Diet/Exercise that works for a college student?

[AroundCampus247]

Kajak- thanks for the link. I think I understand the workout routine laid out here. I've downloaded the book and I'm already 15 pages in. Thanks again, this seems to be the workout I was looking for.

The book mentions "Eat every 3 hours, protein with each meal, lots of fruits &
veggies, carbs for energy, 1 gallon water per day for hydration, etc."

It doesn't seem to delve more into how much or how little to eat. What sort of food should I eat every 3 hours? It says protein every meal so I take that as chicken and such, fruits and veggies are pretty simple, what kind of carbs are good for energy?

I want to make sure I'm drinking enough water since lately I don't think I have. I was thinking of getting a water bottle or something from the store and just keeping track of how much I drink with it. Is there a better method or will this work just fine?

 

[Kajak]

Originally Posted by AroundCampus247

Kajak- thanks for the link. I think I understand the workout routine laid out here. I've downloaded the book and I'm already 15 pages in. Thanks again, this seems to be the workout I was looking for.

The book mentions "Eat every 3 hours, protein with each meal, lots of fruits &
veggies, carbs for energy, 1 gallon water per day for hydration, etc."

It doesn't seem to delve more into how much or how little to eat. What sort of food should I eat every 3 hours? It says protein every meal so I take that as chicken and such, fruits and veggies are pretty simple, what kind of carbs are good for energy?

I want to make sure I'm drinking enough water since lately I don't think I have. I was thinking of getting a water bottle or something from the store and just keeping track of how much I drink with it. Is there a better method or will this work just fine?

That will work fine. While the workout is good, look around (as in, other sources) a bit more for some other info regarding nutrition. For example, drinking to thirst (that is, assuming that your body isn't messed up somehow) has been shown to be just as effective as drinking 1 gallon a day. Small meals: he gives examples... I have the opposite problem as you (I do too much aeorbic work and don't eat enough to gain weight), so I don't know how to get optimum nutrition on a small amount of calories.

 

[Abraxis]

So I've lost 100 pounds over the last year from 290 -> 188 - 192. Still have another 15-20 pounds to go. From probably 40+ percent body fat to ~17 - 18. This is over a period of 2 years.

I do my cardio via elliptical and for the most part only eat 1 meal a day.

I think the most important thing is sustainability and to always escalate when you can. I started out my first workout with a basic 10 minutes of cardio. 3 days later I did 15 minutes.

Then the next week I did 2x 20 minutes. Then the week after 3x 20 minutes. Then 25/20/20 blah blah. Today I do 4x 45 minutes a week of elliptical with peak heartrate of about 155-165 hpm and some weight lifting. Next week I'm going to start escalating to 50 minutes each work out. I also bike to work every weekday but that's somewhat trivial as I only work 3.5 miles away.

So there were periods of time where I'd burn out and plateau. When that happens I'd take a 1-4 week break and make sure not to back pedal as far as weight (I'm sure I lost muscle and gained fat though) goes and then start up again. It was like hitting a reset button and I'd start losing weight about as fast as I started it up the first time.

Anyway, that's what has been working for me. I may switch my form of cardio at some point to something different like rowing/running or kickboxing, but I think there are still easy decreases to be mined from the elliptical. I'll probably kick it up to 60 minutes 4x a week and then maybe start alternating something else instead. Once I hit sub 185 I'll probably start thinking about getting in better shape rather than just simple weight loss.

As for diet... yeah I cut back eating out and down a bit on portion size. I also changed the distribution to be more protein/vegetable base (Chicken for protein when I can instead of other stuff) and less carbs. I still eat a lot and my cheat days are pretty epic, but I punish myself by forcing myself to work harder when I do cheat.

Weight loss has been pretty easy once I've started, because I at least am very much getting back what I put into it. I think the biggest hurdle was convincing myself that it was something I really wanted to do after that everything else is pretty simple.

Oh another thing I didn't notice a lot of weight change for the first 1-3 months though I was getting trimmer as evidenced by my waistline. At some point though some sort of switch was flipped although I wasn't doing anything difference and weight started dropping very drastically.

I guess long story short: Start slow and slowly escalate and manage burn out and focus on sustainability. Never give up and don't cut yourself slack except when you feel burn out encroaching or your body breaking down.

