Reality of You

Real talk about health, fitness, and weight loss.

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Dining Hall Survival Guide: FIT STUDENT

Fit Student Series dining hall survival guide

Since I’m an RA, I’m back at that unlimited swipe life, which has its pros and cons. Pros: I don’t have to cook or do dishes. Cons: the siren song of dining hall carrot cake.

However, I have gotten good at learning how to beat the system and eat healthy at a dining hall determined to use its temptress powers to sway me away from the land of clean eating where focaccia bread is not a major food group (sadly).

Here are 5 tips on how to survive the dining hall and get the healthiest meals!

1. Fill your plate with healthy stuff first. No dessert or foccaccia bread until you’ve finished your veggies and lean protein first! I know it’s tempting to grab that brownie on your first pass but you may overeat if you grab dessert every time and then feel obligated to eat it when you may not want it after you finish your healthy food anyways. [Read more…]

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Fit Student: 5 Tips for Dining Hall Healthy Eating

dininghalltips

This is part of my Fit Student blog series. Find more posts about staying healthy in college here!

When you’re a Freshman in college, a meal plan is usually required. Here’s how to eat healthy when you eat all your meals in a dining hall!

1. Check the menu. If you have more than one dining hall on campus, check the menus of all of them for that day and pick the best option. Usually, dining hall menus are posted online and recur weekly.

2. Use the salad bar. You can make boring salads interesting by mixing and matching what’s available to you! Make a summer salad with fruit and spinach and a raspberry vinaigrette. Just make sure to watch the amount of dressing you put on!

3. Avoid the pizza. Dining halls often have a lot of junk food options available at hot food stations, such as chili cheese fries and pizza. Avoid these and instead go for better options such as whole wheat veggie burgers,

4. Oatmeal is your friend. At my college, breakfast usually consists of pancakes, waffles, greasy hash browns, donuts, pasteries — all in all, a pretty unhealthy fare. But in the waaaay back there was an oatmeal bar with raisins, walnuts, and other good toppings. Just don’t go crazy on the brown sugar!

5. Timing is everything. My dining hall was least crowded right before or after traditional meal times. I suggest going to breakfast before 9am, lunch before 11:30am, and dinner before 5:30pm. Often times, my dining hall would run out of healthy vegetarian options really fast so going at odd times was essential to getting good food.

 

Good luck and have a great year!

-Amy

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Fit Student: 7 Ways to Move More and Lose Weight in College

This is part of my Fit Student blog series. Find more posts about staying healthy in college here!

The weight loss formula is a simple one: create a calorie deficit. This means you need to eat less and move more. In college, eating less junk food and moving more can be difficult when so much of your day is spent either in classes or studying in the library. But even when your schedule is packed, there are ways to work in exercise!

Here are seven simple ways to get you moving in college:

1. Join a Club.

I’m in ballroom dancing club, which is a guaranteed five hours of exercise three days a week on top of all of the rest of the exercise I’m doing here at college!

Joining a club means that you’ll feel more committed to your weight loss and exercise goals. People expect you to show up! Intramural sports are also a great way to get moving, and I highly recommend you try Quidditch. (Yes. This is a real club/sport/thing here at college!)

My boyfriend’s in marathon club, and from what I hear it’s pretty intense but great motivation to get to each workout.

My roommate is addicted to joining clubs, and right now she’s on an intramural soccer team, in climbing club, a parkour club, and an outdoorsy club that goes hiking and whatnot. She also wakes up every morning to go swimming at 7am. She is pretty much one of the most active people I know!

2. Learn How to Longboard/Skateboard. 

 

I remember learning how to longboard the first day of college. I had no idea what I was doing, and I could barely steer my board! This guy came up to me and said, “don’t worry. In a week you’ll be a pro.” And he was right! I mastered longboarding pretty quickly, and I have to say I love it.

You burn more calories longboarding than riding a bike, and longboarders definitely look more badass than bicyclists 😉

3. Take the Stairs.

I have to walk up and down several flights of stairs every day to get to the dining hall, to get my mail, or to go to classes. All of those stairs add up! And if you’re forgoing the elevetor every time, you’re guaranteed to burn more calories on top of the rest of the work you’re already doing.

4. Go Dancing. 

Now, my version of dancing the night away happens to be waltzing on a dance floor, but I know most college students lean towards attending red cup affairs where there are other kinds of dancing. Well you know what? Dance away! Dancing — no matter what style — is great exercise, and lots of fun!

5. Find Fitness Events Near You.

Often time campuses organize fun runs and 5ks along with other fitness events.

6. Become a Tour Guide.

A few of my friends work as tour guides, and they love it! They walk around campus with big groups of people all day, and they get paid for it!

7. Work Out Before Classes. 

Like I said before, my roommate gets up at 7am to go swimming every morning. I get up and go running before classes. Getting in some heart-pumping activity before your day starts helps to keep you energized!

 

Good luck, fit students! Study on!

 

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Fit Student: 5 Dorm Essentials

This is part of my Fit Student blog series. Find more posts about staying healthy in college here!

I’ve lost ten pounds since coming to college. For me, the Freshman 10 turned out to be the Freshman -10!

But it didn’t just happen that way. I had to stay hydrated, work out at least three times a week, and keep healthy snacks available in my dorm — all on a student’s budget.

Going into this semester, I’m making a list of things that will help you lose weight, stay healthy, and lead a more fit life while in college!

Remember, these are just tools to help you reach your goals. They’re what helped me, and that’s why I’m recommending them! These things are here to help supplement your brand new fit lifestyle. Hard work and dedication always comes first!

Here’s the list:

1. Britta Filter [Read more…]