Fight the Freshers 15 in Freshers 2015

Your first year at Uni is going to be full of adventure and, if you’re not careful, full of pounds. The famous Freshers 15lbs – the amount of pounds you’re going to gain on average.

Late nights, takeaways, drinking (and more drinking), dialling a Domino’s pizza and generally partying instead of pumping iron. It all adds up and over 12 months those lbs tot up to nearly a stone.

But you can keep those 15 off and still have fun.

Erase the Domino’s number from your phone

Delicious, but super high in calories. If you order a large pizza it can come in at 1467 calories. To burn this off you would need to go for a 14 mile run.

Plus they can cost a small fortune, if you like your stuffed crust, coming in at more than 20 quid, so why not save yourself over 800 calories and 4 pounds, and try my alternative – the Freshers Feast Pizza.

You’ll need: one wholemeal tortilla wrap (buy a packet cost under a pound and you can freeze them), cheese, tomatoes, wafer thin ham and mushrooms.

Get grating your cheese, heat up the grill and mash up your tomatoes in a blender – which are expensive but totally worth splashing out on. Then start spreading your mashed tomato onto your tortilla, before adding your grated cheese. Finally wash and finely slice your mushrooms and shove them on top. Place your delicious pseudo-pizza under the grill on a medium heat until the cheese goes golden. Now pull it out, add your slices of ham and place back under for a short time. Get ready to impress your new flatmates with your apparent culinary master. Sit back and enjoy – make sure you wash up to avoid the inevitable passive aggressive post-its.

Get enough sleep

As tempting as it is to watch Netflix until 2am in the middle of the week, simply because you can, just be warned. This can play havoc with your waistline. Those late nights are going to contribute towards gaining 15lbs. Reason being, when we have anything less than seven hours sleep, our body produces more of a hormone known as ghrelin, which increase your appetite because your body will need extra energy. So make sure you hit the sack before 11 pm Monday to Friday.

Give yourself some time off the sauce

Alcohol is probably the number one cause of weight gain when it comes to the Freshers 15″. Alcohol is exceptionally high in sugar. Think when you are downing those jaeger bombs. They are approximately 158 cals. So after three of them not only are you not particularly trashed, but you’ve consumed 474 cals.

Try having a glass of water between each drinks. This will slow down your drinking and save you pennies, also set a limit of no more than three nights a week of drinking.

Set your alarm a little earlier

Get up early and do a HIIT Workout. This will get you looking super fit and, even though it is just 4 minutes, you will be sweating. So no excuses, just do it. You can do the workout with me in real time on YouTube. Let me train you, and get rid of that fat.

Swap white for brown

When it comes to pasta, rice and bread simply chose brown. The reason for this is it is not only lower in calories but it has more fibre and will keep you fuller for longer. So ditch the white and go brown – it has less sugar and will help keep off those extra pounds.

Burn if off while talking

When you are catching up with family over the phone, instead of sitting down get moving. Think of the average length of a call to family and friends, if you do this while walking around the room you can burn off a good few calories at the same time. The more you talk the more you burn.

Take up a new sport

Every uni has great sports and fitness facilities, so whether it is swimming or pumping iron find a new activity to do and aim to do it three times a week. Get yourself to the Sports and Societies Fayre and take the plunge.

Drink Water

It is free and one of the best ways to look and feel good. Drink eight glasses a day. This will also help to stop you over eating.

Walk, a lot

Aim to take 10,000 steps a day – approximately 5 miles. It is worth investing in an app that adds up how many steps you have taken. It helps keep the weight off and you will be surprised how quickly they add up when you are walking around campus.

DIY

Learn to cook from scratch and avoid having dinner which involves being nuked in the microwave. Cooking is easy and far healthier than buying a ready meal. Plus it is so much cheaper, here is a great tasty meal that anyone can do:

One sweet potato
One tin of tuna
One red onion

Simply peel and boil the sweet potato, then mash it up and drain off your tuna. Slice your onion and mix all three ingredients together. Hey presto a delicious fish pie for under £1.50.

Set yourself a fitness goal

It is a great way to keep your motivation sky high while you are studying. Find an event and get yourself in shape for it.

 

Use social media

It’s a great way to keep on track for healthy living. Use my Instagram for inspiration (@lucywyndhamread). It has lots of quick easy recipes and workout tips, especially for girls. For boys, check out @mensfitkitchen, it has lots of easy recipes and workouts for guys.

Lucy Wyndham read is Ex Army and a Leading Fitness Expert and Author she has her own Fitness Channel on YouTube LWRFitness for more details on her visit her website lwrfitness.com