 

[Lagrangian]

If your goal is to lose fat (not just scale weight) and maintain muscle, you need to incorporate strength training... which is exactly what you're doing with the SS program.
To lose weight, just shuffle in fewer calories than you expend during the day - calculate your maintenance cals and have your daily intake 500-1000 below that (depending on the type of deficit you can handle and prefer). Meal frequency is of little importance, I think it's best to stick with what you feel good with - be that 3 squares a day of 6 smaller meals, you can try both and see what works for you.

I have to emphasize this: diet is key - it's almost impossible to out-train a bad diet.

Being a college student myself, I know it's sometimes very difficult to prepare all of your own meals, but I'd still advocate bringing in as much of your own foods as you can. Though I'm pretty unaware of the US college lunch menu, I'm sure there are foods you can fit in your daily macros if you haven't had time to bring in your own lunch etc.

Consistency leads to results - keep on at it even though at times it will be difficult.

 

[Sunnydale]

Sure and happy to post a few web sights that might be of help. A couple MD web sights that I have learned diet and supplement information from are: Dr Davis, a cardiologist http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/ & Dr Eades main web sight (Dr Eades, along with his wife, used to run a weight loss clinic.) http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/ I also enjoy Tom Naughton's page. Lots of good diet information there, mixed in with humor. http://www.fathead-movie.com/ Good luck!

 

[mensimageconsultant]

Oatmeal has a reputation for being fuel, but the truth is that any non-tiny source of carbohydrates will provide energy. It's more of a question of use. Fast-burning (most juice drinks, candy) might be okay soon after strenuous exercise. Otherwise, slow-burning tends to be better. Some people will disagree, but more than, say, a pound of animal protein might be bad health-wise. It is unhealthy to eat ***** meats in large amounts. Beans and vegetable protein powder are some alternatives. Switching to a low-sodium diet is safe for most people and can quickly shed pounds of water weight.

One rough measure of drinking enough water is the color of urine - dark suggests dehydration.

 

[virus646]

Originally Posted by mensimageconsultant

Oatmeal has a reputation for being fuel, but the truth is that any non-tiny source of carbohydrates will provide energy. It's more of a question of use. Fast-burning (most juice drinks, candy) might be okay soon after strenuous exercise. Otherwise, slow-burning tends to be better. Some people will disagree, but more than, say,a pound of animal protein might be bad health-wise. It is unhealthy to eat ***** meats in large amounts. Beans and vegetable protein powder are some alternatives. Switching to a low-sodium diet is safe for most people and can quickly shed pounds of water weight.

One rough measure of drinking enough water is the color of urine - dark suggests dehydration.

Why would anyone wants to shred water weight pound other than for a comp or to feel better with an illusion of ''fat loss''?

 

[Kajak]

I've never worried about fast-sugar (aside from before bed) but wouldn't it also be okay before/during exercise? I sip juice sometimes during long weights to keep my energy up (probably mostly psychological though)

 

[Lagrangian]

Originally Posted by mensimageconsultant

It is unhealthy to eat ***** meats in large amounts. Beans and vegetable protein powder are some alternatives. Switching to a low-sodium diet is safe for most people and can quickly shed pounds of water weight.

One rough measure of drinking enough water is the color of urine - dark suggests dehydration.

The low sodium craze is also blown way out of proportion. If your diet is solid, there's no need to fret about sodium.

 

[gvibes]

Originally Posted by Sunnydale

Sure and happy to post a few web sights that might be of help. A couple MD web sights that I have learned diet and supplement information from are: Dr Davis, a cardiologist http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/ & Dr Eades main web sight (Dr Eades, along with his wife, used to run a weight loss clinic.) http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/ I also enjoy Tom Naughton's page. Lots of good diet information there, mixed in with humor. http://www.fathead-movie.com/ Good luck!
Similar to the Eades blog - http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/

Originally Posted by mensimageconsultant

Some people will disagree, but more than, say, a pound of animal protein might be bad health-wise. It is unhealthy to eat ***** meats in large amounts.
To the contrary, the present research seems to encourage eating animal proteins, and even ***** animal proteins. Saturated fat consumption improves HDL profiles, don't you know.

 

[mensimageconsultant]

Why would anyone wants to shred water weight pound other than for a comp or to feel better with an illusion of ''fat loss''?

For precisely that.

Humans are omnivores. Some meat probably is healthy. On the other hand, does any research suggest eating a lot of ***** meat isn't unhealthy?

 

[DerekS]

in college I lived off of beer, *****, and cocaine. May I suggest the same for you.