Young Calorie Counters

Hey guys,

I'm new here but I figured this would be a great place to come and get some support (hopefully) and get advice, ask questions, and see what other people are doing. As my title suggests, my lifestyle isn't neccesarily the healthiest [pizza, beer, chips, pretzels, girls... etc] and the whole college food scene isn't much better. For the past month or so I've been watching what I eat, limiting calories, not drinkin [yikes, I know.. okay so once or twice] and really putting the rubber to the road in regards to my running shoes.

Does anyone have any tips for fun workouts or fun activities that burn a lot of calories? I'm afraid my workout will get tiresome, and I am just hoping to find some fun activities.  Also, does anyone know any good tasting, low calorie beer or drinks? Thanks

Dave

amstel light, in my opinion at least, is pretty yummy and low cal i think.

as for making working out more fun: make yourself a really good music mix on an ipod - that's how i get through my workouts. as long as i have good music, a good beat, my runs fly by..

good luck :)

college is a great palce for intramural sports or pickup basketball at the rec center.  basketball burns calories like crazy.  and stay with the ladies because they can help you burn some calories more.  if you have no pride, try a class full of hotties at the gym.  Thats a 2 for 1. 

mich ultra is your lowest cal beer.  try mixing your liquor with water or crytal light or sugar free red bull in your jager bombs.  i think vodka or gin is your lowest cal liquors. 

Hi Dave,

I know that one thing that really got me moving last year was rock climbing. My school has a big wall in the older rec center... if your campus has anything like that, its a GREAT way to get in shape, and an interesting hobby to have. It works your entire body in bursts, and some of the guys i've seen there are completely built just from doing that...

Something else to consider might be a weight-training course. I took one - it was a good GPA booster and I had to go work out a few times a week. You'll meet lots of other people, and learn great exercises that you can do in the gym later too if you like.

It's really hard to drink healthily... I just limited myself to once every other weekend or so last semester. When I drink in the fall, I plan on going the diet coke+vodka route, but I'm not much of a beer drinker. When I can go buy it myself in a couple months, I'll do some exploring of my own into some of the lighter drinks. I'm a total sucker for wine coolers, but they are sooo bad for me...

Anywho, just try getting into a sport. Consider an intermural with your frat or see if there are a couple of brothers who weight lift regularly and might be willing to show you the ropes! Good luck to you - hope it works out!

Hey Dave

Me and you are in the exact same situation in terms of lifestyle. You don't have to throw that away. I've lost almost 12 pounds and I haven't given up drinking, in fact, I tend to totally let go on the weeks. Could I be doing better if I kept my discipline the whole week?

Sure. But slower progress is better then ridiculous progress and no life, in my eyes. I'm young, these are my priorities. When you do drink, two things. Diet soda, and water.

I drink Captain Morgan Spiced Rum with diet coke. I've heard gin/vodka with crystal light is good too, though (my friend also claims that CL masks the taste of all alcohol - maybe one of the girls here can confirm/deny that. And keep yourself drinking water - before, during, and after. This will flush out your system.

Generally I stick to my 2000 cal pace until suppertime friday, take saturday as a total whatever the **** I want day, and then Sunday I ease back into it.

 

As for activity, SPORTS. I burned over 1000 cals yesterday from playing soccer. Get involved in intramurals. Also, Tony Horton's P90X serious is awesome for staying motivated which is often the issue.

Finally, start weighing yourself in the AM (before you eat anything). At least you'll be aware of the progress you're making or any fall back you're having - my guilt from my slight blow up by Monday pushes me extra hard to knock it off again.

Good luck!

ohh man, you should cut back on the girls! we have a LOT of calories!

 

 I don't drink, so I can't help you there.

But...

Exercises - Try getting some of your Frat buddies to play some sports with you.  Try volley ball (would be great to play with girls in bikinis), go swimming (beach or pool), baseball, soccer, basketball, etc.  Maybe try to make it a competition, 2 teams get together once or twice a week to play.  Then do your walking or running at other times.

I hope this helps, and good luck!

 

 

 

Try the Wii Fit.

