Alright so first things first- Kudos to you for wanting to change your fitness lifestyle and eating lifestyle for the better. I say
lifestyle because this is not a 30 day/4month/2years diet. This is literally for life..otherwise, what's the point right?
Overall though, props for taking the initiative to get healthy again as I know that college can be quite stressful especially when near exam time.
1st and foremost: If you haven't previously done so already, I highly suggest to calculate [online calculator-rough estimators]
your BMI and find your maintenance calories. Maintenance calories is the amount of calories needed to
maintain your weight. So for example, if you need to eat 1500 calories to maintain your weight- Try dropping it to
no less than 1200 calories. That way..when you workout for at least 1 hour- you'll drop the pounds. The results won't happen over night though so don't feel discouraged by any means. Shedding pounds takes time and if you notice after a few days of counting calories & exercising that you're gaining weight, it's most likely that you're actually gaining
muscle. So again, don't be discouraged.
If you truly want to change your fitness and eating lifestyle for the better, you've got to stick to your calorie deficit range of ..1200 Cals each day for example.
Next is to drink plenty of water [before and after meals, before and after workouts]
Eliminate processed food. That stuff overtime will accumulate and they're bad for you. Processed anything. YES you can eat whatever you want technically but, for me, I find that eliminating processed food, sodas/pops, processed flour and processed sugar helped me a lot. If you're having a sugar crave- go for the fruits- they provide natural and healthy sugars so long as they're eaten in moderation. And that goes for anything in moderation.
Veggies and fruits are top priority, then grains[whole wheat is recommended], then milk&alternatives, then meat&alternatives last.
By all means, combine these during breakfast, lunch, dinner, and in between snacks. Though for snacks, I eat unsalted nuts raw or roasted.
More on fitness: Combine cardio with weight training. If you've got dumbbells at home, you can combine it with lunges and bicep curls or a squat with overhead presses. These combinations are just examples. There's a plethora of Youtube videos you can check out when it comes to cardio workouts and weight training workouts.
I find that when you combine the two, you burn more. But that's just me. It's worked out so far. I used to be 145 lbs at 5ft 6'' [23 yrs old]
I'm now 115-118. I don't plan on going any lower so my main focus is to weight train and build more muscle.
With weight training, always take a minimum of 1 day recovery, after the weight training workout, to give your muscles a chance to rest and grow. You'll not only look nice and sculpted, you'll be stronger. And I'm not talking about bodybuilder physique, I mean nicely toned overall.
Also- when you're doing workouts- try to switch up the moves/Youtube videos every day because the body ends up reaching a certain point where the constant exercising of the same moves decreases the impact it has on your body which lowers the benefit you get from it.
And..I think that's it.
So yeah- see what works best for you and let me know how it goes in about 2 weeks to a month after. I wish you all the best in both studies and health.
Cheers. : )