I seriously thought that Freshman 15 was a myth and that the summer body that I acquired after months of grueling work at the gym would be a-ok after a couple months of college.
WRONG.
The fact that I was packing on the pounds, or rather that my hard, lean muscle was turning to mushy fat wasn’t so obvious at first. With midterms on the rise, clothes that were easier to get in and out of was a must, and the fact that there was “always” time to go the gym after testing was something I acknowledged, but did not follow through on. Going back home Thanksgiving Break and realizing that my old clothes were really snug was uncomfortable. I had stopped partying every weekend only to stay up most nights with my friends anyway, venturing to the Nite Owl at CIW and getting the occasional chocolate Oreo milkshake with whipped cream. After Thanksgiving break it was all about finals, so once again my body became a lower priority.
When I went home winter break, and after the initial week of seeing friends and family, I had a lot of time to reflect. I’m pretty sure there was a day or two where I refused to get out bed because then I would have to put on clothes that were a size too small.
Instead of whining, I just got myself a gym membership and made sure that I went everyday. I spent a lot of time eating healthy at home and figuring out how to eat healthy once I got back at school. I also spent hours and hours on Tumblr looking at pictures of skinny girls and workouts to motivate myself. All you needed was 4 weeks to see a change in yourself, 8 weeks for your friends to notice, and 12 weeks for the world to say something. That was my mantra for a bit. I managed to lose a little weight getting back, and I kept up the routine for an entire month. I woke up everyday at 9, either hit the gym that morning or later in the afternoon, and maintained a steady diet of soy milk and cereal in the morning, a wrap at lunch, and a salad at dinner.
Considering it’s almost mid-March and I’m writing about my weight problems, you know that it’s either going to be about my continued success or my epic failure.
Yeah, it’s the latter.
Because the unfortunate thing about trying to lose all this weight, is the incredible amount of mental motivation. Sodexo only has so many options so it was easy to eat healthy because my stomach couldn’t really take anything else. However, I rationalized all too easily the late night snacks and the occasional ice creamy treat. Going out every weekend again led to drunk munchies or ordering some food that our dining halls couldn’t provide. Coupled with the rise of midterms and studying, gym time suffered and I went twice in the last three weeks. Yup, it’s been that bad and I feel as if my body’s just gotten worse.
Trust me when I say that I wrote this article in order to avoid satisfying my hunger of a 150 calorie sized treat of Skinny Cow ice cream. Or a chocolate Oreo milkshake with whipped cream.
Either works really.