Coors Light (102 calories) is deliciously low-calorie, as is Bud Light (110 calories), and even lower is 80 proof Vodka (around 97 calories per shot).  While it can be difficult to count calories when drinking, it can be much easier if you bring a washable marker and make a little notch on your hand with every drink.  Another alternative is to just bring a piece of paper with you, but that can end up lost by the end of a rough evening =). 

The biggest thing to remember about drinking is that if you do it in moderation, the calories won't amount to an over-large portion of your daily diet, and if you plan to drink you can always eat a bit less in preparation.  College dieting can be difficult (I know, I've been screwing it up for two years), but if you are careful and plan ahead, you can definitely lose weight and have fun at the same time!

http://www.beer100.com/beercalories.htm  is a great site to determine how many calories your favorite beer has in it.

Don't drink.

Cutting the booze is one of the biggest calorie changes you can do for youself. It is empty calories

 

Don't drink.

Cutting the booze is one of the biggest calorie changes you can do for youself. It is empty calories

 

#5

lol jules

#5,

You girls are a lot of calories, wine and dines, ice cream, you and all your baked goods... you're the downfall of me. haha

totally disagree with 9 (and 10, i guess). you can absolutely still get **** regularly and lose lots of weight. college is really the one time in life where it is acceptable to get very drunk very often. don't miss out on some of the most fun years of your life due to a silly diet.

alcohol may be empty in terms of nutrition, but the fun is definitely worth it

Sigh at the person who mentioned cutting out alcohol.

Obviously he still wants to live his life and doesn't want to a a slave to a calorie counter.

I think its fine to still drink... you just have to make sure that you're making up for that by working out or cutting back some cals during the week. I don't think its cool to get completey **** faced every night, but once every week or two, its fine to get a decent buzz (or a little more ;D) going.

Everything in moderation. Getting painfully drunk every other day isn't good for the liver, your health, or your attitude (from what I've seen), but indulging every so often is perfectly fine as long as you make smarter drink choices when you do it and take care of yourself extra well during the week :)

Dave

Same situation. I didn't give up drinking, I either drink light beer or Captain Morgans with Diet Pepsi (I'm 6'3; 220) so it takes a few to get me there too. I stuck in hard during the week, and after a night of drinking, the next day I forced myself to work out, almost no exceptions. Typically I  try to burn as much as I drank--it seems logical to me and is a much better alternative than losing out on college life.

I'm going to live in Italy for 4 months = carbs and wine and a lack of a real gym. I'll let you know how that works out.

Good luck--love the "girls" as extra calories; never thought about it, but so true.

Hey Dave,

I know a lot of people are telling you to use diet soda instead of its counter-part . Watch out for this because the way the sugars in diet soda are processed it will actually cause you more harm than good when drinking them with alcohol. Also, the main reason people get fat while drinking is the **** food they eat while drinking...

Jesse

hey :)

this is kindof ironic but i think i lost more weight not counting cals and just eating things in proportion.. i guess i come on here for the other nutrition facts besides cals..

i work out a lot too.i probably play 2 hours of tennis a day now and with tennis you can burn like 400 cals in an hour and its a lot more fun than the tread mill for me. when classes start i dont have as much time to work so i will make sure everything is in proportion.. you dont need as much food as when you work out. also i just got a trainer 3 weeks ago and im already seeing results. and when you work out make sure you eat a lot of protein. i do eat carbs but i try not to eat as much because protein keeps you more full for a longer time and helps build muscle. also i started eating atleast 1-2 veggies/fruits a day. surprisingly im in a better mood and i have a lot more energy so thats what motivates me. and ive limited drinking pop and energy drinks as much- even diet bc it ended up making me feel hungry later. water isnt the best but it keeps me full..

as for drinking, just limit it. you dont have to quit at all. just make sure you excercise and consistently eat well. ive been on vacations all summer [i think 5] from the philippines to new york and i obviously ate out a lot and had my share of partying.. but i think that by eating better portions and quality of food and work outs has allowed me to either maintain or lose weight in the long run.

hope i helped some.. let me know how everything goes for you :)