Advice? Eating lots of veggies, less sugar, still on the road to the freshman 15
 

Hi! I'm an 18 year old female and I'm 5"2 and 195 lbs. For the last month I've been eating mostly veggies, eating less sugar, even eating less meat and haven't seen results yet. It's rough since I've lost 30 pounds before in 6th grade eating healthier-but I mostly just remember snacking on Laughing Cow cheese and eating pita sandwiches. I do worry that my breakfast choices aren't the best. As a college student, most of what I eating is in the dining hall or school coffeehouse. I normally get a muffin, bagel or breakfast sandwich with some sort of coffee drink, be it a macchiato or just regular coffee(I usually put cream in the latter but no sugar). Other options include donuts, breakfast meats, pizza, scrambled eggs, french toast and home fries-they used to have fresh mixed fruit but I haven't seen it lately. But for the rest of meals, I usually have a salad a day and incorporate a wide variety of veggies to get plenty of nutrients-spinach, radishes, banana peppers, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, soybeans, and bean sprouts for example, with olive oil + vinegar or a vinaigrette for dressing. I also love the sandwiches/wraps from the on campus sandwich shop. My favorite menu items include:

-Provolone and Veggie panini: provolone, roasted red peppers, spinach, tomatoes, chipotle sauce, mushrooms
-Veggie Ranch Wrap: Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbed cream cheese, ranch-I also like to add Jalapenos
-California Quesadilla: Jack cheese, Guacamole, red onions, sour cream, salsa, mushrooms
-Turkey pesto wrap: Turkey breast, roasted red peppers, feta cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and fresh basil with creamy pesto
-Mediterranean Quesadilla: Roasted red peppers, black olives, red onions, green peppers, fresh basil, feta cheese and pesto

I'll generally have a cup of soup with either of these, such as squash and apple soup, pumpkin bisque, and Carribean Jerk Soup(chicken, beans, kale, sweet potatoes). These range from 100-220 calories. If not, it'll be something like a pouch of nuts, a Graze snack or pretzels with hummus. To drink, I'll usually have water, 0 calorie tea, or low calorie drinks(like Neuro drinks, which are 35 calories). Other lunch/dinner options include burgers/veggie burgers, convenience store style foods(which I'm sure aren't the best), the daily entree(usually a meat, starch, and veggie, honestly doesn't taste the best), and fresh-to-order flatbreads, which include spinach/bacon/feta, parmesan garlic chicken and pesto and peppers(I did have one of these lately). I'm worried I might be making the wrong snack choices. Recently, I've been snacking on things like organic pistachio biscotti thins, black bean crisps, pretzel thins and dark chocolate and peanut thins. Maybe the sugar content is too much in these? I feel like these could be easy to overeat too, although I pay attention to the label. By the way, I don't have a mini fridge, at least not yet, in my dorm. When I go home for the weekend I naturally eat differently. We'll have anything from a Greek Stromboli to tortellini to breakfast for dinner. Breakfast or lunch is usually soup, leftovers or grilled cheese with veggies. Anything you'd change/add to my diet? I'm not perfect-there was a breakfast buffet for my class a few days ago, but I love eating healthy and trying new and exotic foods!

How should I go about my exercise? I'm very bouncy in the morning and therefore dance practically every day. I also do squats, lunges, pushups and wall sits other days and at my house we have a swing. But ahh, gotta admit, I've been extra tired the last few days for some reason. There's a fitness center at my school that I've checked out a couple times though. They have weight machines, weights, ellipticals, bikes, treadmills-is there a certain one I should pick? Perhaps I just need to work out harder too. I am on my feet a lot due to being a culinary arts major, but I'm not sure if that'll change anything.

I'm also on Depo, which I've learned can cause weight gain(Been on it for a year). Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

The muffins, bagels, pizza, and french toast are probably not whole grain. Donuts are the worst choice on the list (high in sugar), so I'd suggest avoiding them. Scrambled eggs are probably the best choice from that list. I'm not sure what type of meats they are, but try to go for more natural meats instead of processed meats.

All of those are good choices.

The wraps are probably not whole grain (unless they tell you that it is), although if it's only a small part of the sandwich, it's probably not so bad. The stuff inside the sandwiches looks mostly good, but for the sauces, it's hard to be sure without being able to see the ingredients.

Nuts are a good choice. Pretzels are usually not whole grain. Hummus is made from chickpeas, so it's a good choice.

Check the ingredients. If it says something like "enriched wheat flour" or "wheat flour" then it's not whole grain. In general it's better to eat whole foods rather than processed foods, because processed foods often have unhealthy additives.

It looks like refined carbs are the biggest problem, so maybe you can replace some of them with healthier carbs like quinoa (and other whole gains), sweet potato, and beans.

Are you getting enough protein each day? Some of the foods you mentioned are good protein sources, but I'm not sure how much you eat of them. Do you count your macros?

I'd suggest doing both weightlifting and cardio. For weightlifting, focus mainly on exercises that work large muscle groups. I see you already do a few, but others you may want to try are pullup and overhead press. If there are trainers at the fitness center, they can probably show you how to use the machines.

I want to lose weigh as fast as i can. Is their any advice you can give me.

Sometimes it is hard to be sure how much you are actually consuming unless you write it all down for a week or so. Keep a daily log of calories, fat etc. Make sure to note the portion sizes and log accordingly. For example, the soup may say 110 cals, but that may be for a cup, and you may be getting a bowl of it for 300 calories. SAUCES, definitely include cal counts on sauces. Your dressings look like a fantastic choice, but it can add up if you are using more than one serving of dressing.

Also, measure out your nuts, portions of pretzels, tbls of hummus and everything. If you grab a Carmel macchiato log it (399 calories), if you add in cream to coffee log it (50 cals per TBLS). See where you stand after a week. You may be right on point, and then you can talk to a nutritionist about what kind of diet may work better for you.

Hey girl!
I am 23 and I had the same issue as you during college.
For at least one week, I want you to use MyFitnessPal and track your calories! You might want to watch your carb intake, possibly eat smaller portions, and try not to snack at night.
If you see this, add me on Facebook and we'll connect!
I'd like to talk with you further and help give you more pointers!