Some quick stats: 22yr old 5ft female SW: 175/180 CW:149 UGW: 120
Probably worth mentioning that I’m a recent college grad who’s starting grad school soon so this post may be helpful to college/grad students
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Weighed myself yesterday and I'm finally out of the 150s for the first time in at least 3 years! I'm only 149lbs but that's a lot better than my starting weight of 175/180 at the beginning of the year.
Every year, I've said that this would be the year that I got healthy. But this time was actually different. I'd moved into a dorm with a kitchen so I could finally cook my own meals. In the past, I'd tried getting healthier by eating less dining hall food but let's face it, that stuff is so processed that even the "healthy" options are filled with a lot of empty calories. Plus there’s temptation everywhere. I also had a bit more free time since I’d broken up with my ex in October. Besides the fact that being in a relationship makes you comfortable, we also didn’t eat the healthiest when we were together. No binging or anything but definitely unhealthy choices.
It was my last semester of college and I gave myself a goal of getting to 155lbs by graduation. I started working towards that goal by cooking healthier meals at home. As a broke college student, I was lucky enough to get most of my food (pretty much everything except meat) from my school’s well stocked student food pantry. It offered canned veggies, rice boxes (prepared spiced rice in a box for anyone who may be unfamiliar), pasta, oatmeal, granola bars. Most weeks, it also offered milk, onion, bread, potatoes, eggs and sometimes fresh spinach. For breakfast, I usually had oatmeal or 1 or 2 eggs, sometimes with bread. if I was in a rush, it was a granola bar. For lunch and dinner, I’d usually meal prep 1 rice box with a can of vegetables along with some pork loins, skinless chicken breast, ground turkey, ground chicken or occasionally pork sausage thrown in the oven or sometimes fried. I’d sometimes make potato salad when there were potatoes at the pantry and sometimes have spaghetti with homemade meatballs from the ground turkey/chicken to switch things up. I made sure my portion sizes weren't too big and took note of condiments. I switched out my BBQ sauce for GG Hughes sugar free BBQ sauce to cut down on calories and I would get sugar free pasta sauce. I also cut back on alcohol since it has so many empty calories and can make you hungry. A big culprit for me was irish cream since it's probably the worst alcohol you can have when you look at calorie count
After a while, I decided to count my calories to keep track of how much I was taking in. I decided to buy a calorie tracker book since I always stopped using apps after a while. But the book proved more of a hassle than an app and I stopped tracking. However, I’d started hitting the gym by then and it was starting to show a big as clothes stopped feeling as tight as they had when I’d gained weight. After 2/3 weeks of going to the gym on my own, I decided it was time to get back into classes since they came free with the school gym anyway. I started with 3 days a week at the gym, and worked my way up to 5 days a week (pro-tip: muscle rub is great for DOMS.) I was finally one of the gym rats I’d always looked up to. I know a lot of people find gym classes to be intimidating but I find it to be one of the most efficient ways to lose weight since the coaching keeps you going for the entire class time and there’s no stopping to wait for a machine. The set class times help put me in the routine of going to the gym cuz I’d treat it as an obligation, just like any other class (of course I went easier on myself during midterms of finals week). Plus no one is really paying attention to anyone else anyway. I started out with yoga and body pump. Later, I stuck to cardio classes like body pump, cycle, shreadmill (a 30-min treadmill class that my school gym offered), barre and sometimes buti yoga to burn the most calories in in an hour since time is precious when you’re a college student. Don’t know how common but yoga is but the best way I can describe it is, it’s basically cardio/dance yoga, definitely breaks a sweat.
When I visited home for spring break, I mentioned going to the gym more to my mom and seeing a good amount of ppl wearing Fitbits. She offered to buy me one so I accepted. Once I got my Fitbit and downloaded the app, I finally started tracking my calories and practicing CICO. For the first time in my life, I’ve consistently logged calories on an app. Besides, my new motivation to be fit, I think it’s a lot easier to remember to log calories when you’re wearing a calorie tracker on your wrist every day. Personally, I love my Fitbit and it’s really helped me stay on track. The only days I haven’t accurately tracked my calories was my graduation day and a few days surrounding it but I'd hit my goal and was 153lbs at my graduation!
However, this summer I didn't have a gym within walking distance and complete control over my food since I was back home for the summer. So my goal was to maintain my weight before going up to grad school (still can't believe I go up in just 2 days) where I'll have another campus gym and control over groceries again. I had a job as a busser at a restaurant a few days a week, which helped keep me fit since it's active and they almost always scheduled me for double shifts (so I'd be on my feet for 12+ hrs a day.) I'd have to bring lots of dishes up and down stairs since the elevator for the dishes never actually worked after the first 2 weeks. It was stressful but my thighs have definitely gotten more toned thanks to the work! While I would usually go out for drinks with friends after, I still managed to be under the 500cal deficit I have set on my fitbit during my workdays. So while the weight wasn't coming off like it used to, I wasn't gaining weight and that's still a win, especially since I'd lose a pound every few weeks. I hadn't weighed myself in a while when I decided to weigh myself yesterday morning and I didn't believe the number on the scale at first: 149! I weighed myself 3/4 times before believing the number and logging it on my Fitbit app. I haven't seen a number under 150 since I started college 4 years ago.
When I arrive at my new grad school in 2 days, I'll have a kitchen and a gym again so I'm going to get back to the grind cuz I've had a enough of a break. I'll have a lot more work than I did in undergrad but looking at my class schedule, there isn't a crazy amount of time spent in class since we only take 3 (4-credit) classes our first semester. Which means I have no excuse not to meal prep or hit the gym at least 3 days a week. Though I'll definitely aim to go to the gym 4 or 5 days a week. I really want to get down to at least 135lbs by the end of the year, if not 130lbs. I'd like to be at my ultimate goal weight of 120lbs by next summer. Besides eating right, I'm aiming to hit the gym a bare minimum of 3 days a week (the weekend and one weekday) but aiming for 4 days per week since school comes first. Luckily, diet is a big part of losing weight. I'm also considering cutting back on carbs as well (tho prob not full keto to start) if anyone has any advice on that.
What motivated me to finally lose weight was the desire to finally have a body I can be happy with, make sure I don't become a diabetic (it runs in my family), increase my dating pool since I was single for the first time in 2 years, and lose weight so that I'd have a better chance to qualify for a breast reduction. I'm actually going to call for a consultation soon since my BMI is now under 30 (my insurance won't even think of approving you if you're over that). Besides everything I've mentioned, counseling also helped me. I initially went for anxiety about what I wanted to do after college but along with exercise, it really helped improve my mood. I was lucky enough to have weekly appointments since mental health services were offered at my college. I know it isn't always financially feasible for everyone but if you can afford it, then I truly recommend it in addition to working out and eating healthy. In addition to lurking here, I'm also in 2 weight loss group on Facebook and follow some insta accounts to keep me striving towards my goal.
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