In the past two weeks, so much in my life has changed! I moved into a dorm 3 hours from home, went through sorority recruitment, and started classes. Crazy to think it has been such a short amount of time. I have had to make many adjustments, the two biggest being that I no longer have a kitchen or near as much free time. With how busy I have been, I haven't been able to answer many people's questions on Instagram, so I'm hoping this blog post will answer a lot of them. I'm just going to talk about how I have been adjusting and what my plans are eating and working out wise for this upcoming year.
First off, I just want to say to anyone who is worried about going off to college or living in a dorm, relax! You don't have to be perfect at all times in order to see progress and have a healthy lifestyle. Even with a busy schedule, you can make it work for you. It takes some getting used to, but once you get into a routine, it will become second nature just like it was before. I was definitely worried coming up to college about how I was going to eat the same and workout the same. I realized when I got here that the truth is, I can't be just the same here, but I also realized that's okay. It's only four years, and I need to live them up and enjoy them with no stress about living up to anyone's standard of perfect or healthy. When I feel my best and am happy, then I'll consider myself healthy!
So, starting with food! Week one in my dorm was recruitment, so that week was super crazy. I never had time to go to the grocery store before it started, so let's just say my eating game was a little off. I made do with what I had brought for breakfast, and found healthy options at the cafeteria for lunch! (if you don't count that day where I may have taken advantage of the endless soft serve machine) Most days, I just got some type of whole grain or a bowl of granola, some form of protein, and lots of veggies. And then I may have stolen fruit everyday to eat for a snack later ;) This first week of classes, I think I have adjusted to not having a kitchen very well. I am on a meal plan (smallest one available), so I will use that some eventually, but when I can, I plan to eat in my dorm. I had to budget a lot more than I was used to when I went grocery shopping for the week. I got a couple sources of protein, a couple different fruits to last me through the week, frozen veggies/veggie burgers, carrots and hummus, avocado, almond milk, iced coffee, yogurt, sweet potatoes, and a few whole grain sources. I have been making my veggies by steaming them in the microwave, and I am buying organic and grass fed pre-cooked meats. For my quinoa, I just did it in the microwave, and it actually turned out great! I already had with me all my nut butters, nuts, oats, etc., so I have been using those along with my cold items! Just pick a couple different fruits, veggies, fats, carbs, and proteins that you can easily put together into meals for the week and that's all it takes!! None of my meals have even taken longer than about 10 minutes to put together. If you are in a rush or on a budget, you can make the cafeteria work as well. Just pile your plate with the healthy options instead of just having a skimpy salad and being left feeling hungry and unsatisfied. I may not be able to get the perfect 5 servings of veggies or a huge variety of foods everyday, but that is okay and I'm learning how to make being healthy work with my lifestyle. There's only so much you can do in a college dorm room.
With that being said, college is also a time of my life where I want to give myself a little more freedom with food. I mean...you don't have many years of your life where eating frozen custard at midnight won't go straight to your stomach. Gotta make use of that metabolism while it's still here. I will most likely snack a lot more in college since I'll be up late studying. I also will probably have more cheat meals from going out with friends and stuff, but I want to make the most out of my college years. As long as I continue to eat clean the majority of the time, everything will be okay. It's easy to overthink it and freak out, but in reality, it really is okay to not be perfect. Just make do with what you have and enjoy your life!
Now, onto working out. The gym here with a squat rack is quite a walk from my dorm and is always packed, which makes it difficult to lift as much as I did at home. With how busy I am, I also don't have time to work out as long or as many days of the week as I did at home. At first, getting off my schedule I had had for about a year really stressed me out, but I have adjusted. My plan is just to stay active and workout when I can. I want this to be a main priority, but if I can't, then that's okay. My workouts are going to be shorter now too. I will probably just do a couple days in the weight room for my legs (with some accessory arm work) and one HIIT session each week. For my other workouts I will probably pick random workouts from Kayla Itsine's guides to do since they are quick and effective. I'm not giving myself a schedule for working out for now. I am just going to be sure to get a good mix of different workouts in and stay active. I'm going to push myself as hard as I can when I do workout to get stronger, and I am not going to stress when I have to miss a day or cut a workout short.
