It’s time for school again and we
all know what that means. Most people will begin getting back to their regular
unhealthy eating habits and once again have the opportunity to use the old “I
don’t have time to exercise because I’m too busy with school and work” excuse. Many people make the mistake of treating fitness as a sport or hobby. With most sports if you practise a few times a week you will definitely improve. However if you treat fitness as a sport/hobby that you only practise on weekends or when its convenient, you will NOT see much improvement. Unless you can discipline yourself and develop the habits to eat healthy consistently on a day-to-day basis and exercise a few times a week you will be hard pressed to meet your fitness goals. Remember fitness is a lifestyle!
Being a full time University
student myself I can understand the challenges of implementing a healthy diet
throughout the course of the school year. Its very easy and convenient to just
eat-out at your favourite restaurants or even skip meals entirely. When the
workload begins to pile up and you’re being faced with a mountain of
assignments, tests and extra-curricular commitments, watching your diet and
tracking every last calorie is really the last thing you want to do. Most
people will argue they don’t have the time to eat breakfast or prepare healthy
meals. They begin to resort to the convenience of surrounding restaurants and
the accumulated stress from school work will only worsen their eating habits. As a
result of these circumstances many students begin gaining unhealthy weight. This period of weight gain is called the “freshman 15”.
Whether you’re commuting or
living on campus implementing a healthy diet throughout the coarse of the
school year is challenging but not impossible. In this segment I’m going to be
sharing some helpful tips I personally use that will help you to implement a
healthy diet as efficiently as possible. The following are some simple tips you can follow to beat the freshman 15.
Tip # 1 - Prepare meals in advance
Make it a habit to wake up earlier in the mornings and use the extra time to pack a lunch or multiple lunches if you're going to be on campus for most of the day. If you're not a morning person or you have to wake up incredibly early and don't have the focus or energy to prepare your meals for the day, make sure you get it done the night before. Figure out how many hours you'll be out of the house and use that information to plan your meals. For example If I know I'm going to be on campus or at work from 8am-6pm (10 hours) I would prepare 3 meals since I know usually eat after every 3 hours on average.
Tip #2 - Keep meals Simple
Some important factors to take into consideration when planning your meals is the time it takes to prepare and the time it takes to consume. Whether you're preparing your meals the morning of or the night before the last thing you want is to prepare a recipe that is time consuming and difficult/messy.
For example if I schedule a meal during my commute to school I know i'm not going to be able to have anything messy to eat since I would be on a bus. In this scenario I would plan for a meal that is easy to eat and quick such as a snack wrap. Meals that are messier to eat (require utensils) should be scheduled when you can sit down in a quiet place and eat it (lunch room, library, bench etc)
Tip #3 - Schedule your meals
Aside from preparing your meals in advance and keeping them as simple as possible your meal timing is also another important factor. The first thing to take in to consideration is the timing of your most important meals (pre-workout meal and post-workout meals). If I know I have a lunch break or gap in my time table at 5pm in which I plan to have my work-out, I'll make sure to schedule my pre-workout meal around 3:30 (1-2 hours before your workout). I also know my workout will be an hour in length so I would schedule my post-workout meal around 6:30. Since I usually eat after every 3 hours I know my remaining meals would be scheduled at 12 noon and 8-9pm. Chances are your schedule will not be the same everyday so it is important to schedule your meals in accordance to the time of your workout session.
Conclusion
If your reading this thinking that "there is NO WAY i'm doing all this work to prepare and schedule my meals, i'd rather just eat at McDonalds or (insert restaurant name that the person thinks is heathy and will most likely result in them gaining weight in the long run) then chances are you are a gym noob.
You are one of those people that exercise only on weekends or summer breaks because its convenient. The reason you're a gym noob is because you expect to see significant results without putting in the time and energy into your craft. just like a professional sports player cannot get to that level without hours of practise and drills you cannot hope to achieve your ideal physique without maintaining proper nutrition and exercise ON A CONSISTENT BASIS. The bottom line is excuses justifications, and "good reasons"(I don't have time because I have to do X Y and Z) may make you feel better temporarily but will not get you results. If you're serious about reaching your fitness goals you need to find a way to implement a healthy diet and schedule time for exercising in your daily life.
As a student I understand school work will become stressful and you will eventually go back into zombie mode mid-semester so why not give yourself at least an hour a day to let out some steam in the gym? Not only will implementing a healthy diet on a consistent basis help you beat freshman 15 and reach your fitness goals, but you will also notice that your performance in school, work, sports and all other extracurricular commitments significantly increase as result of being well-fed and energized. You'll be more focused in class, your stress levels will be lower and your overall performance will improve.
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