[Jake22]

(Original post by olivia_w92)
Does anybody have any tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle at university, as in on a low budget and nights out which involve rather a lot of alcohol!

You have to be realistic. If I said "How do I lose weight whilst eating a large Dominos Pizza four nights a week?" then you would probably say "That is too much - you should cut down and only eat that much once a week or so."

Now read "5 pints" instead of "pizza" and it still makes sense. Just take it easy on the booze on your average cosy Wednesday night in the pub or whatever and save the splurges for weekends or special nights or whatever.

Also, try and eat all of your days food before you go drinking so you aren't mad hungry afterwards and go for a kebab or something.

[EffKayy]

Can someone tell me how you're supposed to maintain ? Cheers

[tinktinktinkerbell]

i had 2114 cals yesterday

tuna wraps with salsa and jalapenos

4 bags of crisps

calazone pizza

plain cod with 2 potato skins with cheese and onion filling

i burnt 190 messing on my wii games so i really ate 1924

OH is counting cals with me so its keeping me motivated

[olivia_w92]

(Original post by Jake22)
You have to be realistic. If I said "How do I lose weight whilst eating a large Dominos Pizza four nights a week?" then you would probably say "That is too much - you should cut down and only eat that much once a week or so."

Now read "5 pints" instead of "pizza" and it still makes sense. Just take it easy on the booze on your average cosy Wednesday night in the pub or whatever and save the splurges for weekends or special nights or whatever.

Also, try and eat all of your days food before you go drinking so you aren't mad hungry afterwards and go for a kebab or something.

That was just an example of university life, I understand that alcohol is extremely high in calories and I only really splurge once or twice a week. Must admit though, I am terrible for eating after nights out, me and my housemates have all agreed to not do it so we will have determination in numbers!

[Emaemmaemily]

(Original post by hannydee)
I figured though, that with my BMR being 1530, when I add onto that my average daily activity that brings the amount I'd burn each day up to around 2100 and that's before exercise! If I only aimed for 1200, that'd be giving me a daily deficit of 900cals which I think is way too big and would make me lose weight far too quickly/cause my body to go into starvation mode/lose muscle rather than fat.
I've read you should never eat much less than your BMR so I'm trying to find a good balance! If I eat 1500 that's a total deficit of around 600 per day which should give me a weight loss of just over 1lb a week (and stop me feeling hungry all the time).

2-3lbs a week is healthy and what's usually the best. That's probably why you're being told 1200 calories. These things do tend to be quite accurate, you may just be finding it hard because you're used to eating more, and will settle into it eventually?

Now I've been doing it for so long, I actually find it hard to each enough to bring it to 1200 calories. I feel I've eaten loads, but then I'll work it out and it's not enough at all and have to eat a bit more.

[marmalady]

(Original post by Emaemmaemily)
2-3lbs a week is healthy and what's usually the best. That's probably why you're being told 1200 calories. These things do tend to be quite accurate, you may just be finding it hard because you're used to eating more, and will settle into it eventually?

Now I've been doing it for so long, I actually find it hard to each enough to bring it to 1200 calories. I feel I've eaten loads, but then I'll work it out and it's not enough at all and have to eat a bit more.

I guess it depends on the person though. 2-3lbs a week is great, I'm not denying that, but any time I've eaten ~1200 and lost 2-3lbs a week in the past it's always crept back on again. Hoping that this time if I do something that's sustainable (i.e. eating 1500 a day to prevent hunger & cravings) then yes, the loss will be slower, but I won't be losing muscle, and hopefully I will keep the weight off for life!

[dreaminchicken]

(Original post by hannydee)
I guess it depends on the person though. 2-3lbs a week is great, I'm not denying that, but any time I've eaten ~1200 and lost 2-3lbs a week in the past it's always crept back on again. Hoping that this time if I do something that's sustainable (i.e. eating 1500 a day to prevent hunger & cravings) then yes, the loss will be slower, but I won't be losing muscle, and hopefully I will keep the weight off for life!

