Staying healthy during college years is not an easy task, amongst the parties and the cheap convenience foods, it is fair to say that dieting is not usually high on too many people’s agenda. Like me, my friend Dayan Volitich is a freshmen at Fresno State, and we have been trying for the last year to avoid too much indulgence, and focus on a healthy lifestyle. What we have found is that the best way in which we can stay on top of our diet plans, is with some handy tricks too keep us focussed and committed. I thought I’d share them with you so that if you are after that summer body, you can hopefully use these hacks to stay on top of your diet.
Any Given Sunday
The importance of Sunday cannot be underestimated as this is the day that we go shopping and prepare our food for the week. During the week when you are studying or working, it can be so difficult to stay on top of your healthy eating, especially if you haven’t planned. It is during these moments when we go for some convenience food, which invariably is unhealthy. What we generally do is go to the supermarket on a Sunday morning and stock up, then on the afternoon we prepare meals to freeze or chill, cut up salad and get all of our meals ready for the week.
Food Containers
The first thing that I recommend that you buy for your diet is a whole bunch of food containers of many sizes. Fill them up with meals, snacks like celery and cucumber and they will be super handy for you to carry around.
Challenge
I am lucky that I have a friend to do this with and in my view, doing it together has ensured that we both stick to the plan. At least once a month I call my friend or she calls me, because we are having a bad day and want to eat some junk. I know that in these moments, were I not to have a support partner, I would definitely give in to the cravings. Having a buddy also helps to push you further with exercise and make sure that you really make the most out of your time running or at the gym.
Cheat Day
I never used to like the idea of a cheat day because most people told me to do it once per week. The problem with this was that I would have the cheap day, and then carry it on for more days. The solution I have found then, is to have a cheat day on the first day of the month only, usually after I have weighed myself. During the cheat day you can eat whatever you want, but I employ a minimum 2 hours gym rule for the following day.
Try out these tips and see if they help you to stay on top of your weight loss.