Hello all,

I'm new to the board, and hope to make helpful contributions. We're in this together. But first, may I ask for a tiny bit of support?

I'm a freshman in college. I swore to myself I'd stick to my weight-loss plan. I think I've done a decent job, but sometimes...you just have blue thoughts, you know? There are two things that get me down. I was wondering...have any of y'all ever experienced these.

The first thing is my cafeteria. The food is surprisingly high quality. Unfortunately, the moment I walk in, I am greeted with a towering table of sweets. Donuts, pastries, muffins, brownies...pretty much every food that, this time last year, would drive me into a happydance. The only way I can describe my feelings is corrosive lust. Haha, I feel like a character in a Jacobean tragedy. It's like "Curse you, donut, I want you more than words can ever know. You will be MINE!" But then I realize I can't, and I keep walking...but I tend to feel down, especially when others crowd around and walk off with all kinds of pastry goodness. Then, there's the hamburger/chickenburger grill that has everything from burgers to fingers to fries. Again, it's like "FRIED FOOD LUST!" And I guess it hits me even harder, that I have given over my life of daily fried food and bad habits, and it's never coming back. Yeah, I'm happy I eat so much healthier, but it's like that old, totally bad-for-you boyfriend that, even if you don't want a relationship, you just want to drag behind the nearest tree and...well, ahem.

How does one deal with this?

My second thing is my roommate. She is a sweetheart in every way. She also is a size 2, has a gorgeous, dancer body, and a jackrabbit metabolism. Tons of times it'll be midnight and she'll be "Wow, I'm hungry. NUTELLA AND PEANUT BUTTER TIME!" Or will lug back a carton of cookie dough ice cream and chow down the whole thing in a sitting. It's not that the foods are there. I'm not all that tempted (except on rare occasion). What happens is that I remember how I used to eat like that, but I looked like a hippo. It feels so unfair sometimes. I'm not one for whining for things that cannot be, but sometimes I just start feeling gloomy, you know? Some people can flit through life, limber and lean and a chocolate bar in each hand, and others can't. So I feel sad, for a little while.

I guess I'm just having a bad day. I'm sorry if I sound like a little emo kid.

Awww that's gotta be rough. I keep thinking back to my university cafeteria and the only thing I can remember really well is the tower of bagels. Huge gigantic bagels. I think I ate one every day. I got a job working in the cafeteria and then I pretty much stayed away from everything except for the sandwiches. BTW, don't eat egg salad or chicken salad sandwiches, they are gross. The fried food section is pretty much nasty, and if you think of how many times they reuse the oil/lard? Ewww.

I pretty much feel like I want to pig out on a daily basis. I am a work in progress and it will probably be many years before I can have a better relationship with food.

Oh, if you exercise, you can eat more! The gym at your school is free, right? What kind of diet are you on? I count calories and can fit in treats every now and then.

I go to school in San Francisco, so the food is pretty good because of the city's obsession with organic and eco-friendly stuff.

My diet is a combination of calorie counting and ABS, though I'm thinking of trying SlimFast. I try to eat 5 small meals a day.

I do exercise a decent amount at my school's gym. 35-45 minutes of daily cardio plus weights every other day, with a few spinning and toning classes tossed in to spice things up.

I'm 5'4" and weigh about 155.

Well, if I do occasionally allow myself a treat, what would be a general rule of thumb for how often?

I had the same problem when I was in college. I was able to lose 20lbs while still eating in the cafeteria.

My big thing there was portion control. I ate whatever was basically the dinner of the day down there, but just tried to pay attention to when I was full. Also, for lunches, the salad bar was my friend and I'd usually have a bagel or something for breakfast.

Not exactly anything groundbreaking there, but my point is to try and pay attention to portion size when you're eating those meals for dinner while trying to eat lighter, but fillling foods during the day.

I also cut way back on the soda and switched my coffee to non-fat rather than regular (we had a Seattle's Best in our cafeteria), and I hardly noticed a difference in taste!

As for your roommate and her food choices, it's good that you are able to resist! My roommate was Vietnamese, so any food she brought home was usually interesting and lighter, so I was able to eat a small portion when she offered.

All in all, I had success with portion control and simply walking 4 days a week. Little changes sometimes make a big difference!

Good luck!

PS, I'm doing Abs too currently. I think it's great.

