[ferreinm]

How it all began...

Back in October I went to my doctor for the annual check-up. I thought nothing of it as I’m typically a really healthy person so I didn’t expect much. However, this time something was different. He informed me that I was now obese and that I needed to lose a lot of weight.

How could I not have noticed that I was obese? Why didn’t anyone tell me that I had shot up an extra 60 pounds in such a short amount of time? Midterms, essays, extracurricular activities and personal problems all led to my ignorance of how I looked physically. I got so caught up in helping everyone and maintaining my grades that I forgot to take care of myself.

For those of you who gained your freshman fifteen this year or who have accumulated a few extra pounds over the years I assure you that weight loss is possible even if right now it only seems to be as far away as the stars.

Diet

First, you need to change your diet. This was probably the biggest challenge for me. We tend to grab food that is quick and easy to eat. Plus, who doesn’t love a chocolate bar or a bag of chips? I didn’t cut junk food out completely but I definitely reduced it. Whenever you’re craving a snack, grab a fruit or chew on a piece of gum. Gum has at max 5 calories whereas a bag of chips can have around 300.

When you drink your coffee or tea don’t add milk and sugar to it. Cut out carbonated drinks and alcohol. One alcoholic beverage can have more calories in it than if you ate two breakfasts. For breakfast, I tend to eat Special K cereal with fat free milk.

For dinner, eat something light and don’t eat past 7pm no matter how tempting it is. Resistresistresist. Eating slowly will also help you lose weight because you’ll fill up on a smaller amount of food. Drink water several times a day.

Second, you need to exercise. It can definitely be challenging to motivate yourself to actually get to the gym. Instead of using the elliptical for half an hour, why not try fitness classes or dance classes to help you work off some of that extra baggage?

Fitness
Fitness classes are easier to go to mainly because you’ll be doing it with other people and they’re much more fun than running on a treadmill. You’re also using far more muscles and you can actually feel a difference by the end of your first class. If you’re not in Hamilton and are on a tight budget you can go to your local community center and go to fitness classes and utilize the gym and pool for less than $50 a month.

Walk or bike to your destination instead of taking the bus or driving. It may take you longer but it’s worth it. Weight loss can be done by walking as long as you walk over 10, 000 steps a day. Take the stairs whenever you can. When you need to use the washroom find one on a different floor so that you’re walking a greater distance and using stairs.

Hamilton is a pretty scenic city. You can go for walks in Cootes Paradise and since the ground is uneven you’ll be working your muscles that much harder. You can also explore and try to discover all of the waterfalls Hamilton has by foot. It’ll be great to relieve stress to and to help you on your journey to fit into your old jeans again.

Sleep
Get a regular sleeping schedule. Go to bed early because sleep deprivation will deprive you of your ability to lose weight. Besides it’s nice not being super groggy in the morning!

Motivation
Keeping your motivation up will be the most challenging part. Find a friend or a neighbour to work out with. Once you start losing your first few pounds you’ll eventually be on a roll and will naturally want to keep exercising. However, when you’re not seeing results rapidly we often get discouraged.

If something isn’t working, stop and try something else instead. For example, I did 500 crunches a day and I never got a flat stomach. Instead, I just doubled up on my cardio. I do about two hours of cardio a day, 6 days a week and I’ve noticed that I’ve actually been losing more fat this way.

Every body is different. What worked for me might not necessarily work for you. I’ve dropped about 7 dress sizes since October and I’m still losing weight as days go by. I don’t really have a before or after picture to show because really who wants to take pictures of themselves once they realize they’ve really let themselves go.

Final Thoughts
However, if you do follow the steps that I’ve follow I assure you you’ll be well on your way to a healthy weight loss. Once you’ve reached your desired goal be sure to maintain that weight rather than starting off for that downward spiral once again.


Best of luck!

[lorend]

This is very good as well as very personal article outlining your journey, Nicole. Well done.

[JEFF_CHAN]

Counting calories helps. A lot.



Also try to fight peer pressure. I mean I'm not saying don't go if they wanna hang out, but either have something light before heading out or just really watch what you eat.

I lost like 10 pounds the first two months of so of first year... Then some people decided to make it a tradition to go to Boston pizza and share like 3 large pizzas once a week, ending off with a huge chocolate cake for dessert, and invited me along with them.

By the end of first year I had a net loss of 15 pounds, but yeah, there's a sudden decrease in the rate I was losing weight there

(granted it wasn't the only factor, but yeah, I'd say it was a pretty big one...) >_>

[adrian]

I got myself a pair of nike shoes with the Nike+ chip. Doing 3k per day(with rest days) is feeling amazing.

I'm not watching calories all the time, just making sure I eat good food. For example, my dinner is usually a pita, feta, a tomato, and hummus. Tasty stuff, very filling, and it's pretty good for calories. My point is don't starve yourself, just eat better things and exercise intensely. I find this works.

[feonateresa]

Awesome article Nicole! It's definitely a struggle for most everybody, because most people don't like some part of themselves.