I had a blip last weekend that lasted about four days and although I'm back into my routine it is a struggle and I'm more hungry than usual. Been pretty stressed the last week though and out of sync with everything, not sleeping right and I'm finding that I'm getting hungry when normally I wouldn't be. I do eat when I am hungry but it's a battle not to have some comfort food.

Although I had a blip, really and truly I only had two days where I didn't exercise and those days I was physically active anyway. And I wasn't eating total junk, just not as good as it should have been. I've been feeling rubbish about it and beating myself up about it but I think it's time to forget about it and move on. Gonna weigh myself Mon morning and pray that I haven't put any real weight on. I'm hitting the gym tomo afternoon and might even see if I can manage to do some weights before I go.

I really pushed myself at the gym today with the cardio so I let myself off from doing a toning dvd tonight. How are you getting on at gym? Had your weigh-in yet?

[marmalady]

(Original post by dreaminchicken)

I really pushed myself at the gym today with the cardio so I let myself off from doing a toning dvd tonight. How are you getting on at gym? Had your weigh-in yet?

Don't worry too much about your blip - we all have them and hopefully since, as you said, you were still pretty active, it won't have had any impact on your overall progress

I'm getting on pretty well at the gym. I still love it! However, I was supposed to go today but my car's decided to break down(! Really crap - the back left wheel is completely jammed up. Going to get the boy to take a look tomorrow so fingers crossed he can sort it) So anyway I stayed at home today and did the 30 Day Shred instead. Also managed a little dog walk when the rain (eventually) eased off.
Will be at the gym again tomorrow though because my parents want to come and check it out (since it's 'bring a guest' weekend) therefore I get a free lift, woo!

I weighed myself at the gym last Saturday so in the 2 weeks from 28th August to 10th Sept I'd lost 4lbs and 2.5% body fat. Next official weigh-in is next weekend but judging by my scales at home I've lost 1-2lbs this week too so we're all on track

Be sure to let us know how you get on with your weigh-in on Monday!

[Emaemmaemily]

It is my 21st Birthday tomorrow!!! YAYYYY.
So I will definately go over my calorie count, but one day shouldn't hurt too much.

[marmalady]

Happy Birthday for tomorrow Ema/Emma/Emily! (Sorry, not sure which is your name, haha) x

[Emaemmaemily]

(Original post by hannydee)
Happy Birthday for tomorrow Ema/Emma/Emily! (Sorry, not sure which is your name, haha) x

Haha, it's Emily. Thanks x

[dreaminchicken]

(Original post by hannydee)

Will be at the gym again tomorrow though because my parents want to come and check it out (since it's 'bring a guest' weekend) therefore I get a free lift, woo!

I weighed myself at the gym last Saturday so in the 2 weeks from 28th August to 10th Sept I'd lost 4lbs and 2.5% body fat. Next official weigh-in is next weekend but judging by my scales at home I've lost 1-2lbs this week too so we're all on track

Be sure to let us know how you get on with your weigh-in on Monday!

I forgot it was bring a friend weekend. No wonder it was absolutely heaving today. Hopefully will be quiet tomo afternoon by the time I get there. Congratulations on the weight loss, I bet you're over the moon. I'll let you know how Monday goes. I will be happy if it hasn't changed to be honest. Fingers crossed x

(Original post by Emaemmaemily)
It is my 21st Birthday tomorrow!!! YAYYYY.
So I will definately go over my calorie count, but one day shouldn't hurt too much.

Happy Birthday for tomo Emily x

[ChelseyElla]

(Original post by Emaemmaemily)
It is my 21st Birthday tomorrow!!! YAYYYY.
So I will definately go over my calorie count, but one day shouldn't hurt too much.

Happy Birthday

[Chrisateen]

(Original post by Emaemmaemily)
It is my 21st Birthday tomorrow!!! YAYYYY.
So I will definately go over my calorie count, but one day shouldn't hurt too much.

