No More Excuses!

Bobby,

I'm a 19-year-old college student. I'm 5'11" and I weigh about 220 pounds. I want to lose weight, but it's hard because I work at a fast food restaurant, where I get free food. It’s tempting and easy to eat there because it's free and I'm a poor college student. I live too far away to walk to work. I know that I can do the regular sit-ups and pushups every night, but is there anything else I can do? When I get home from work it's usually night and I don't get up early enough to do anything in the morning.

Thanks,
Brandon

Alright Brandon. Time for some tough love. If you really want to lose weight, you need to stop making excuses. I understand that because you work at a fast food restaurant it makes it challenging to eat healthy. If times were different, and job opportunities were plenty, I would say “quit your job and find a job outside of the fast food business” but during this tough economic time I would never suggest that.

Also, I’m all for taking advantage of free food. Why pay for something you can get for free? BUT that does not mean you have to eat crap. Most fast food restaurants offer healthier options. Do you have chicken sandwiches? If so, choose that without mayo or ketchup and load up on tomatoes, onions, and lettuce. You can even forgo the bun. Most fast food places offer salads. Stay away from anything fried. No sodas or shakes and instead drink lots of water. If that doesn’t work then you will have to pack a lunch so you can control what you put in your mouth.

You work too far to walk to work? Do you have a bike? If so, ride your bike to work. If not, maybe take the bus halfway to work and then walk the rest of the way. You need to get moving in order to burn those calories.

You say it’s night time when you get home from work, but why does that mean you can’t exercise? If it’s too late and you go to bed immediately after work then you need to set that alarm clock an hour earlier and drag that cute little 19-year-old butt out of bed and exercise! If you can, invest in a set of dumbbells or exercise tubing so you can do some resistance training. Pushups and sit-ups are fine, but you need to work the whole body and that’s where dumbbells or tubing come in handy. You can work every muscle of the body with these. Subscribe to a fitness magazine (Men’s Fitness, Muscle and Fitness, etc.) so you can find new exercises and routines to include in your workouts. Does your college have a gym you can use? If so, go! Enroll in a weight training class or some kind of physical ed class to get you moving!

I discovered dance when I was in college. My straight college roommate wanted to take a break dancing class (hey, it was the 80s) and that didn’t appeal to me, so I took a jazz class and fell in love with it. Find something you enjoy that is active and enroll in that class. That way you will have to go, or not pass the class. I would leave my dance classes sweaty, and while I walked across campus to my next class I would eat a sandwich that I packed because I had no time to eat otherwise.

So, if I could do it, while in college, you can too. You’re in college; you’re a smart guy...you know what you need to do, just quit making excuses.

Do you have a question for Bobby about how to improve your time in the gym? Send us an email.

(Photo: Getty Images)

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A.C.E.- and N.A.S.M.-certified, Bobby Solorio has been personal training for over 10 years. You might recognize him from Bravo TV's "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List," where he trains his now-A-list client. For more info check out Bobby's website.