College

by David
(Philadelphia, PA)

I'm a college student and want to find an easy short daily workout so I don't gain weight.

Comments for College

Take advantage of what is available
by: Trisha

College is definitely a stressful time, which is one of the reasons that most of us turn to unhealthy food. Also, it is convenient and we are low on time. My best advice for eating well is to keep nutritious snacks (pretzels, fruit, etc.) in your room instead of chips and cookies. When you eat at the dining commons, remember that the food is going to be there tomorrow. You don?t have to have the pizza, a burger, fries, AND a salad.

As far as exercise, most college gyms offer free classes for students. Take advantage of these! You could also benefit from a few minor life adjustments:

1) Park your car as far away from your dorm as possible.
2) Take the stairs instead of the elevator
3) Do homework while on the stationary bike at the gym.
4) Lift small hand weights while watching T.V.

Hope this helps, good luck!

College and alcohol
by: robertphilend

Well if you are like many college students there will be heavy indulging.

Things you should consider: Alcohol can lower the body's metabolism by up to 35%. The amount of food is not as crucial as the type of food. As little as an hour of exercise per week can aid in weight loss.

Alcohol consumption is greater in college then in any other period of the average persons life. As mentioned before alcohol can lower the metabolism by up to 35%.

You should also consider that a single beer is usually over 100 empty calories. A single shot is usually lower then a beer, clear liquor lower then dark. Consider how much you drink and of what.

Remember the food pyramid. And try to exercise 3xs 20 mins. per week.

College Students Should Avoid Late Night Eating
by: Joanie

I understand how it is in college, being a college grad myself. The hardest part is not eating so much late at night and making sure you eat at normal times. I know this is hard to do when everyone wants to order a pizza at midnight, but eating habitually in the late evening is a good guarantee that you?ll put on weight. Our metabolism slows when we sleep.
Also, do not skip breakfast. Since it?s so tempting to stay up late, and therefore eat late, it seems like the right thing to do to skip breakfast when you?re not hungry in the morning. Avoid this eating pattern. Eat something for breakfast, including protein of some sort. Eat at lunchtime. Eat at suppertime. However, don?t overeat at these times. Really try not to overeat in the evening. If you are hungry, then eat one piece of pizza or something light with your friends.
Make sure you?re hungry in the morning, when you?re supposed to be. It?s called ?breakfast,? which means breaking the fast of the night. This will jumpstart your metabolism.

Simple Choices
by: Rachel

There are a lot of really simple choices you can make that will help you keep the weight off.

Drop the soda - drink water instead. Walk to class if you live on campus, or park on the far side of the parking lot if you don't. Try to work a phys-ed class into your schedule whenever you can.

As for something quick... Have you considered either Wii Fit or Dance Dance Revolution? They only take a few minutes at a time, and let you have some fun as well as helping you stay in shape.

Most of all, though, the key is just finding something that you can stick with, and enjoy, otherwise it'll get brushed aside the first time you stay up too late, or have an assignment due.

work out
by: Anonymous

Yeah i used to have the same problem and still do sometimes but i planned to keep myself together and take some time off to focus on my weight and keeping myself healthy.
Its difficult to take some time out when you already have a lot of stuff to do. But i developed a habit of some light exercise throughout my day like talking the stairs instead of elevators it really helps because you eat junk all day and you don't really keep a track of it in this way when you're taking stairs at least you're getting some sort of exercise and movement instead of standing in the elevator.
Other than that if u have time before going to sleep try light heavy weight lifting with dumbbells do like 20 of those its enough and it will also keep your upper part in perfect position or maybe if u have a treadmill do jogging for about 10-15 mins and its more than enough.
It will be hard in the beginning but then later on you and your body will be able to develop of habit of exercising daily even for 10-15 minutes. I wouldn't recommend any diet because i don't do it myself. So i really don't believe in this all diet system i believe in eating whatever I can and then working out. Keeps me all toned and healthy.

College
by: Nafees

Food (diet control) should be maintained. To maintain your body, you should run 1500 metres daily (preferably in early morning).

Daily do exercise for all parts of body. Try to eat five eggs daily. Drink water abundantly.
Seven hours of sleep is very essential for healthy body.

Yogasanas are very useful to the body. (Editor's note: Yogasanas are positions used in yoga, the Hindu discipline aimed at training the consciousness. -- Dr. Dan)

Those yogasanas are of many types. They are body yogasanas, eye yogasanas and Kayakalpam. Doing all these will provide peace to the mind and help to gain a lot of energy.

Running daily will help to provide stamina and increase the total energy content of the body.

It is very healthy to drink juice daily.

Circuit Training
by: Saba

I used to work for a weight loss centre that used circuit training for weight loss. Circuit training basically means a series of machines which you spend a limited and short amount of time on, for example 30 seconds or 45 seconds each. This way you can get a good workout without having to spend a lot of time on it.

Where I worked we had a workout for only under 30 minutes. You could join a gym like that which offers this type of workout. Curves is a good one.
Or if you think you can?t afford one, then just make up a circuit of your own. Mix it up, by using resistance bands.

Let?s make a mock one for you. The only thing you need for this is a timer, or just keep an eye on the clock. 30 seconds are usually easy to keep track of, on the clock.

Start with dumbbells doing bicep curls for 30 seconds.

