HoneyPot

So I've been in college for four years now and I didn't start gaining weight noticably till this semester. I'm taking more credits=more stress and I'm a huge emotional eater. Also, I've been eating the worst foods! It seems like I'm always too busy and eating the greasiet things I can get my hands on... i.e. pizza, wendy's, jack in the box, and other fat filled substances. I feel bad afterwards, but I don't know how to control myself anymore! I feel like I'm too busy for food control.... How bad is that?

Any Tips? Any Nutrition people out there who have any tips? Or anyone who has gone through this same dilemma? Help Please or else I will soon be a blimp floating in the sky!

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jt6879

College food control is tough. Your best bet is if you are going to go out, try ordering something a little less harsh than say a Big Mac or sometihng, try one of their salads or a chicken wrap. I know its not the best in the world but its a start and could poss help you break your habit

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kurty[B]

Do you like any fruits or vegetables? Try to limit your restaurant (fast-food or regular restaurant purchases) to just a few times a week; rather than every meal. Go grocery shopping, and buy what you need for the next week. Make a list, stay out of the middle aisles unless you have to grab something that is already on your list (try and leave sweets and potato chips and such off said list). Grab lots of fruits you enjoy, in my case oranges, apples, bananas, and take them with you for a snack throughout the day.

The whole grocery shopping thing, and cooking thing seems like it's a waste of time at first, but if you take five to ten minutes to plan a little you will realize it really is not much out of your day, and in the long run it will help you so much.

Willravel

If you exercise before early classes, you're more likely to get better test scores (based on personal experience). Try running a half a mile every morning before class. It shouldn't exhaust you, but it'll get your heart pumping.

Dilbert1234567

Eat healthier, cook more of your foods, and look in the tilted cooking section for quick recipes. Pesto can be made in bulk and is healthy for you. Eat chicken instead of beef, cut down on soda and other calorie rich foods, clear salad dressing, like vinaigrettes are good.

Or you can always get a tape worm

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HoneyPot

HEHEHE I would prefer a tape worm or mono...one of the two. j/k

I think one of my worst habits if fast food and pizza because uh duh...its fast and easy. Thanks for the advice.

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Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder.

soccerchamp76

Frozen dinners are a big help. Lean cuisine can provide nice meals with a healthy balance of nutrition.

Most of my diet comes from poptarts, hot pockets, frozen tv dinners, and grilled chicken. Just buy a big bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. They take 10-15min to grill (use a George Foremen if you want).

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la petite moi

I agree with Lean Cuisine if you like fast food.

However, my advice is to learn how to cook quick food. There is one thing you should remember that no matter HOW busy you are: you can always have a little time to prepare a quick, but healthy meal. Your body counts on it.

Pasta takes 10 minutes tops- you can also always cook huge pots of it, and divide it into separate little containers with tomato sauce. Cheap and good when you add a little parmesan (if you like or eat cheese), and if you sprinkle on a little garlic salt and Italian seasonings.

Frozen veggies taste fresh and delicious. Defrost/heat green beans with a couple pats of butter, garlic salt, and other seasonings of your choice for three minutes. Voila. Heat peas with salt, and that's great too.

Have five minutes before bed? Cut up some tomatoes, green peppers, and red onions into a small bowl or container. Marinate in garlic salt, a bit of pepper, red wine vinegar, and balsamic vinegar- stick covered bowl/container in fridge overnight. Add parmesan into your container just before leaving the house with a plastic fork.

How about something sweet but good? Like popcorn? Try the 100-calorie packs with cinnamon. Or the kettle corn version. Get pre-cut fruit bowls if you can afford it. Buy a big bag of apples- if you have some time, core/peel/cut into small pieces and then simmer in a big pot with a bit of water/sugar/cinnamon/nutmeg with a lid of it. After a while, the apples will be very soft and you can mash them up with a potato masher. Great fresh applesauce.

soccerchamp76

I forgot about this: VacuumSealing

Get a good vacuum sealer and one day make a ton of food, and individually vacuum seal "meals". Take a package out, reheat, instant meal.

My personal favorite is grilled chicken. Great taste, incredibly healthy (high protein, ~0 fat), and incredibly versatile. Marinade an entire bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts overnight in: olive oil (quite a bit), garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, ground chipotle, oregano. This will make what some people call "southwest chicken". It can still be used for anything and this just adds some flavor to it.
Grill the chicken all at once then individually seal each breast.
Freeze the bags.
When you are ready for a meal, put the chicken in the microwave and defrost. It is then ready for a variety of meals (so you don't get tired of one thing): plain, grilled chicken sandwich, grilled chicken alfredo (boil noodles while defrosting and add sauce), chicken quesadillas, etc.

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Brian Griffin: Ah, if my memory serves me, this is the physics department.
Chris Griffin: That would explain all the gravity.

snowy

Soup!

