Tips On How To Lose Weight In College

When Lori Odegaard was visiting her parents over Thanksgiving break in 2016, she struggled to walk up their stairs. As she stood at the top of the 10 steps gasping for breath, she worried that something was wrong.

“I couldn’t catch my breath back again and it was very alarming to me because I was like, ‘There’s no way I should be struggling to get air, ’” Odegaard, 24, a student at North Dakota State University, told . “That was a bit of a red flag for me and it was at that point that I was like this has just gotten out of hand. I’ve got to do something.”

While Odegaard had always been overweight, she lost about 30 pounds when she was a junior in high school. But then she gained it back “plus 30 or 40 more pounds.”

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When she felt winded walking up the steps, she decided to lose weight. Starting at Christmas break, she cut her portions in half and started walking 30 minutes a day. But returning to college complicated her plan.

“It was really hard because my friends would eat whatever they wanted and I really had to stay on track. I would try to eat a salad with every meal, ” she said. “I thought that cutting out bread and starches and junk food … (would work).”

It did. She lost 40 pounds. While she changed how much she ate, she also exercised more. But then she experienced some health complications. Odegaard showed signs of polycystic ovarian syndrome, and doctors also suspected she had fibroids or endometriosis. She underwent surgery and doctors discovered she had a blood clot “the size of a baseball that was decaying in my uterus.” During this experience, she didn’t focus as much on exercise and eating.

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“It created really unhealthy eating habits for me honestly because I thought that eating nothing was better, ” Odegaard said. “It was just a learning lesson.”

She started counting her calories. She often swaps foods, such as ground turkey instead of ground beef or sugar-free condiments for regular ones.

“That has been the most successful thing I have come upon in my weight-loss journey because it has taught me a good relationship with eating food, ” she said. “I can eat wholesome foods and when I’m out and about I can go to Starbucks and get coffee. It’s allowing balance and really eating in moderation.”

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Odegaard also changed how she exercised. At first she shied away from lifting because she thought it would make her look “bulky, ” but she now incorporates it into her exercise routine.

“That whole thing is completely false, ” she said. “I do about 10 to 20 minutes of cardio and then I do the rest of the time with weight training.”

“When I started four years ago I set the goal … to lose 100 pounds, ” Odegaard said. “Now that I’ve hit this I’m like, ‘Wow, I can do anything I set my mind to and it doesn’t matter how long it takes.’”

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Even though she’s pleased with her success, she is setting more goals. She might try to lose another 30 to 40 pounds and she wants to run a half-marathon.

“I’m really happy where I’m at, ” she said. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to (train for a half-marathon) but that is my next goal.”

Taking a lot of pictures kept Lori Odegaard motivated because she was able to see how her body changed during her weight loss.Courtesy Lori Odegaard

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While Odegaard set her goals, she didn't force them into a timeline. She simply wanted to lose 100 pounds. Soon after starting, she realized that gaining weight took a long time and so would losing it.

“It’s really hard no matter how much you lose and it takes a lot of strength and determination, ” she said. “Just don’t be too hard on yourself.”

While a health emergency first stalled Odegaard’s weight loss, she also plateaued because what she was doing when it came to eating no longer worked. That's when she focused on having a calorie deficit, making sure she ate fewer calories than she needed.

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When Odegaard was at her heaviest weight she didn’t want to see any pictures of herself. But she started taking them to see if she could notice progress. Seeing the difference in her “before” and “after” pictures kept her motivated.

“When I first started I was so embarrassed of myself. But now looking back I wish I would have taken more, ” she said. “When I was feeling down I would take a picture and put them side-by-side and remind myself, ‘This is how far you’ve gotten. Look how much you’ve done already.’”   

Meghan Holohan is a contributing writer who covers health and parenting for . She enjoys cooking, yoga, reading, music and walking her two rescue dogs. Follow her on Twitter to see her recent stories.No one wants to be that girl or guy who comes home for college break in jeans that are too snug, feeling unrecognizable.

Ways To Lose Weight When In College

Not only water will keep you hydrated, but it will also make you feel fuller. Many studies have shown that sitting down to 8 ounces of water before a meal can decrease the amount a person eats. (1)

Drinking water is important for regulating body temperature, getting rid of toxins in the body, enhancing exercise performance, and keeping the digestive system functioning among many other important roles (2).

While aerobic activity such as cardio is great for burning calories, without weight training, you’ll lose muscle mass and slow your metabolism. Resistance training is critical for weight loss (4).

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Excessive calorie restriction can also lower your leptin levels. Leptin is the hormone in your body that makes you feel full (5).

This includes the college students, especially women reading this who might be afraid to step into the weight zone at the gym.

If you love cardio, then make sure to combine it with resistance training so that your metabolism can benefit due to increased muscle mass and you can burn calories in a shorter period of time.

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Studies show that aerobic activity is one of the best exercise methods for getting rid of annoying love handles and losing weight around the belly, which is great since your midsection is most vulnerable to packing on weight.

Some people find their fitness tracker as one helpful tool for tracking daily activity levels and keeping them motivated in working towards both exercise and weight loss goals.

Increasing your activity level by taking the stairs a few times a day is a great way to burn off extra calories and get a calorie-burning aerobic workout.

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According to Dr. Bryant from the American Council on Exercise, walking up the stairs at a moderate speed burns about 5 calories per minute for a 120-pound person and 9 calories a minute for a 180 pounds person.

In addition to taking the stairs, aim for 10, 000 steps per day, this can burn an extra 2, 000-3, 500 calories a week—3, 500 calories burned is equal to one pound of body fat.

While in college you may feel pressure to drink and socialize with people but it is important to remember that alcohol will dehydrate you. Plus, drinks are full of extra calories.

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No wonder you end up at McDonald’s drive-thru at 2 am eating much more than you would have if you ate dinner before going out.

Excessive binge drinking will spike your blood sugar and cause your body to spend more energy breaking down 100’s of calories from the booze consumed rather than the food you at all week.

Learning how to balance your energy in and energy out over the long run is truly the key to successful weight loss and weight management.

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When you eat simple carbs they are more quickly digested and absorbed in the body which causes your blood sugar to spike.

For example, white bread will keep you full for less amount of time and spike your blood sugar higher than whole-grain bread will.

So go clean your dorm room fridge and get rid of all the bags of chips, candy, and pizza, and swap for these complex carbohydrates.

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Glucose is absolutely necessary and our bodies need to function. Glucose which also called dextrose is the main energy source for all of the body’s cells.

Some of these health risks involved in a high fructose diet are diabetes, insulin resistance, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and heart disease, just to name a few.

According to Dr. Kyle True, DC, individuals should limit fructose intake from their daily diet to about 25 grams per day and should consume most of the fructose from fruits, not processed, packaged foods.

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If you’re going to eat vegetables and fruits, why not eat the healthiest kind— High-fiber foods like artichoke, avocado, brussels sprouts, legumes, and apples will keep you feeling fuller longer after eating.

Skipping meals during the day will leave you feeling hungry at night. Aim to eat every 3-4 hours during the day to avoid late-night cravings.

If you’re trying to calculate how many calories are in a food you’re about to eat, be mindful of what an average serving

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