Life is truly all about balance. You can't be happy without it...and you can't be healthy if you aren't happy. I am learning this everyday during this transition in my life. Sometimes things change, but you make it work for the life you have at the time! I hope this answered some of your questions about how I am dealing with the college/dorm life, and maybe you can take something away from this as well :)
First off, I just want to say to anyone who is worried about going off to college or living in a dorm, relax! You don't have to be perfect at all times in order to see progress and have a healthy lifestyle. Even with a busy schedule, you can make it work for you. It takes some getting used to, but once you get into a routine, it will become second nature just like it was before. I was definitely worried coming up to college about how I was going to eat the same and workout the same. I realized when I got here that the truth is, I can't be just the same here, but I also realized that's okay. It's only four years, and I need to live them up and enjoy them with no stress about living up to anyone's standard of perfect or healthy. When I feel my best and am happy, then I'll consider myself healthy!
So, starting with food! Week one in my dorm was recruitment, so that week was super crazy. I never had time to go to the grocery store before it started, so let's just say my eating game was a little off. I made do with what I had brought for breakfast, and found healthy options at the cafeteria for lunch! (if you don't count that day where I may have taken advantage of the endless soft serve machine) Most days, I just got some type of whole grain or a bowl of granola, some form of protein, and lots of veggies. And then I may have stolen fruit everyday to eat for a snack later ;) This first week of classes, I think I have adjusted to not having a kitchen very well. I am on a meal plan (smallest one available), so I will use that some eventually, but when I can, I plan to eat in my dorm. I had to budget a lot more than I was used to when I went grocery shopping for the week. I got a couple sources of protein, a couple different fruits to last me through the week, frozen veggies/veggie burgers, carrots and hummus, avocado, almond milk, iced coffee, yogurt, sweet potatoes, and a few whole grain sources. I have been making my veggies by steaming them in the microwave, and I am buying organic and grass fed pre-cooked meats. For my quinoa, I just did it in the microwave, and it actually turned out great! I already had with me all my nut butters, nuts, oats, etc., so I have been using those along with my cold items! Just pick a couple different fruits, veggies, fats, carbs, and proteins that you can easily put together into meals for the week and that's all it takes!! None of my meals have even taken longer than about 10 minutes to put together. If you are in a rush or on a budget, you can make the cafeteria work as well. Just pile your plate with the healthy options instead of just having a skimpy salad and being left feeling hungry and unsatisfied. I may not be able to get the perfect 5 servings of veggies or a huge variety of foods everyday, but that is okay and I'm learning how to make being healthy work with my lifestyle. There's only so much you can do in a college dorm room.
With that being said, college is also a time of my life where I want to give myself a little more freedom with food. I mean...you don't have many years of your life where eating frozen custard at midnight won't go straight to your stomach. Gotta make use of that metabolism while it's still here. I will most likely snack a lot more in college since I'll be up late studying. I also will probably have more cheat meals from going out with friends and stuff, but I want to make the most out of my college years. As long as I continue to eat clean the majority of the time, everything will be okay. It's easy to overthink it and freak out, but in reality, it really is okay to not be perfect. Just make do with what you have and enjoy your life!
Now, onto working out. The gym here with a squat rack is quite a walk from my dorm and is always packed, which makes it difficult to lift as much as I did at home. With how busy I am, I also don't have time to work out as long or as many days of the week as I did at home. At first, getting off my schedule I had had for about a year really stressed me out, but I have adjusted. My plan is just to stay active and workout when I can. I want this to be a main priority, but if I can't, then that's okay. My workouts are going to be shorter now too. I will probably just do a couple days in the weight room for my legs (with some accessory arm work) and one HIIT session each week. For my other workouts I will probably pick random workouts from Kayla Itsine's guides to do since they are quick and effective. I'm not giving myself a schedule for working out for now. I am just going to be sure to get a good mix of different workouts in and stay active. I'm going to push myself as hard as I can when I do workout to get stronger, and I am not going to stress when I have to miss a day or cut a workout short.
Life is truly all about balance. You can't be happy without it...and you can't be healthy if you aren't happy. I am learning this everyday during this transition in my life. Sometimes things change, but you make it work for the life you have at the time! I hope this answered some of your questions about how I am dealing with the college/dorm life, and maybe you can take something away from this as well :)