September began a bit of a break from actively losing weight/gaining muscle. I was focusing more on starting college and the other things that came with that. That being said, I aimed to maintain what I had achieved through the bulk of my journey. I did this by eating right and working out whenever I could.

This consisted of half an hour of cardio and half an hour of lifting as often as I could. I still did all the same exercises I had been doing earlier, just less frequently.

The main thing that allowed me to maintain my weight this month was my diet. I made sure to eat as healthy as I could. The main objective this month was finding out how many calories per day I could eat with my new, less active, lifestyle. After a three weeks of experimenting, I found that 1500 calories a day (provided it wasn’t too high in fats or complex carbs) was the amount where I wouldn’t start putting on weight.

What to eat was another problem as it’s nearly impossible to make fresh food everyday in college. I settled on this diet for the most part:

 

Breakfast:

A protein bar (200 Calories, 20g protein, 10g carbohydrates, 0g fat, 0g sugar).

 

Snack1:

A protein bar (200 calories, 20g protein, 10g carbohydrates, 0g fat, 0g sugar).

 

Lunch:

Jerky and crackers (200 calories, 15g protein, 15g carbohydrates, 5g fat, 0g sugar).

 

Dinner:

Fresh meat (500 calories, 30g protein, 15g carbohydrates, 5g fat, 0g sugar).

Veggies (100 calories, 0g protein, 5g carbohydrates, 0g fat, 0g sugar).

Bread (200 calories, 0g protein, 20g carbohydrates, 5g fat, 0g sugar).

Dairy Dessert (either yogurt or plain ice cream) (100 calories, 0g protein, 0g carbohydrates, 5g fat, 15g sugar).

 

This was a very bottom-heavy diet and I chose that for a reason. I knew that I wouldn’t have much time during the day to be eating much food so I made sure that dinner was a big meal. During the day I subsisted on mainly protein bars, jerky, or the occasional sub with deli meats from the cafeteria if I ran out of time in the morning. For dinner I made sure to eat a big serving of fresh meat in some form. This provided me with enough protein to maintain the muscle I had built over the summer. I also tried to eat at least two servings of veggies for dinner as I didn’t get many vitamins/minerals during the day. In addition, I was sure to add some sort of carb (usually bread) to ensure that I had enough energy to carry me until bedtime. Lastly, I had some sort of dairy dessert. I chose this because I wasn’t getting any dairy or any sugar. Both of these things are needed and most dairy desserts taste good so it was a win-win.

This month saw a much bigger focus on what I ate rather than my workout regimen. Mainly due to the fact that I didn’t have much time to workout. It ended well with me maintaining my weight presumably maintaining most of my muscle (I’m sure some was lost as I wasn’t even working out half as much as I did during the summer).

Right: The dietary steps I took allowed me to not gain weight.

Wrong: I should have found a way to also implement fruits in my diet as that’s a major thing that was lacking and had to be made-up using vitamins.