Tips of the week.

Having a personal trainer has taught me a lot.  So I figured, why not share simple eating tips with the rest of you...

1.  For a midnight snack, eat a little protein, but no carbs!  Try protein powder in water, or my favorite - Celery and Peanut butter.

2.  Cut back, don't cut out.  Do you have a comfort food that messes with your diet?  Have you tried giving it up for a little while then find yourself gorging when you can't stay away a day longer?  Don't try to eliminate that food, instead, just cut it in half.  My trainer told me that 10% of my days diet can be whatever I want.

3.  Alright this one may seem kind of weird...  But if you've already had your 10% for the day and you have another craving, go brush your teeth.   It's a simple way to beat your cravings 

4.  Find yourself getting lazy every once in a while or if all your buddies want to eat fast food, it's okay!  As long as you find the right thing on the menu...  Sometimes I find myself trapped thinking what should I get that will do the least damage to my healthy goal.  Go for the grilled chicken instead of crispy (fried).  For example if you're at McDonalds get the Grilled Chipotle BBQ Snack Wrap.

That's it for now!  I'll try to come up with more later :)

Freshman Year Comes to a Close...

Wow, okay I knew coming to BYU would mean a lot of changes in my life, but I didn't really realize how many things I'd be doing for the first time.

1.  Being away from home:  At first it just felt as if I were gone at EFY for a week, but it really hit me a week or so in that I am on my own.  I've got my two brothers down in this area, but it's weird being away from my parents and little brother.  I remember saying bye to my mom and I didn't think it'd be as hard as it was.  I am pretty sure I bawled for the first couple weeks.

2.  Having roommates:  It was tough at first.  You're rarely on the same schedule... Sometimes when you want to go to sleep, they don't and vise versa.  But I have really grown to love my roomie's.  I'm sad Maura is going to be leaving us next year :(

3.  Attending a singles ward:  Okay so, my roommates and I are the ONLY freshmen in the ward.  I guess that's what we get for not wanting to live in the dorms.   This year church was at 8:30 ... worst time ever.  I'm pretty sure I ended up going to friends wards more than my own just because of the time.  Hopefully next year it'll be better and I can get more involved in my own ward.

4.  Worrying about BYU boys:  I had definitely been warned that everyone at BYU wants to get married, but I didn't realize how much they encourage it!

5.  Homework:  As much as I hated my high school, I have to admit that it's a good thing I went there.  I was used to a pretty huge homework load so that made coming to BYU a tad bit easier.  I do more work here, but ASIJ definitely prepared me.

6.  Worrying about Freshman 15:  Alright, let's admit it... it's hard adjusting to being on your own.  I was so used to coming home from school to my moms cooked dinners ... at first I was living off of top ramen and mac & cheese.  Then it started to hit me that I feel really unhealthy, so I developed this huge love for cooking.  Any good recipes you have that are high in protein, I want them!!  I now also have a personal trainer, and wow is it the best thing ever!  I used to HATE the gym with a passion.  But working out is now my way to release stress and it has be come a habit for me to go everyday.

7.  Choosing what to do with your entire day:  College is definitely not like high school where they make you go to certain classes at a certain time and tell you when you can eat lunch.  In college, it's you managing your own time and deciding when you want classes or when you want to eat.

8.  Choosing a major:  Wow, I'm pretty sure that over the span of this school year I 'switched' my major at least 5 times.  It's stressful trying to decided on something you want to do for the rest of your life!  After all that switching around, I have finally chosen something that really suits me. I've had this HUGE passion for serving others so figured I needed to get myself into the medical field.  However, I can't handle huge amounts of blood so it wasn't going to be nursing...  Thats when I came up with Dental Hygiene.  They don't offer it at BYU so I'll be here another year doing prerequisites then I'll try to get into the school here in Provo.