I've lost over twenty pounds since coming to McMaster. I think it had to do with eating smaller portions -- I was cooking for myself and was working with a tighter budget so that meant I wasn't raiding my mother's fridge. (And you know, moms love to feed you like crazy haha). When I was in highschool, I went out for lunch almost everyday. It adds up. Once I cut that out and could only go out to dinner once in a while, that helped out a lot.

Walking does a lot for you indeed! I walk to and from work at university plaza, and since I usually don't have bus tickets, I walk to McMaster when I need to and today I walked to Westdale and back (I live pretty close to Dundas). I only take a bus if I'm going on a trip to Toronto.

Drink lots of water too, if you've been eating junk food, it helps to cleanse your system of toxins and other bad stuff. I went to the gym pretty regularly at the beginning of the year and was seeing some improvements, but then I got seriously sick and couldn't go anymore. Just going on the elliptical for an hour and running the track will help build your endurance and shed calories.

It's really not easy at all, but I think if you slowly just change your lifestyle a bit, it does wonders in the long run.

[Jaff24]

I think the stuff in your food (carsb, fats, proteins, sodium, sugar) has a bigger effect than counting calories mainly because it allows you to choose healthier alternatives.

Nicole how did you manage to fit in working out with going to classes and maintaining a social life. As an incoming freshman I keep hearing that we have to stay on top of our work if we dont want to get a bad GPA. What was your schedule like?

[adrian]

Clarification: I run the 3k.

Now, it's kinda hard during the year because of other demands on students. So don't worry if you're sacrificing body tone for study time. It's ok to do that. During summer is the perfect time to pick up the slack.

[YoWhat]

Originally Posted by adrian

Clarification: I run the 3k.

Now, it's kinda hard during the year because of other demands on students. So don't worry if you're sacrificing body tone for study time. It's ok to do that. During summer is the perfect time to pick up the slack.

dude nobody cares how much you run

[dhyong]

I suggest reading this link as well:

http://liamrosen.com/fitness.html

[adrian]

Originally Posted by YoWhat

dude nobody cares how much you run

Good, because that was not my point anyway. My point is that pushing yourself to do as much as possible during the summer will probably help with this weight loss business. I'm sorry that subtlety passed you by.

And a 3k run is nothing to brag about anyway...

[ferreinm]

Originally Posted by Jaff24

Nicole how did you manage to fit in working out with going to classes and maintaining a social life. As an incoming freshman I keep hearing that we have to stay on top of our work if we dont want to get a bad GPA. What was your schedule like?

During the school year I would just walk everywhere and watch my diet. I didn't really work out as intensely as I do now because I was so busy with extra currics. I did back in first year for a while but then midterms hit and you stop working out as much. However, I think it's definitely possible to do at least an hour a day during the school year. I won't be doing as many extra curricular activities as I have in the past though. The Centre for Student Development can help with time management so I think I might ask them for some help to squeeze everything in during the year.

[Marlowe]

Originally Posted by adrian

I got myself a pair of nike shoes with the Nike+ chip. Doing 3k per day(with rest days) is feeling amazing.

I just started running and am doing about the same distance. My current shoes aren't great for running, and I was looking into getting something Nike+. Where did you end up going to get them/how much were they? Did they check your stride/arch there? Would you recommend the Nike+ chip, or do you find it isn't that useful?

I'm already using mapmyrun.com for distance, but I would really like to look at my pace and get a more accurate look at time while I'm running (don't have a watch), so that's what I'd primarily be using it for.

[zombiejesus]

Check out the Vibram Fivefingers shoes... I picked them up a few weeks ago and they've really changed the way I run and gives a great (ie initially crippling haha) calf workout.

[adrian]

Originally Posted by Marlowe

I just started running and am doing about the same distance. My current shoes aren't great for running, and I was looking into getting something Nike+. Where did you end up going to get them/how much were they? Did they check your stride/arch there? Would you recommend the Nike+ chip, or do you find it isn't that useful?

I'm already using mapmyrun.com for distance, but I would really like to look at my pace and get a more accurate look at time while I'm running (don't have a watch), so that's what I'd primarily be using it for.

So I went into Sportcheck and wanted to try the Nike livestrong lunar shoes. Those shoes feel just AMAZING to wear which is why they probably cost so much - $120. I have no arches(almost perfectly flatfooted) so I didn't need to ask about that(I'm sure they would help you with arches/etc.).

Now about the chip: You need to have a supported iPod or iPhone, which I do. It's $25 spearately from the shoes, and you can use it with any shoe(if its not a Nike+ shoe, just get a pouch or a mini ziplock or search google on how to attach it to your shoe). The thing is that you can calibrate the sensor to your stride using a treadmill or any known distance which you can look up using mapmyrun I guess. Apparently it's pretty accurate out of the box so I didn't even bother with this.

The cool thing is to run every day and see yourself improve. I find that it's the BEST motivator for me. So the chip was def. worth it.

Also there are fluff features such as "powersong" and calories/distance/best Km

Hope this helps

[Marlowe]

I actually don't like running with music (plus my iPod is from before they had colour, so I don't think its supported ), and was planning on using the wristband. Would you still feel it was worth it if you had to pay $60 for it?

Also, zombiejesus, did you order them online or buy them in person?