Hey guys! Yesterday marked the completion of my first official day in the journey to lose weight with Her Campus and SELF Magazine — woo!!! I could not be more ready or motivated to get in shape and feel confident about my body once again. I will be blogging every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday to keep you updated on how my diet and exercise habits are faring. Our journey starts now, and I hope you are as excited about it as I am!
One of the biggest challenges I will be facing is how to create the meals from the SELF Drop 10 diet in my school’s dining hall, which we’ve dubbed Val (short for Valentine even though it’s not loved by most students). As a freshman, I do not have access to a kitchen and am required to have an unlimited meal plan at Val. Luckily, my school posts the daily nutritional information for all the food it serves. If I decide to not eat something from the SELF Drop 10 diet one day, I will be sure to select food options that allow me to stay within the diet’s daily calorie recommendations: 350 for breakfast, 450 for lunch, 450 for dinner, and 150 for a snack. I’m going to do the best I can to incorporate meals from the diet plan though! Tonight I made a variation of the Chicken Quesadilla. I substituted spinach for arugala and chose to include cucumbers and green peppers instead of the grape tomatoes. Check it out!
Another one of the challenges I will be facing is not getting bored at the gym. In high school, I played field hockey, lacrosse, and tennis. Those were the good ol’ days alright! All the practices, games, and matches would keep me active, and I also would go for a run in my neighborhood three or four times a week to de-stress. I didn’t really have to think about planning workouts or getting enough exercise. Now I have to make a concious effort to burn calories at the gym, and in my opinion, the bike and ellipitical can become pretty monotonous after awhile.
I think the exercise plan with SELF will provide a great variety for me! I’m most definitely expecting the HIIT sessions to kick my butt and keep me on toes, especially since I’m so out of shape. I also just discovered that my school offers PE classes for students to take in their spare time, so I recently registered for “Spring ABS” and “Beginning Squash”. Should be fun! In a half an hour or so, I’m about to go to the gym with my friend Amanda to do the 45-minute cardio wild card of the week. Working out with a friend is a great way to help you stay on track! I love being able to talk to someone about both the woes and joys of working out, and it’s great to just have another person in it along with you. I hope you all will register for Diet Bet, so we can lose weight together and support one another!
Until Friday xoxo
Nicole