I have honestly lost the will power to do full blown work outs on a regular basis, so right now I am pretty ashamed to say I honestly have been doing nothing, producing in a 25lb gain in the past 6 months. I gotta do something. Any suggestions on good 5 or 10 minutes exercises I can do through out the day? I am starting my freshman year of college and am almost weepy at the thought of the legendary "freshman fifteen" because that would put me back dangerously close to my original weight.

you cant lose your target weight if you didnt put an exercise on your diet.

Put some fast pace music on and dance like crazy for 10 minutes straight. Try to do this three times a day.

Go outside and briskly walk for as long as time allows.

You need cardio and enough of it that your heart rate is elevated for enough time to do some good.

Watch those calories and portions because that is how the pounds come on.

Good luck in school.

You could try walking around everywhere for errands, etc. Running up (and walking down) stairs for 10min is also great. Then a simple 10-15min bodyweight circuit (squats, pushups, planks, lying leg raises, lunges). Good luck!!

The stairs thing is a great idea, aneleh! 10 mins going up & down stairs is a tough workout. That should get your heart rate going.

I have not personally tried this, but you might google Tabata and watch some youtube videos.

Weight training will give you a lot of bang for your time invested.

Also (yikes---I'm putting on my mom hat, here!), life just gets busy and will get busier. I'd encourage you to make time 3-4 times a week for dedicated exercise. Increasing activity in general is important, yes, but so is taking time for yourself.

As a college student, you may have access to some awesome opportunities--on campus gym, pool, track, bike paths, etc., as well as taking electives for yoga, weightlifting, dance, etc (if your schedule and $$ allow it). I know at our local university you pay the same for anything between 12 and 17 hrs a semester, so if you have that opportunity, that would be awesome. Make weekly appointments with yourself to commit to your health. (taking off mom hat now).

Good luck at college! How exciting!!!

I go with the suggestion of trying to get registered for a PE class. It will give you a structured schedule of an activity.

If you are living in dorms and you have the choice, try to pick a dorm without an elevator and pick one of the top floors. I swear living on the 4th floor without an elevator helped me keep my weight stable through my college years. I didn't lose weight but I didn't gain (at least during the school year).

*Mom Hat* also if living in the dorms, find a dorm that has quiet hours (I chose 24 hr quiet but we also had 12 hr quiet). It is always easy to find and go to a party but it is not always easy to find quiet time/space to study. Also less parties = less bad calories temptations.

That is exactly what I was going to say so ditto on what Pita said ...