Hello lovely readers,
I am waiting for blogging to just click into my daily schedule, but it just hasn't happened yet. I can't wait to be one of those bloggers who has updates at least once, sometimes twice a day! Once I get going, I love it and it seems effortless to write for hours!
Though I have quite a to-do list of blog posts that I plan on getting to, I wanted to blog today on my summer work-out/healthy eating plan. My boyfriend and I were chatting last night, and I was whining about how bad I have been about blogging regularly. We were talking a lot about how we want to push each other to eat healthily and work out, especially when we both move back to Charleston. So he suggested that I blog about my plans to become a health-nut!
As any one who has finished their first year of college or first year on your own, you more than likely share my struggle of eating healthy and exercising regularly. While I was in high school, I swam competitively in the fall, went straight into playing basketball throughout the winter months and then my senior year I went straight into soccer season. I worked out every day, and could essentially eat whatever I wanted. I have never been skinny, but I've always been athletic and fairly tall (5'7''). On top of that, my family has never been big on junk food. We occasionally have ice cream, or a bag of tortilla chips in the pantry. We usually have a bar of British chocolate laying around, but only after a trip back to England.
I was confident that I would
not be one of those people who let themselves go at college.
I wouldn't go as far as saying I "let myself go" but I definitely got to a point where I stopped feeling healthy. I went to class, gave tours at the College, went out with friends, and studied. First-year students are required to have a meal plan, so my meals were eaten either at Einstein's Bagels (no one told me bagels are SO high in calories), Hungry Cougar (which had deli sandwiches, greasy pizza, the occasional hot-meal and a not-so-impressive salad bar), or our campus cafeteria. Our campus cafeteria is all-you-can-eat and that is where I think I, along with many of my other friends, went wrong. The salad bar is there, but it is so hard to resist all the carbs, desserts, and greasy treats that were just steps away. And fountain drink machines everywhere! It's honestly gross talking about it all.
I am painting a pretty appalling picture, but that is what my options were for meals every day for nine months. Now don't get me wrong, I still worked out. I did Zumba classes, joined an intramural volleyball and basketball team, and second semester I did yoga four times a week, and felt great! But you can't just exercise, and I've realized that.
Next year, I might have a small meal plan, but most of my eating will be done in my kitchen! I can already see the improvement.
So HERE are some of the healthy habits I am determined to make part of my every-day life:
- WATER, WATER, WATER! I'm trying to drink 2 or 3 Nalgene bottles full a day.
- Yoga, zumba, pilates. I have enrolled at Dancing Dog Yoga, and I can't get enough! There are so many fun classes that make you sweat! I'm trying make to four classes per week.
- Run/jog twice a week--this is going to be a challenge for me, because running just isn't my thing. But I'm trying!
- When I'm back in Charleston I want to make an effort to walk down to Waterfront park at least twice a week. (If you know Charleston at all, you know walking and biking becomes a major part of your life!)
- Avoid processed foods, high-sugar items, and high-fructose corn syrup as much as possible. (I know this is a tough one, because if you look at the nutritional facts, you will find that almost everything packaged has high-fructose corn syrup in it. This stuff is bad news...
- Fresh fruits and veggies (especially for snacking!)--I'm a big TV snacker. If I'm watching TV, I want to be munching on something. The other night I had celery sticks with peanut butter, and last night I had a few Wheat Thins and cheese, so much better than chips, cookies or ice cream!
- Cut out soda and tea (This one kills me, I am a true Southern girl and I love my sweet tea, but if it is done right, it has so much sugar brewed into it.)
- Smaller portions
- Healthy eating at restaurants--one of my favorite places to eat out is at Mexican restaurants, I honestly can't get enough. Tortilla chips, salsa, queso, quesadillas, I'm drooling even thinking about it, but one meal can be at least a day's worth of calories, ugh.
- MOST IMPORTANT: Don't try and keep up with your boyfriend's eating habits. I always try, until I realize my honey could probably eat 3500 calories per day and not gain a pound.
That's all for now, hope you all enjoyed reading today's post, and I hope this will inspire you to improve your lifestyle as well!
And if you have any more tips, recipes or advice for me on this topic, please leave comments!
