Hey all you 20 somethings who go to university or college.
All though i find this in many ways to be the easiest time of year to diet, cold outside, big targets like chistmas and new year.
but studying brings its own problems and difficulties.
social events, social pressure, others loosing/lost weight, emotional/stress eaating.

How are people hoping to get through this academic year on track? my first goal is
*halloween*, 4 weeks away, hopefully loose 5-6lbs by then. Have an amazing costume, go out for first time 'drinking' with friends. hopfully have exercied 20 more times before then too.

how about everyone else?

Hey there, I'm a college student (or as you Brits say: I go to university). I'm thinking along the same lines. I studied this summer in Asia and had an amazing time, but I did gain weight off my sheer affinity for Asian food... Now, I'm trying to lose it. I managed over the past 3 weeks to lose about 5lbs, so if I can lose the 10 I gained in a timely fashion, oh I'd be thrilled!

Congrats on your weight loss...I'm betting you'll be 170 within the next 2 weeks. What are you doing specifically to lose the weight?

im basically calorie counting (1500 a day) and working out 5/7 times a week cardio and daily do strength exercises to improve my all round fitness and ability.
Its not going amazing, but its TOM soon so i gotta just ride the wave my body throws at me over the next 8 days and hope i can maintain over that time at least. how about yourself?

I am doing pretty much what freethetoys is doing. I try to keep it below 1500 a day with one cheat day if I must and I walk every day. It's worked really well so far. One thing I hate, though, is since I live on campus I have to eat cafeteria food, which is mostly processed I have a feeling. But, I try to keep it balanced. Going to start doing an ab and toning routine soon!

I go to a community college now to finish up my associates. Hopefully I'll be going to university next term to finish and get my bachelor's. I got lucky and only needed two classes this term and was able to get them both online. I have two weeks to complete everything so that's good and I can be more flexible with my schedule. I need to get back on a regular working out schedule. I've been a bit lazy lately which isn't too good. I have lost a little bit of weight. This term has kept me more busy than I thought. As long as I stay on a schedule I think it will all be fine. That's what helps me a lot is keeping a daily schedule with all I need/want to get done for the day and sticking to it.

Mostly I find it easier to lose weight while at school. At home my friend and family all have money and like to go out to eat or go out drinking etc. At college I live in an apartment where I control most of the food in it and not many people I know have the money to go out to eat or go out drinking to bars too much. There are still house parties and such but I'm kind of over that at this point, I got way too drunk too many times to enjoy it anymore.

It has been harder recently though compared to last year. I know one reason for that is I moved in with my boyfriend, he eats chips, little debbie snacks, icecream, and pasta almost everyday. Luckily we agreed to start buying separate foods instead of combining our money so hopefully that will work!

I count calories, dabble in slim-fast, and workout and the apartment gym. Right now I'm training for a half marathon which keeps me motivated. I make sure to stick the schedule to the refrigerator and mark off each day after I complete it to keep myself accountable. Yesterday I didn't run like I was suppose to and I do feel bad about it I admit since it won't be marked off and there for the world to see lol.

nice to hear others have similar pros and cons studying while dieting, how do people deal with stress eating while studying in comparison to holidays? i find it way harder!

also i have a physical degree which puts a strain on your body and mind so food often feels like a fue, your healer, your comforter and your only thing to keep you going everyday, its a shame its also my biggest enemy. crazy huh

I sometimes use a test as a reason to eat. I'll justify it by saying I can't be concerned with thinking about not eating or being hungry/tired so I stuff my face. Although during my last final exams I actually lost weight. I told myself to not be concerned about dieting so I bought snack foods but made sure they were really healthy. I still made sure to work out.

I didn't study in my room/apartment, I went to a study lounge and brought a big water bottle and some snacks. And before I would eat the snack I made myself drink a full thing of the water bottle so I wouldn't be as hungry. I also didn't eat too much because it was crunchy food in a quiet place. I lost more weight that week than I had been losing each week for the past month!

pinkalarmclock, I do the same thing around tests. I just get so stressed out and food is such an easy way to destress... trying to change that habit though!

I find it a lot easier to lose weight when I'm back at school myself, I think due to the fact that I buy all my own groceries/meals. The only person who I can hold accountable (rather than falsely blaming others!) is myself for when I eat what I shouldn't. Also, I think little amounts of stress help me lose weight. I've been trying to change my eating habits. As I said somewhere, I made a chocolate bar last 3 days a few weeks ago... 2 most recently. =P I've tried to have smaller portions and snack on healthier things when I'm hungry.

TOM is ending for me and I'm seeing results (despite the horrible eating habits I've had this week!). I'm proud to say I'm nearly at halfway point for progress. My birthday is coming up and I'm hoping to reach mini-goal (normal BMI) by then. Regardless, I'm already seeing the changes within my body and I can't wait to see more losses soon!

hey jogger, hope u reach your goal by your birthday, and glad tom has gone and left u with some good results.

im a bit of a bull right now and if anyone lets me int the kitchen i know i will eat all the sugar all the carbs and all the **** in sight.
IM sOOOO fed up of working out really hard and seeing no results from it. My friends have lost so much weight over summer, it makes me think about starving myself (and im a very sain girl who knows is very bad and pointless to do that etc) but its just getting to that point. TOM and a bit of a fu is not helping this emotional rollercoaster.
i was so pleased the other day i was 6lbs off being a happy girl for easter and feeling fit, stand on scals today and i have put on 8lbs and im bloated and feel sick and i can barley move without sweating through this flu (sorry to rant)
but i feel like 5 weeks of work has been thrown out the window, and i dont even know by what! im praying i see a loss after TOM, but its just so **** how bad i look and feel today, stood next to girls who have lost half their body in 6-8 months of summer. i just wanted to cry!

I understand freethetoys. I don't starve yourself though... it won't help anything! I would suggest for you to stop obsessing about your weight so much (go a week between weigh-ins) and just focus on eating better. I find for me, when I start just obsessing about my weight, I just get into a really bad place...

Working out by itself doesn't necessarily help. I read a study that they found that people who work out don't GAIN weight for the most part, but they're not losing as a whole. Dieting and diet/exercise were the most effective ways to lose weight. Just try to keep the bad food out of your kitchen, don't carry cash on you (so you don't have available funds) and just try to eat better. For me, I have to try to eat less when I eat or just plan for a big meal that I can whatever I want.

Finally getting there. My scale this morning was 157.2 9lbs to go...

freethetoys-- if you aren't already measuring yourself, maybe you should. if your frustrated with the scale not dropping perhaps seeing inches fall of will help keep you motivated! and believe me starving yourself will just make you eat more later.

So glad I found this thread! I'm a junior right now, and I'm hoping to hit my goal by the time I go to Australia for my study abroad semester in February. I found it SO hard to lose weight at school because I was on meal plan and eating who knows what in the dining halls. Now I'm off meal plan, and it's incredibly easier to keep track of calories. I love it!

LillyLover, I know it's sooo much easier! I just studied abroad this summer in Asia and it was amazing. So excited for you. You'll definitely have enough time to reach goal if you stay on track.

Hi! I am at University at the moment and yea, it's hard and mostly because I work a lot too so I have very little time. But I have been making myself make time and it's been working out for me so far. I'm glad to meet other students!