College Dining Hall Rules.

This link is for every runner that needs to feel better about their mental thought process during a run. Or anyone who can't really relate and just needs a laugh. It made me laugh out loud in the dining hall and look like some freak. It happens (:

Now that you had a good laugh for day. You can finish reading my post!

So this week was the first week back from spring break. I started thinking back to the eating habits that I developed when I came to college. NOT GOOD.

I was straight out of AIT. Before I left Ft Leonardwood, I was weighing about 140. Mine was closer to a freshman 20 by the end of the first semester and I wasn't even drinking and partying with the rest of them. I couldn't believe how fast I had let myself gain the weight, and I kicked myself for it every day. But I am finally doing something about it.

At this point, most people are probably thinking, how do I lose that 15-20 lbs? 

With this month being all about physical fitness and nutrition in my happiness project, I have been eating "clean" When I say clean, I don't necessarily mean all of those clean pins on pinterest. I have adapted it to my own rules because I live in the dorm and it is so hard for me to make my own food. I am pretty limited to the options of the dining hall.

1. I will eat any fruit or vegetable that doesn't have anything added to it. This mostly includes fresh fruit (the dining hall had peaches, watermelon, grapes, and pears this week!) I also take an apple, orange, or banana to go with me so I have something to snack on in between meals.  Vegetables normally include anything that the dining hall has put in a microwave and called "steamed."

2. I eat one piece of meat. This gets a little tricky because I don't want to eat a lot of added stuff with my meat, but I am not apposed to spices and whatever they cook it in because otherwise I would starve! This typically includes chicken, or hamburgers (just the burger, sometimes I put tomato slices on it), sometimes they have fish, but it often sits in too much butter so I try to avoid it. For people who don't want to be this extreme, I would suggest one serving of a main course dish from the dining hall.

3. Eggs. Breakfast Every morning! I eat 3 hard boiled eggs, which I often cut into kind of an egg salad in a bowl so it feels like I am eating more than I am. Scrambled eggs are good, but I am not sure how the dining hall makes them, so that makes me a little unsure for my project.

4. I don't eat any of the pasta, potatoes, fried foods, sugary cereals, or tortilla wrapped heart attacks that the dining hall offers. Your body doesn't need processed carbs because if you are eating enough fruit, your body is getting the natural sugars from the fruits.

5. If I must eat a salad, which I avoid just because it seems so clique and boring and I am never full from it. But if I must, I add chicken and lots of vegetables. I also use the lemon slices in the dining hall for a dressing. It gives it a zesty taste, with no preservatives and only a few, if any calories.

6. The one thing that I do eat that is not necessarily clean (depending on the pinterest website you are on) is cottage cheese. I do it for the added calcium that I am not getting from other foods. I don't eat any other dairy products.

7. I have two "cheat" meals a week so Matt and I can still go out on dates and so I can still go to Grandma's house. Lord knows you don't make it out of Grandma's house eating vegetables without a little (or a stick) of butter added to them.

8. I drink a glass of water right away when I wake up. I have a cup with a straw that I fill up at breakfast and sip on til lunch, where I fill it up again, and sip on it til supper. I don't focus on how much I drink while I am running around during the day, but I try to finish the cup before the next meal. Then after supper I try to finish most of it. If I go for a run at night I normally finish the cup off before my shower. Then I drink a glass before I crawl in bed. I would estimate that in total I drink about a gallon of water everyday.

9. I ALWAYS!! ALWAYS!! am carrying at least one piece of fresh fruit, if not two with me in case I get hungry. This way I don't give in to the vending machine blues or end up eating something in the union.

10. Skip the coffee unless you drink it black. Starbucks is not doing your body any favors. Invest time to get a good nights sleep and if that can't happen, take a 20 minute nap every time you get too tired to focus. You will wake up relatively refreshed because your body needs about 20 minutes of sleep to function for about 2-3 hours (I don't suggest this, I have just heard that it works.) Any longer than 30 minutes, but not 3-5 hours is going to leave you tired and in a fog. (Again. NOT supporting this idea.)  I try to get a good 7-8 hour night sleep. I go to bed at 10:30 and wake up at 6:30, but if your class load is worse than mine. Go for it.

Now, I have heard this diet referred to as clean or the paleo diet.. but I don't know about either of these specific trends.  I know that these are the rules that I have set for myself.

Now... Does it work.

On April 1st, I weighed myself and I weighed 153.2..
Today, just three days later, I weighed myself and weighed 151.4.

Now, I can't say that it is just the diet, because I have been running every day and doing sit ups and push ups. But even before I started the diet when I was trying to run every day, I wasn't seeing any weight movement on the scale. I guess we will see what then end of the month brings to the scale. The pedometer that I downloaded on my phone has really opened my eyes to how much I am actually going. I hope I can match, or at least get close to the numbers that I am getting during the week when Saturday and Sunday comes!

My question for the day:
What is your favorite workout song..? Favorite workout?

Let me know by commenting, messaging me on facebook, or commenting on the link.

If you have missed any of my other happiness project posts, catch up here!
Thanks for reading!