Saying goodbye to my freshman fifteen

[LissaLynn]

Hello!

My name is Melissa. I am a Junior at a four year university in Wisconsin, aspiring to be an art teacher. I recently realized that I have gained a little more than the freshman fifteen during the first three years of college... I've gained a whopping 25lbs. I really want to work hard to lose that weight, and then some. My ultimate goal is to get down to 150lbs. I have started working on these goals by changing some of my eating habits. I have also joined a gym with my boyfriend.

I plan on sharing my personal journal with this community and welcome feedback

[LissaLynn]

Well... Today was my first day at the gym.
I would say it was pretty successful.

I started with the first workout of the couch to 5K program.
5 minutes brisk warm-up
then alternate running for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds
20 minutes total

I tried to keep my walk at about 3.5mph and my run between 5-6mph.
I did the whole workout without stopping, which was good.
After that 20 minutes I walked at about 3.5mph for 10 additional minutes.

After the treadmill I for on the bike for 10 minutes. I think it was set to level 4. It was the bike where you sit back.

I was going to do some time on the elliptical, but I'm still kind of afraid of getting on a machine right next to someone.
I would say 40 minutes was a pretty good day for me.

As far as food goes...
I haven't eaten anything but homemade chex mix all day. I know that is REALLY not good... but I just don't feel like eating.

I'm thinking for dinner I will have mini pizzas, or a chicken salad. Wes ate one earlier today and it looked pretty good. We got some new light dressing that might be a better alternative to the Italian dressing I am eating now.

Wes is working and won't be home till 9:30ish, so I'm thinking I might clean some to burn a few more calories.

I am really anxious to loose some weight... because I've put on some pounds, and I'm starting to think that Wes has noticed
I also want to go on vacation for spring break at the end of March, and I have a nice bikini that I used to wear when I would tan in my backyard. I would love to wear that again and not be totally embarrassed.

My goal right now is to lose 15 lbs by March. That will put me down to 170. Still on the chunky side... but not by so much. I don't want to set a higher goal, and then not make it. I feel like not meeting my goal would really discourage me. It seems attainable, I just have to kick it in gear and get going. I'm hoping that having Wes workout at the same place will get me motivated. If he is going to the gym, I'm not going to want to sit home by myself, and if I go to the gym with him, I'm not going to want to look like an idiot by just sitting around and doing nothing.

My goal tomorrow I think will be to get lifting some weights. Maybe Wes will show me how!

Until tomorrow, I'm off to clean... or do something

--Later--
When Wes got home, we went back to the gym. I wasn't really tired, and he was game for going to give it a try.

I did ten minutes on the elliptical to start.
Then, I did 35-40 minutes of weight training with Wes. I think it was a huge help to have him there with me. I know for a fact I wouldn't have put half the effort in if I would have been doing it on my own. I don't really know how to lift, so I just did what he did. My arms are feeling it right now!

Got home and made a tuna sandwich because I was hungry.
Kinda can't wait to lay in bed and read

[LissaLynn]

Last night I did not sleep well at all.
I kept waking up, over and over again.

I am sore today. I can definitely feel my workout from yesterday!

I didn't eat breakfast, because I woke up at noon, but I just ate a great salad. Yummy hearts of romaine, with a chicken breast, a few croutons, some Parmesan cheese, and some light sun dried tomato vinaigrette dressing.

I am planning on getting to the gym for a quick workout before the football games start. I think that if I can get to the gym and at least do something on the days after I weight train and do my C25K run, I can still make some progress.

I will be very excited if I weigh myself in a couple days and see that I have lost some weight! I know that will keep me motivated to keep working hard.

---Later---

Got to the gym and did a 25 minute walk/jog. I was a little worried about jogging the C25K workout for the second day in a row since I have to do it again tomorrow... but I did it and hopefully I will be able to do it again tomorrow.

[LissaLynn]

I'm heading to the gym later tonight for the third night since I joined Anytime Fitness. I have been anxious to get there and work out, which I am pretty proud of myself for!

I got one session with a personal trainer when I signed up for AF, so I think I will sign up for that sometime next week.

In the mean time, I made a spreadsheet and used the fitness planner to make three workouts for myself.
Chest/back
Arms/shoulders
Legs

I will do these on the opposite days I do my Couch to 5k walk/jogs. I also made a spreadsheet for these so I can track how far/fast I am going!

Working out 6 days a week might be a little ambitious with my class schedule for this semester, but I think this is the best start I have gotten! I usually tell myself that I am going to lose weight, work out for a day, then stop...

I had half a bagel and some yogurt when I woke up this morning. It was good, but I had a hard time with the yogurt. Sometimes I just can't take yogurt. I had a hard time forcing myself to swallow it... For lunch/dinner I had a piece of Talipia (I can never get the spell check on my computer to leave that word alone) and some petite baby red potatoes. That was SUPER yummy. I really wish those little potatoes weren't so many calories though. I had 4 of them. I also ate a whole bag of kettle corn... my bad. Though I thought the side of the box said that there were only 15 calories in 1 cup of popped corn, and 7.5 cups of popped corn in a bag. I hope that is the case otherwise I better work by butt off at the gym!

[LissaLynn]

Today was a successful day.

I slept in again. Got up this morning and had a cup of coffee. We had a huge snow storm here, and I had to get my books from textbook rental on campus. Wes and I trudged through sever inches of snow in the unplowed sidewalks to the bookstore. The line was super long, it was hot, and I couldn't wait to get home.

When we did get home, I ate lunch. A grilled cheese on wheat, and some soup that I didn't like (it was expired... might be why). Sat around a bit, read the forums, etc.

Before dinner we made it to the gym. I did a leg workout that I planned on the AH website, and did a little cardio on the treadmill since Wes and his brother were still lifting. I didn't burn my goal, but I still ate just under my calories, so I'm not too worried. I am planning on going to the gym 6 days a week anyways. Today was day 4.

Dinner was shrimp Alfredo, which I was looking forward to and loved. I made it lighter by replacing some of the butter with skim milk, and I used whole wheat pasta instead of the normal stuff. Totally worth it either way. Alfredo is my weakness...

We watched some Jersey Shore, and I drank some milk. I get cravings for sweets after dinner, and I really don't know how to satisfy them. Tonight, chocolate milk did it for me.

Classes start tomorrow, so I am going to try to get to bed at a decent hour. I'm nervous, but excited at the same time. I have to get back into drawing, which I hate... so we will see how that goes. Planning on hitting the gym tomorrow night to do the last workout for week one of C25K. I predict that it will kick my butt yet again.

Until tomorrow!

[Jessica29]

Hi Lisa,
Welcome! Although I'm graduating from college this year, I still understand that it can be extremely difficult however, you can definitely do it! I'll be following along!!

[phoenix87]

Hey Melissa! I'm also looking to lose some of the weight I gained during school but I graduated about a year ago. I'm doing couch to 5k too. Halfway through week 3 now. Keep up the great work. I'm subbing since it's cool to see someone else doing this running program; so far it seems to be doing a good job of easing me in to jogging.