anahorvath.com

Tag: freshman 15

  • Eating Healthy in College

    eating healthy in college
    Haha, I tried to get a picture of my lunch from Thursday. That was successful and you also get a little blur from my finger. Good job me, good job.

    You’ve heard me mention this before: the freshman 15. Plenty of freshmen struggle with their eating habits upon entering college. There’s so much food available ALL the time and they abuse that. And they eat, and eat, and eat, and before you know it, they’ve gained 15 pounds, hence the freshman 15.

    If you’ve been reading my blog since I started college at CSU, you will know that I was determined to avoid the freshman 15, and so far I’ve been successful and actually lost about 15 pounds. With a combination of working out and proper eating, I’ve been able to accomplish this goal. Exercise is extremely important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but it’s also so so so important to eat right. Here’s what has worked for me:

    1. Drink lots of water. Whenever I go to the dining halls, I typically get water and I do my best to drink at least two full cups of water. Occasionally I will drink some iced tea or lemonade but I really try to stay away from the sweet drinks, especially soda. Water is not only good for your skin and body in general but it helps fill you up a bit so you don’t overeat.
    2. Make your plate colorful. While fried food is super duper good tasting, it’s not so good for your body. In moderation, it’s fine, but if the color of the foods on your plate are all a fried brown, you’re doing something wrong. Add some vegetables or fruit to that plate or add a salad. Your body will thank you. Strive for this with every meal and pay attention to the variety of foods you eat throughout the day.
    3. Leave the dining hall feeling not hungry and not stuffed. The wording on that statement might be a little weird, so I’ll do my best to explain what I mean. With eating from dining halls in college, you definitely don’t want to starve yourself. You shouldn’t starve yourself, period! You want to be balanced with the food you eat. If you’re piling on the food and coming back to a table with multiple full plates, you might want to rethink that. Just think about balance and remember that you can always grab a to-go box if you start to feel full. 🙂
    4. Eat desserts in moderation. At the dining halls at CSU, there’s a place dedicated to desserts and I’m sure that it’s that way with most schools. Seeing the rows of cookies upon cookies and plates of cakes and brownies can be extremely tempting, but remember, eat these in moderation! Desserts also taste AMAZING and sometimes its really hard to only take one serving and limit yourself, but all of that sugar really isn’t that good for you or your teeth. Treat yourself every once in a while but don’t go nuts with the desserts.
    5. Seek nutritional advice through your university. Colorado State University has an “Eat Well” program and they have dietitians and nutritionists willing to help figure out foods that you’ll enjoy that are better for your body. In addition to this, all of the menus for food are available online so I have access to the nutritional facts. I don’t pay too much attention to this, but sometimes it’s a great resource for knowing more about calories (even though I’m not big on calorie counting) and nutritional values in general. Most college dining halls have resources like this and within the dining halls themselves, there’s typically information on all of the foods available so pay attention to these! Use your resources and you’ll be set.

    Keep in mind, that these are things that I’ve found helpful and they may work for those of you also eating out of college dining halls, and some of them might not, and that’s ok! Find something that works for you and stick to it. Eating healthy in college is important because it helps set the foundation for eating healthy later in life and it’s important that you give your body the materials it needs to function at its best!

    If you’ve got an idea for a blog post or a question for me, feel free to leave a comment on this post or reach out to me on my new “Contact Me!” page which can be accessed in the menu above. I’d be happy to hear from you. I hope you all have a great week! See ya next Sunday. 🙂

  • Beating the Freshman 15

    freshman 15

    Last week, I briefly mentioned the Freshman 15 in my “How to Be Productive in College”. For those of you who don’t know what the Freshman 15 is, it’s an expression that refers to a weight gain during the first year of college and it’s typically a gain of 15 pounds.

    I’ve been really conscientious of my weight, physical health, and mental health ever since I was cleared to play sports again after my ankle injury. I gained about 30 pounds throughout the time I was injured and I feel like I wasn’t happy with how I looked at all. Since then, I’ve worked my tail off to get back to a place where I’m about where I should be in tennis and I’ve maintained my flexibility from dance as best I can. In no way am I exactly where I want to be physically, but I’m feeling much better about myself and I feel like I’m in a much better mental state. By eating right, getting good sleep, and working out, I’m getting closer to my goal.

    Coming to college, I was worried that all of my hard work would be destroyed. With all of the food available at practically any hour of the day and all the free time, I could easily gain back 15+ pounds. To stay healthy and beat the freshman 15, here are some of the things I’m doing:

    • Drink lots of water. Drinking water is not only good for your body in general, but it’s good for the skin. Drinking a glass of water before eating can also be good since it makes you feel fuller. I try to drink around 60 oz. of water a day from my Hydroflask and then I have water with every meal.
    • Exercise, exercise, exercise. Whether you just walk around a track, lift weights, do some form of cardio, or play a sport, it’s important to work out. This keeps your body in a good state (as long as you’re not overdoing it) and working up a sweat is a good natural detox. Some of my favorite things include the elliptical, circuit training, and various leg, arm, and core workouts. If you’re looking for some fun, different workouts, Pinterest is a great place to search.
    • Avoid stress eating or bored eating. I’ve been guilty of this before, but this is a big way to eat excess calories. If you’re in your room and find yourself bored, find something to make yourself busy! And whatever it is, try not to resort to eating. If you do feel the need to stress eat or you’re bored and want to eat, make it something healthy, like celery or carrots.
    • Limit the sweets. Too much sugar can be a bad thing. I’ve really tried to cut back on dessert foods and really sweet things. If I decide that I am in need of a cookie or some ice cream, that’s the only dessert I get for the day. So if I had ice cream after lunch, I tell myself no desserts at dinner. Just be aware of what’s on your plate.
    • Have a colorful plate of food. Going off of that last sentence for my last tip, watching what’s on your plate is really important. My rule of thumb is this: If all the food on your plate is the color of “fried-brown”, you need to change something. Make sure there’s some veggies or fruit  with every meal. Your body will thank you.

    These are just some of the things I’ve done to beat the Freshman 15, and I hope that by having these good habits, I’ll keep it that way the rest of this school year. Honestly, keeping these habits for the rest of my life wouldn’t hurt either!

    I strongly believe that self-improvement is awesome and everyone should work toward becoming the best version of themselves. If there’s a certain something you don’t like about yourself or there’s something you feel could be better or stronger, work toward that! Sitting around and complaining will get you nowhere. It’s honestly much more satisfying and inspiring to have a goal and work toward it and then look back and see how far you’ve come. With that in mind, I hope you all have a great week! Until next time 🙂