Exercise

Pairing exercise with a healthy diet is one of the best things you can do for your body. Depending on your gender and body type there are many different paths you can take when it comes to working out. I will cover the more broad categories today.

People wanting to lose weight

If losing weight is the goal, diet and cardio will become your best friend. For girls eating around 1900 calories (very rough estimate) should be enough to drop some pounds, paired with regular cardio (4-5 times per week, high intensity, 30-45 minutes). For guys same formula but with about 2300 calories (again, rough estimate).

People wanting to maintain weight

Maintaining weight, in theory, is pretty simple. First, over the course of about 2 weeks check the average amount of calories you are eating. Next, continuing eating that amount plus ~300-400 more and adding weight lifting and some cardio in. Choose a program that you would enjoy doing and stick to it, consistency is crucial!

People wanting to gain weight

Gaining weight can either be very hard or very easy, depending on the person. Check your caloric intake over a 2 week period and add about ~700-800 more calories. Lift more heavy weights 5-6 times a week and limit cardio to 2-3 times per week. You should be on your way in no time with this plan!

How to Live Healthy on a College Budget Part 2

In the last post I discussed the importance of meal preparation. This, along with what I will talk about today, will put you well on your way to eating right and consequently, feeling better. 

This post will focus around the do's and don'ts of the grocery store. 

Do

- Make multiple passes through the fruit and vegetable aisle, experiment with new food
- Only buy fruits and veggies that you will use, there's nothing worse then spending a lot of money on groceries and ending up throwing half of it away
- Try lean meats that are high in protein, examples include ground turkey, fish, and poultry
- If you like oatmeal, try old fashioned oats/steel cut, this is the much healthier version of the stuff that comes in the packets and is high in sugar and takes just about the same amount of time to make
- Check labels for high salt, high trans fat, and high sugar; avoid these foods if possible

Don't

-Walk down the aisle with cookies, chips, soda, etc; your willpower, especially at first, won't be that great, avoid these aisles and there's no way you will buy bad food
- Buy expensive dressings like barbecue or Italian, they're not good for you and add up on your bill
- Go alone; bring a fellow motivated eater to help you steer away from junk food and even introduce you to foods that you haven't tried before

If you do all these things, and most importantly stay disciplined, there's no stopping you!

How to Live Healthy on a College Budget

Eating right while one is in college can be a very difficult task. Food courts, access to parents' money, and lack of time all point to a unhealthy, fast food filled diet. But with the right small tweaks and grocery purchases, eating right can become immensely easier. 

One key thing that not many people talk about is meal preparation, meal preparation can be done in about an hour (give or take) while you are just sitting around watching football on a Sunday afternoon. The possibilities are endless, I recommend cooking up about 6 chicken breasts in the oven or the same quantity of fish. This should last through the week and provide numerous good meals in as little as an hour. Then for a side dish, even though this may not be the MOST healthy thing it is still beneficial for one's body, you can microwave frozen vegetables or rice etc, to have a quick but nutritious side dish. Another great food that can be made to last for a week is beans. Beans are very cheap for a large quantity and about 12 servings can be cooked on the stove top in an hour. 

These foods are designed to be cost effective, healthy, and time efficient, just what every driven college student is looking for.