too late. (Try adding a tablespoon of honey to the boiling water before you add the oats!)

5. Make rules with each other and stick to them. I never really dieted with the exception of these rules. They were actually one of my friends, and we had a deal that we'd have to pay each other $5 if we broke them.

NO vending machines ever (so don't carry change). Pop and diet pop is for chumps - never, ever have any. They will lead you on a path to darkness.

Chocolate (and only good chocolate - no cheap bars) only AFTER an exam or big paper is finished. Vegetables in some form with every supper. A fruit every day for lunch.

I know my system probably won't be exactly what you guys need but it helped me out.  The biggest thing was to make a budget and set the grocery money aside.

Hope that helps!  Happy studies....