Then without delay, jog on the spot for 30 seconds.

Then get on the floor and do situps continuously for 30 seconds.

Then do jumping jacks for 30 seconds. Etc.

Try to work out all muscles of the body, and in the above example you can tell that you?re taking turns working on specific muscles, and then doing cardio like jumping jacks or jogging.

Just make a circuit like that for yourself lasting only 30 minutes, which means 60 different exercises (you can repeat some too, especially the cardio ones) and do these 3-4 times a week only. It?s great on time, and will give you good results too. I hope this helps.

Over-night fasting
by: Santhosh

I am a college student and I was noticeably over weight after I joined college. During my school days I used to play and so there was no chance of gaining wait.

But its not the same lifestyle in college and so I followed the following regimen and it was effective. I also made this as a regular practice and planned according to my body requirement. I deal with health science subjects and so I was confident in this.

Diet and Exercise is required to maintain body weight and also to have fitness. Early morning food, i.e. Breakfast is very important. Have a heavy breakfast. And during the lunch you can have what ever you feel to eat but in normal amount. Do not over-eat...

But for dinner have less. Avoid food that contains fat and meat. And do not eat after 7 or 8 in the night.

If you are going to take breakfast at 8 o'clock in the morning make sure you followed the over-night fasting from 7 in the night till 8 in the morning.

You must do some mild exercise in the morning so that your excess reserve of fat is utilized in the morning. Otherwise this excess energy will be converted into fat.

Have a normal diet during the day, that is for breakfast and lunch. During the day metabolism is maximum so no problem of fat deposition. But during the night our metabolism is slow so we must eat less or avoid dinner for best results.

If we eat less or avoid food in the night and our morning exercise burns all extra fat and energy, we will not have anything to store as fat.

Over-night fasting is really effective.

Change it Up!
by: Meaghan

I'm a college student also, and I also went through this process a couple of months ago. The fastest way to lose weight is to combine track workouts and weight training. No, you don't have to run a marathon, but running in itself is a complete workout for the whole body.

Also, weight training is essential. Why? because when you work your muscles your body continues to burn calories longer throughout the day, whereas a simple cardio workout only sustains calorie burns for a limited time.

And don't think you will bulk up by doing weight machines, for women, unless you're taking supplements. It's extremely hard to bulk up like a bodybuilder.

After just a month of regular exercise using this plan, just working out every other day I looked significantly different both to myself and others. Good luck!

Very good question.
by: Sushil

Ya, as a college student everyone has a dream like you have "a perfect body structure".

My advice is please don't take any dieting pills, because those pills 'may or may not' Directly or Indirectly' affect you.

Option 1: Take a deep breath in and exhale entirely from your mouth (as the stomach should be compressed)practice daily for at least 10 min in morning. You will be surly benefited, as me.

Option 2: Have a good run in the morning

The option 1 is easier and more beneficial

TAEBO
by: Jamie Summers

When I was in college I did this kick butt Taebo tape 3 to 4 days a week and it only took 30 minutes. Taebo gets every part of your body that you want to tone up. I did my Taebo between classes and was able to tone up and keep it maintained for as long as I wanted. This tape was the best thing Ive ever tried when it comes to weight loss. I am not a huge fan of the gym or dieting. One of my most favorite things in life is the wonderful foods we have and I couldn't give that up so this tape made it so I could have it all! I definitely encourage everyone to do Taebo. Billy Blanks is the best one in my opinion!

simple
by: Anonymous

drink water with honey daily. it will reduce your weight. you can see the improvement after one month. and drinking water is very very useful for reducing the weight. dieting is not useful.
exercise regularly. swimming is the best for losing the weight. and also kick boxing. don't sleep after eating. it increase your weight. don't be lazy. don't eat oily food. eat only vegetarian. don't eat chocolate, ice cream, cake etc. it will increase your weight. don't eat non-vegetarian. walking is the best exercise and also cycling. it will reduce your weight fast. eat any fruit every day. don't eat spicy food. don't eat high calories food.

2 Easy Steps
by: Amanda

I am a recent college graduate and I?ve had some trouble keeping in shape. However, there are really only two things you need to do in order to stay in shape, eat well and workout.

First and foremost, skip the 10 for $10 deals at the grocery store and go for fresh produce and lean protein. It?s easy to get caught up in buying boxes of macaroni and cheese or Ramen noodles, but eating low fat chicken or fish and fresh fruits and vegetables will have you feeling better, which in turn will put a spring in your step.

Also, one of the benefits of being a college student is getting a free gym membership! That?s one thing I definitely miss. Find a couple of friends to work out with and stick to a regimen. Its easier to stay committed with a little help from a workout buddy.

Staying in Shape While in College
by: Monica Ortiz

I am a full-time college student and mother of two children. I can understand how hard it is to stay in shape when a lot of your studying involves sitting down while reading or writing. Let's be honest, you don't burn a lot of calories that way.
What I do in the morning is simply jog in place for a few minutes, do a set of crunches, and a set of push-ups (can be "girly" style with knees on floor). Repeat this three times. It doesn't take long, but it will definitely help.
Another tip is to drink plenty of water. Especially drinking a full glass before a meal will help you not eat as much. Also, start your meals by eating the healthiest foods first so by the time you get to unhealthy options, you probably won't eat as much of it.

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