One of the most common New Year’s resolutions that collegiettes make is to lose weight. We dream of shedding those holiday pounds instantly and showing of our bikini body. But most collegiettes revert back to their cheeseburger-a-day habits before Valentines Day. Losing weight as a resolution is possible, but will require work more consideration and forethought days after the ball drops on New Years Day.
- Control your goal!
Naturally, when we get excited about starting a project, we make unrealistic goals that we often lose track of. Instead, set short, quantifiable goals. A goal, if you put work into it, should be attainable in 90 day— no more (that’s 3 months! Almost exactly by spring break). Setting short goals als allows us to really track progress and see smaller results faster; we can focus harder and stay on track. Don’t sell yourself short by just wanting to “lose X pounds in a year.” Try something like “I want to be size X in 90 days.” It will hold you more accountable!
TIP: Losing 2 dress sizes is very realistic in 90 days. Especially for girls our age—no excuses, ladies!
- Be wise with your exercise!
“If you want something you’ve never had, you must do what you’ve never done.” Exercise should not be comfortable, ladies! While we may want to impress that hottie we’ve had our eyes on at the gym, you should not be looking your best downtown ready – we’re gettin’ down to business. You should be red in the face, pouring with sweat, and breathing hard; you shouldn’t be able to hold a conversation. Put in some headphones, listen to an awesome playlist (you can find tons of sample workout playlists online) and save the talking for later!
While walking and talking with your girlfriends is great for your health, may hurt weight loss. This is because you’re not exercising in your target heart rate – this is critical to burning calories. You can calculate your THR with this formula: 220-age = predicted max heart rate. Multiply this by .65 and .85 and you now have your range! Strive to achieve THR during every workout.
Try training for an event! Event training helps to keep you on track. There are plenty of fun races to train for a small as a local 5K, and up to a color run, mud run, etc. These are themed races, and they’ll keep you entertained while you’re running! Once you have registered there is no turning back and nothing to do but train – pushing you toward that goal. Recruit a team and train together for accountability. The empowerment of finishing what you thought you never could will inspire you to continue. When you finish one race, sign up for another!
- Think what you eat & drink!
Eat more real foods and less processed ones. Fitness gurus dub abstaining from unhealthy foods as clean eating. There are people who are hard core who only eat all real foods, but that isn’t realistic…we’re all going to have those nights when we eat cheese puffs in bed watching Lifetime moves (which, by the way, are 100% processed, so make this habit RARE!) Eating healthy can actually be beneficial in many ways. In fact, eating clean actually keeps you full easier and longer. Shop at discount grocery stores like Aldi and Walmart for real foods – fruits, veggies, and lean meats. Just beware, don’t overbuy these items because without preservatives, they spoil faster than processed foods.
Drinking water – ice water – makes you feel full! A tip for tracking drinking enough water during the day (64 oz.): buy a 16 ounce water bottle and put 4 rubber bands at the bottom of the bottle. Each time you drink an entire bottle, move a rubber band to the top. At the end of the day all of the rubber bands should be at the top and the bottle is empty. If you want to splurge, you can buy water bottles that have dials to track refills. This allows you to visually track how you are doing throughout the day. Drink water before exercising, before meals, and be consistent!
That’s it, ladies! Buy your bikinis and LBDs that you want to wear, and hang them up to see every day! Watch yourself getting to that perfect size. We are young and we are more than capable. No excuses. . . like Nike says Just Do It!