Happy birthday and enjoy yourself






Weighed myself today and found out I have now lost 99lbs which is really annoying as I was hoping to have lost 100lbs today

[blahhh]

(Original post by Chrisateen)
Happy birthday and enjoy yourself


Weighed myself today and found out I have now lost 99lbs which is really annoying as I was hoping to have lost 100lbs today

99lbs is still fantastic! I know its frustrating though, but you are still an inspiration!

I've been good for the past few days, I've found that writing down my meal plan for the day is helping me stick to it

It'll be even better tomorrow when uni starts again and I'm out of the house from 9-5! I find its when I'm sat around not doing alot that I feel the constant need to eat, though I have been making sure I drink alot more...I'm sure most of my hunger pangs are infact telling me I need water

[myblueheaven339]

I'm starting my PGCE tomorrow and I'll be out of the house for up to 12 hrs as I'm commuting. Can anyone recommend some good lunches and snacks that I can take as a packed lunch that won't be too manky by the time I get round to eating them? I'm lactose intolerant btw.

[SoapyDish]

(Original post by myblueheaven339)
I'm starting my PGCE tomorrow and I'll be out of the house for up to 12 hrs as I'm commuting. Can anyone recommend some good lunches and snacks that I can take as a packed lunch that won't be too manky by the time I get round to eating them? I'm lactose intolerant btw.

I really like stuff like chicken salad sandwiches, but the salad always makes the bread go soggy. So I make up a chicken sandwich, and then I have a Tupperware container with two sections - I put salad, cucumber and tomatoes in one, and some chopped up fruit (apples, plums etc) in the other. Plus a bag of Sainsbury's Basics crisps (~100 calories) and I'm good to go

If you've got facilities like a microwave or toaster, you could make something more interesting. I always find hot food is more filling than cold! Yesterday at work I toasted a pitta bread and filled it with houmous and microwaved falafels.

Couscous is very low in fat and healthy, and you can prepare it the night before and eat it cold. Once you've rehydrated it with boiling water and let it cool, you can add stuff like spring onions, cherry tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, chunks of chicken/ham/Quorn.

Snackwise, if you want something that feels a bit more indulgent than carrot sticks, Boots Shapers have a good range of snacks that are packaged into portions of around 100 calories. I particularly love their maple popcorn - it's a much bigger bag than you'd get of crisps, so it feels really indulgent! And their "double chocolate bar" is pretty much a Milky Way with a thinner layer of chocolate.

If you want to take something cold, you can put an ice pack in your lunchbox/bag with it (or a frozen bottle of water works just as well, and is really refreshing on a hot day - not that we'll have many more of them!)

[xoxAngel_Kxox]

(Original post by EffKayy)
Can someone tell me how you're supposed to maintain ? Cheers

I think that's a little more like trial and error than losing/gaining.. do you know what your BMR is? Try making that your net, and eat more to account for any exercise you might be doing. But try eating/exercising a certain amount for a week, then just check to see if you've maintained. Depending on the outcome, you can tweak your diet a little bit for the next week. That's what I plan to do, anyway.

(Original post by Emaemmaemily)
Now I've been doing it for so long, I actually find it hard to each enough to bring it to 1200 calories. I feel I've eaten loads, but then I'll work it out and it's not enough at all and have to eat a bit more.

Me too! I've found loads of "low calorie" alternatives for things which means I eat the same amount as I did a couple of months back, but have like 300 cals left over at the end of the day! I normally have a banana and some peanut butter if that's the case, but I need to sort it so that I don't have to do that.

(Original post by Emaemmaemily)
It is my 21st Birthday tomorrow!!! YAYYYY.
So I will definately go over my calorie count, but one day shouldn't hurt too much.

Happy 21st for tomorrow :-). I DEMAND that you eat LOTS of crap :-). Everyone's allowed a day off on their birthday! I had a week off, lol.

[Rob16]

Eating healthily is SO much easier at uni!

[blahhh]

(Original post by Rob16)
Eating healthily is SO much easier at uni!

It seriously is!!!! No parents coming home with doughnuts/ offering biscuits around etc