Okay, sounds like a real temptation there! No, it's not going to be easy, but you CAN do it. First off, whenever you can avoid the cafe, do so. And when you do have to go in there, can you get what you want and take it with you? Even if it's just outside, take your food and get out of the "junk food heaven." Just remember, that stuff tastes good, but it is horrible for you. The artificalness of it all and everything that comes with it is just gross.
Secondly, can you politely ask your roommate not to "flaunt" her goodies or to at least be on the down-low as possible about them? Maybe you can even get into heathier eating with her. Talk to her, worst that can happen is that she won't change her ways.
It sounds like you are doing pretty well so far in keeping going, so just keep it up. It's not an easy journey for any of us, so just stay strong and know that you are making better choices for yourself and keeping yourself healthy.

Well, Phoenix, the world is full of temptations like that--just full of them! So what you're seeing now are the kind of challenges we face on a daily basis when trying to eat healthy in this world, let alone trying to lose weight.

Yes, you'll probably experience cravings, and it's not fair, and you'll feel bad sometimes. But, you're an adult now, so you don't have to be ruled by those feelings. Make your good choices every day. Ignore what your roommate is doing. It's only a d*** donut, not the end of the world!

Good luck!

Jay

I know what you're feeling and have felt many times the same way that I wished for a fast metabolism to be able to eat whatever I want. I just try to think that I am still better off than a lot of people.

You don't have a lot of weight to lose. Lots of people would be happy to be at your weight. For me, I don't have any other health problems or disability. I'm sure there are plenty of people who just wish to be healthy, at any weight.

You just have to accept that you will always have to watch what you eat but there are worse things.

It does suck. But I'll agree with Jay - it doesn't change when you're out of college.

My office is in a building with other art-related businesses and we tend to do things as a community instead of as individuals. Which means on any given morning, someone is popping over and saying "Hey I brought in Krispy Kreme this morning" or "Here, I brought you a piece of cake from the birthday party we had last night".

Or my husband will get a craving around 8:30 and say "I'm going to get a milkshake at Steak & Shake - want one?" Or he'll decide he wants pizza for dinner and will order one from Pizza hut while I eat my veggies and grilled chicken breast.

That's life. It's all part of learning to be healthy in a society that is not really geared towards healthy eating.

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Temptation IS everywhere...you face it in the cafeteria, I face it at the grocery store (my grocery store has one of the best bakeries I've ever eaten in. It's not your standard store with the gross iced cakes. Everything in it that I've tried has been divine. And I sit and watch the people at their tables eating a giant iced brownie and yes, it feels unfair.

But speaking of fair - I need to be fair to my body. And fairness to my body means making healthy choices for life. So I resist the brownies most of the time, let myself indulge every once in a great while, and move on.

Hang in there darlin! My daughter is a freshman in college and I'm deeply worried about her. She looks so much heavier and I don't think she cares anymore about her weight. If I speak to her about it, she gets angry with me. So, if I can't encourage her, I offer you hugs and a strong support level. Just because you are in school that doesn't mean you should give in to the "freshman 15" that they all talk about. Healthy lifestyles, good food choices, etc. should be part of every one's day, no matter where they are.
Feel good about yourself and never give up!

Thanks guys! I'm so happy I joined this forum.

My cafeteria's saving grace is that it has a vegan bar. I'm not vegan in the slightest, but the food tastes really good because it's made in smaller quantities. The other day they were making veggie burgers. I had an open-faced one (on wheat bread) with onions, tomatoes, ketchup, and mustard. It was delicious. Of course, not everything at the vegan bar is automatically healthy, but it offers some great alternatives.

And I discovered that the guys at the normal grill will make you an eggwhite omelet if they aren't too busy. I did a little happy dance. I LOVE omelets, but I rarely eat yolks.

I was faced with the same temptations, plus my boyfriend (husband now) always asking if I wanted to go to McDonald's and all the other easy places to eat in the main drag of town. And the dining hall. I can't even begin to describe the temptations there....ugh.

Yeah...I'm actually happy I'm not at home now. My dad is the worst eater ever. It was easily my biggest challenge during the summer. He'd be like "I'm bringing home hamburgers, do you want fries?" "NOOO! I don't want the damn hamburger either!"

My mom (divorced parents, woo) is a great cook...but cooks tons of unhealthy stuff. She one time handed me a plate of macaroni and I went "I can't eat that, that's full-fat cheese and white, nutritionally void pasta." She replies "But you NEED carbs, stop being silly." "Not those kind of carbs, woman!" She went on the Atkins diet and it didn't work well for her, so she's always advocating portion control. But she still has no head for nutrition.

Thanksgiving is going to be interesting.

People have already given you excellent advice, but I just wanted to say that I sympathize. Taco Day was my favorite day of the week. And then taco day would turn into burrito day...and you get the picture.

p.s. totally jealous that you have a vegan bar at your school!