Hi everyone!

I’m Maggie from readysetbreathe , and a student in the Sargent program of speech pathology. I’m so thrilled to do a guest blog for the SCNC. 🙂

The Christian Lenten season has come and gone and now those who have deprived themselves of ice cream, chocolate and facebook are rejoicing. I didn’t give anything up this year but my freshman year of college I decided I was going to sacrifice the ultimate: ALL sweets.

I should preface this by saying I am a huge grazer. I don’t need a lot of anything but I do enjoy a little of everything. The dining hall was a very dangerous place in my world. I figured all or nothing would be easier than saying “just one cookie”. I did it for 7 whole weeks…not a single cookie, chocolate or pastry.

While Lent was my primary reason for giving up my daily dessert, there was definitely some motivation to get ready for bikini season.

Imagine my surprise when I realized that not only did I not lose weight, I gained it! There may have been some other freshman variables in there too…but this was definitely not in the plan.

Looking back on that period now, I realize that indulging multiple times a day might have been too much, but not giving into those cravings at all was causing an equal amount of damage. I would graze on lots of salty things or really anything else I could find, but they wouldn’t satisfy the desire so I just kept going.

I am now at a happy, healthy weight, in the best shape of my life and I eat dessert nearly every day. I balance my evening ice cream with a morning work out, and healthy meal/snack choices. It requires some planning and motivation to stay on the wagon (or get back on after tumbling off for a day or two) but it’s totally worth it.

Finals are quickly approaching leaving many of us reaching for our favorite comfort foods. It’s totally okay to indulge a little..just share the oreos with your friends and then take a break from studying to get your heart rate up and you’ll be ready for finals and summer!

Cheers!

Maggie

Thank you Maggie for sharing your story with our readers! We want to remind those who go to BU that we offer complimentary nutritional counseling to all students. If you have a nutrition concern or  want to know more about what and how to eat best for YOU come see one of our registered dietitians! Register online here!

If you have a “smaller” nutrition question, leave it in the comments, tweet it or post it on Facebook!