Anyone else trying to lose weight on the college budget, with a college lifestyle?

/me hums Mission Impossible theme

Yes and I think my school has the most terrible meal choices ever. Everything's either loaded with grease or all sugary. Argh. I managed to have salad and tuna today, but it's not always easy. ^_^

Oh, I know! Our dining hall is ludicrous, nasty, and over-priced, so I don't even bother. Unfortunately, that means my options are Chik-fil-A, Starbucks, and KFC... short of bringing and energy bar from home and hoping for the best. Which is what I do. Even when I'm on campus for like 10 hours. Ugh.

ugh, i totally understand. our school's cafeterias aren't even open on the weekends, in time for me to have breakfast, and if i want dinner there i have to go way earlier than when i'm hungry because they close at 7 and stop making more food at 6:30 so they usually run out. and then the food is gross as we all know but we have convenience store type places that we can use our dining plan on so i have some options but last semester my main staples were progresso soup, lean cuisine pizzas, easy mac, and velveeta shells and cheese! i've found better options now though and am mainly focusing on getting fruits and veggies right now, but my only fruit options are really green apples and canned pineapple and i have to get the apples from the cafeteria so... fruit is harder. we have canned green beans, corn, and peas and the cafeteria usually has some kind of cooked veggie (and usually not very good ones) and we have a salad bar there. I'm doing better this semester definetly though. and now that is winter i can have veggie soup every day! haha! i'm still eating too many calories though which is what i'm trying to figure out now. what are your eating plans or strategies and do you have any good snacky ideas besides popcorn? because i keep getting the munchies for crunchies! what are your goals for this semester? (eating, exercising, weight loss, school, etc)

Well, I'm graduating in December, so the end is finally getting near. Unfortunately, that means I have to start looking at law school stuff and applying. I'm also getting married in February, so I'm trying to lose a lot of weight by then... preferably down to 180. I think being at 230 at the end of this semester would make me happy, but I'm not sure that's particularly do-able.

I also really do want to start exercising more. It's hard, because i have terrible asthma, but I'm sure I can make it work if I try lighter stuff and, since weight loss should HELP my asthma... working my way up as I get a bit thinner.

When I was in the dorms, I had to cram in fruits and vegetables into basically a wine cooler that I shared with my roommate. I lucked out this semester by taking it easy and working from home, so I have more room. But I refused to have a meal plan because it was cheaper and healthier to cook my own food. It was a royal pain, but it was easier. I hated the campus dining halls, everything was a buffet with one section a tiny salad bar. But hey, they didn't fry their food in trans fats! Big selling point. It was all the other fat I was worried about.

Today the dining hall doesn't even open until 11am and I'm starved. I live on campus, so I'm forced to buy a meal plan. All they have for breakfast is like bacon, greasy sausages and potatoes, pancakes, etc. so I try to go for the yogurt and fresh fruits instead. There are a few different food places on campus but most are closed on the weekends and most of them just sell greasy burgers and pizza anyway. I try to at least get sandwiches with rye bread or tuna instead of fattier stuff but it doesn't always work out that way. I just had to move to the 7th floor and I take the stairs whenever possible (the elevators here make scary noises anyway, lol).

Last semester I lived on chicken quesadillas from the one place, tasty but WAY too many cals. I can't even eat them now, too fatty, they upset my stomach.

At my school all freshmen and sophomores have to live on campus and have a dining plan so that majorly sucks. It's such a rip off because it's so overpriced, and in an apartment not only is it cheaper but you have more space and privacy!

Anyways, at the beginning of the year this woman told all of the students at an assembly that everyone will gain 15 pounds this year and you can say you won't but you will. Now, i'm starting to realize that it's not because the food is so good, it's because there aren't any choices but horrible ones! (it's kind of frustrating)

oo and this is so weird but last night i had a dream about being in the dining hall and it was bizarre!

amy, on your plan can you only eat at the dining halls or do you have other options of things you can bring back to your room?

hahaha! we had someone trying to get people to sign her petition to get trans fats off of campus last semester, and it was very hard to resist telling her that the food would still be unhealthy and horrible. and the wine cooler, so true! last semester i had a roommate and it was so hard to share the fridge especially because she always go things from the dining halls in large styrofoam containers that took up the entire fridge! she transferred this semester but still, there is officially no more room in my fridge!

and randomness, where did you get that image in your avatar? i've seen other people with them but don't know where they are from.

and sorry for the double post!

We can bring stuff back from certain food places on campus, the only place we can't is the main cafeteria. The other places are mostly fast-foody stuff like burgers though, or else coffee/ice cream/donuts places. I go to a place for sandwiches and salads that isn't too bad though.

oh, that's horrible. I think I actually lost 15 pounds my first year though because I walked/jogged so much. That was several years ago, unfortunately. ^_^