One-Month Challenge: No Eating After 10 p.m., Week One

[Everyone’s got a vice, a bad habit, something they know they need to change. Unfortunately, everyone also has a million excuses why they just can’t do it. Not anymore. Every month we will be following a different CollegeCandy writer as she takes on a personal challenge. Last month Charlotte gave up coffee. This month, Melissa's going to stop her late night snacking. Can she do it!? Could you?]

By Melissa

It’s one week in. And my late-night self is hungry. Really hungry. Ugh.

The college atmosphere definitely makes it really difficult to complete this challenge. I definitely had a few nights that I caved, and when I caved, I caved badly. After a long day of sorority recruitment, all the girls ordered pizza at 11:30 p.m. Seeing how we had to be at the house for even longer after 11:30 to clean up, my starving self quickly forgot about my challenge and caved on a slice of pizza. Oops.

Another night, my roommates and I were thinking of our costume ideas for a themed social we were having this weekend. My costume involved making a dress out of candy (it looks AWESOME, by the way!), and when I had a little bit of candy left over, instead of looking the other way and remembering my challenge, I unwrapped those little chocolates like a little kid unwrapping presents on Christmas morning. Oops again.

Those were really the only two times that I caved badly, but for those of you who are not doing this challenge with me, understand this: this challenge is really, REALLY hard. One week in and I’m ready to call it quits. But I won’t.

The other five nights that I did not cave, I found myself drinking a LOT of water post-10 p.m. to deal with the grumblings in my tummy and the cravings in my mouth for late-night deliciousness. I’ve been trying to keep myself distracted in those late-night hours so that I don’t start to cry when my roomies are popping kettle corn during the commercial breaks of Jersey Shore. Again, drinking a lot, a LOT of water is helping, but I’m still having a lot of trouble. (And not just making it through the night without waking up for a pee break.)

I’m hoping this week will be better than last. We’ll see how my Valentine’s Day goes — because you know, every single girl wants her Valentine’s Day evening to be spent with a movie and a nice…glass of water.

So, how have you been holding up? Got some advice? Inspiration? Help. me.

[Check out the other One Month Challenges we've taken on. And if you've got a challenge you want to tackle (and be held accountable for), email us and we could feature you next month. Come on - it's good for you!]