(Newswire.net — February 4, 2017) — It’s so common for college students to put on some extra weight whilst studying for their degree that the trend has gained a Wiki page, the Freshman 15. An increasing workload of assignments, projects to work on, exams to revise for and extracurricular activities to take part in, along with work experience to find, can soon add up for students, so it’s no surprise that with little time to cook healthy and nutritious foods, more and more students are turning to unhealthy convenience foods, which are more available than ever before today. Because of this, losing weight is often a health priority for college students, but achieving the results that you want can be difficult when your time is taken up studying for an online masters in social work at Rutgers Online. Here are our top tips for losing weight in college.
Walk to Class
If you tend to get the bus or even drive to class when you could probably walk if you got up half an hour earlier, it’s a good idea to get into a routine of rising earlier in the morning so that you can get this little bit of extra exercise. Whilst studying for a degree leading to social work careers, you may not have the time or the money to work out in the gym, but thankfully it’s not required for keeping fit. Ditching the car or public transport to walk more will also help you to save more money to spend on something more exciting, or new clothes when you’ve gone down a size!
Drink More Water
At college, it’s can be all too easy to turn to drinking copious cups of coffee and sugary energy drinks to get you through pulling all-nighters so you can finish work that’s been mounting up over time. However, all this caffeine is terrible for your health, and over time you will most likely begin to see detrimental effects of this, such as insomnia, feeling ‘jittery’, and headaches. Swapping caffeinated, sugary beverages for pure water is an effective way to lose weight and people who drink a lot of liquids such as soda and energy drinks could see a difference just from swapping their drinks for water instead.
Healthy Snacks
Many college students eat whenever they get the chance, leading to more people snacking in college to get sustenance rather than eating a set three meals a day. If you have lectures and seminars throughout lunch times, don’t turn to snacks to ward off the hunger throughout the day. Instead, grab some fruit, vegetables, nuts or seeds and give convenient snacks such as chips or chocolate bars a miss. This can make a huge difference to your weight and your health.
Eat More Protein
Lastly, a high protein diet is more effective for weight loss than one which is high in carbohydrates. Although some carbs are important for giving you the energy and nutritional fuel that you need, increasing the amount of lean protein in your diet by eating more meat, eggs and fish can help you to drop some extra pounds.
Losing weight in college doesn’t have to take up a lot of time or require lots of effort!