I was thinking about this today as I worry about getting veggies into my system, especially in wintertime. Soup is fast to make (open a can or carton, microwave, voila), and as long as it's not overloaded with sodium, it's good for you. You can also make huge batches of it when you do have spare time, freeze it in individual containers, and have it ready to use when you're in a pinch. AND you get veggies, plus the liquid of soup is filling. Just make sure it's brothy and not creamy

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thingstodo

Sounds like you know what to do, it's just the self-discipline to do it, especially since you say you're an emotional eater. Perhaps if you get some help to figure that part out you'll benefit. Habits built now can last a lifetime, good or bad. Try a therapist! I've also heard lack of sleep leads to weight gains. 5-6 hours/night can be bad, especially if you need 7-9.

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Toaster126

Yeah, I'm not sure what you want here. There aren't too many weight loss solutions that don't involve getting more exercise and eating less crap.

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surferlove007

Wow! yea, I gained weight at the beginning of college and wasn't really exercising because I was busy, so when I came home my mom pointed it out. Wake up call! Since I got back to school I worked out like crazy and got my muscles back. Find time to go to the gym, it is healthy for you and makes you feel less guilty for eating food. Also, lean pockets are good meals, they're cheap and microwavable, a students best friend.
Toward the end of my semester unfortunately I lost roughly 12 pounds from not eating hardly anything because I was too stressed out and working too much to notice my stomach was yelling at me. This caused me to lose alot of my muscle in my arms, which yet again I'm trying to get back. When I would get back to my dorm I decided sleeping was more important than eating and would just telll myself I would something later. Turned out for nearly 2 weeks of doing that to my body, my appetite slowly went away. So after I got back on schedule I didn't eat large qualities. I couldn't handle more than a couple slices of pizza, everything filled me up.
So moral of the story, make sure you eat healthy foods in moderation, but don't allow yourself to forget to eat like I did.
Walmart has good selection of microwavable dinners that are pretty decent.

Pip

If you want to listen to the idiot who has lived on Red Bull and oatmeal porrige the last week... I chew a lot of gum during stressful periods, partly because I tend to gnash my teeth when I'm stressed = headache, partly because I'm a comfort eater like yourself and chewing gum seems to work as a substitute for comfort food. Also, popcorn. I eat them with chopsticks. It makes a bowl last longer and my fingers don't get all salty and greasy.

And try to eat some fresh fruits and veggies, or you'll get scurvy.

genuinegirly

Make friends. Arrange with friends to switch off cooking. Meet for dinner with these friends every night. Plan healthy meals when it's your turn to cook. Encourage them to do the same. Do not eat fast-food. Make eating an experience. Take a lighter courseload if you can't handle cooking for yourself and doing school. Life will never get any less busy unless you make it less busy.
Stop eating sugar and greasy foods. Nothing is faster food than bagged salad and a touch of dressing.

Don't eat meat as often. It takes a long time to cook and your body doesn't need as much as you're eating. Gain an appreciation for whole grains and lentils.

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thingstodo

Amy's makes some fantastic frozen dinners that are good for you and organic to boot.

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If you're wringing your hands you can't roll up your shirt sleeves.

Stangers have the best candy.

Philangicality

I found a better replacement for fast food is constant snacking.

Basically stockpile things so whenever you are hungry, you do not have to go out to get food.

Like JT said if you must go out eat healthy. Try eatting more sandwiches. Think Subway, Quiznos, Togo's, Deli's. So far I cannot figure out a healthy fast food, but this is the best I can think of in terms of health. Also, do not drink the soda if you get combo meals go for iced teas, get a pizza without the cheeze everyonce in a while, and hold the condiments like mayo on burgers or special sauce on baked sandwiches. The little things kill you.

I understand that your lifestyle may inherit fast food. If it is a must, limit fast-food to like twice a week.

Load up on as-healthy-as-possible snacks.

Baby Carrots, Trail Mix (don't over do it, nuts have a lot of fat, but it is probably better than grease), Crackers, Apples, Banannas, Beef Jerkey, hard boiled eggs, Baggette, cheese sticks, granola bars, pears, Lean Pockets.

You may not loose weight if you snack a lot and eat a lot at night time, but you will deffinetly be eatting healthier. This is the first step to losing the weight. Even if you do not lose the weight, you will feel better.

The goal here is to get out of the habit of eating fastfood. Once you are dependant on snacks, probably the carbs, try do all your carb eating before a certain time, than hit up the fresh snacks after that certain time till bed time, when you can wake up and eat the carbs again.

Eventually your problem will be with the snacking, not the fast food, which is easier to control calorie intake and that complicated science stuff.

Think of it like a diet where you can eat as much as you want, the thing is what you are eating will turn your weight into healthy weight.

big dog

I've always believed you can stay in pretty good shape no matter what you eat if you exercise. This could just be because I'm a distance runner.

I think exercising a lot could also help with your stress. It's just a matter of finding the time to get out and do it.

thingstodo

That's true with the exception of things that are bad for your body. They include refines sugar, processed flour, AKA bleached flour, hydrogonated fats, high fructose corn syrup.

You can eat pretty much all the fruits and veggies and whole grains you can hold, especially if you work out and burn off an equal amount to what you take in. It's simple math, really. And if you work out a lot your body will make you hungrier to replace what was lost.

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If you're wringing your hands you can't roll up your shirt sleeves.

Stangers have the best candy.

SofaKingA

From one college student to another, exercise is probably the most important aspect of weight control. I just graduated from undergrad from a large university and am now in grad school so my days of doing keg stands are probably over since I dont have time for it anymore. I would say just run for 20-30 min a day. If you cant run the whole time, walk when you need a rest and then start running again. I drank and ate like crazy for four years and I gained only about five pounds over five years. I know several people that dont really watch their diet or their alcohol intake but just have the discipline to stick to a running schedule and they maintain their weight. Just do it! Is the best motto. I know this probably isnt the best advice. I could probably tell you to stop drinking and stop eating out with friends, but in college thats hard. If you cant do all that, just run! Hope this helps/motivates.

Jolly Johnny

Sorry if I sound a little agressive on the matter. But if you feel guilty for eating whatever you want to eat, then we have a problem. The way you eat really influences your weight gains, and not the healthy ones, mind you. If you are eating and thinking "Hmm this is good, but I'm going to get fat, damn..." Sure as hell you'll get fat. Now if you think something like, "Hmm this is good, and I couldn't care less how fat I am." You will not notice much effects of what you've ate. Why, because you are relaxed while eating making your metabolism work better than when you are stressed out.

Plus if you actually do something, but being sit and doing not much that requires the body to burn all that stored energy, is always a plus. Go walk a lot, jogging is also good, join a gym, whatever rocks your boat, but move!

cadre

I'm another college student, and I just moved into a dorm so I am definately having issues with eating well. I don't have a kitchen but I do have a meal plan at the union so basically I eat out all the time. And by eat out I mean pizza hut, chick-fil-a and such.
What I've decided to do is eat three meals still but replace one of them with fruits and vegetables like I used to do at home. This cuts out alot of calories and gets you some of the vitamins and such that you wouldn't otherwise get. The other thing you can do is to try juices and smoothies instead of big macs and tacos. You can get naked juices at alot of places and they are very good for you and taste good too. One thing I also used to do was to buy frozen fruits and lowfat yogurts and throw whatever sounded good into a blender to make a smoothie. It only takes about five minutes so you can do it on your way out the door and it's good because you can put whatever you like in it. I'm guessing you probably don't have a kitchen so these are all pretty easy to do with a few appliances which aren't expensive.
Since you are an emotional eater I'm guessing you eat alot between meals. This isn't a bad thing but the problem is watching what you're eating. It's not very difficult to go out and find some 100 calorie packs or nutrigrain bars that you like and you can take them with you to class as well.
Oh yeah and if you stop drinking soda chances are you will lose a decent amount of weight. Especially if you are the type of person who drinks alot of soda every day like my boyfriend and I used to. We both cut out soda and he lost weight without doing any work. You can easily replace soda with water or tea (unsweetened teas, especially green and white teas are very healthy) just be careful switching to some juices because alot have high amounts of sugar.
Exercise will always be the determining factor between losing some weight and being healthy. Running will also help out your stress problems.

Wow. That was more than I intended to write, sorry! Hope this helps though. I'm looking for more ideas to help myself out as well.

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Supple Cow

Take a weight training class at school. They usually involve some cardio up top and the exercise makes you feel so good (thanks to the regular endorphins) that you don't feel so emotional and driven to eat all the time.

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innovis

Eat:
Frozen Grilled Chicken Strips
Lean Ground Turkey
Fat Free Everything (Milk, cream cheese, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream).
Sweet and Low and Splenda
Lean Meats
Beans/Lentils
As many veggies as you want (Avacados are not a veggie).
Cooking Spray

No: Chips, Sodas, fruit juices/drinks/smoothies, anything with sugar, processed meats(sausages, pate, etc), pizza, oils, dried fruit, nuts, ABSOLUTELY NO FRIED FOOD
Limited: Bread, starch, carbs, peanut butter, fresh fruit

Concentrate on the meat, fat free dairy, veggies, and beans. If you're going to cut out calories, make sure you eat a protein rich diet so that you don't lose muscle mass, which would significantly hinder your calorie burning. When you eat fruits, make sure they're fresh, not dried, and eat them in limited portions. I say this for the same reason that I say no nuts- you'll eat them by the handful, and they are highly calorie laden. By the time you know it, after snacking you could have eaten 2 or 3 servings which is about 600 calories, and you won't be significantly full. You'd be much better off eating 2 grilled chicken breasts with some black beans and veggies.

Most importantly, GO TO THE GYM!

Either all of that, or just quit doing what you already know you're doing wrong.

hagatha

Exercise. Diets don't work without it. Also it battles stress. It doesn't have to be some mega workout, walking 30 minutes a day and incorporating more walking into your routine will make a huge difference (ie taking the stairs instead of elevator, leaving the car at home and walking to your destination, etc).
Walking burns the same calories as running the same distance.

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