Goals are a part of life, whether you are the type of person who keeps them taped to your mirror or stored in the back of your mind. There are big goals, small goals, important goals, “wishful-thinking” goals (Chris Pine will be mine…), etc. Regardless of the type, all require a certain amount of thought, effort, and organization. Goal-setting is not only a blueprint for your own success but also a powerful tool in motivation–who doesn’t need that?

Everyone struggles with motivational issues at some point. With so many stressors and distractions constantly vying for our mind’s attention (alcohol, TV, alcohol again), feeling motivated to complete tasks can be REALLY difficult. However, it is important that goal-setting be a regularly-used skill in our daily lives. Being a serious procrastinator myself (hey, America’s Next Top Model reruns can be a little distracting, OK?), I have found that setting goals have made my thoughts and actions more organized, efficient, and clear-cut.

So how do you maximize the ability of your goals to motivate you?

Dr. Edwin Locke, a pioneer in the research of motivation and goal-setting (and probably a guest star in one of your PSY101 lectures), provides five characteristics of goals that each contribute to the goal’s effectiveness of promoting motivation. You wanna be successful (uh, duh!), take these into consideration:

Clarity
Goals that are clear are ones that are straightforward, able to be measured, and cause you to take action! Being specific is key—adopting a definite time set for a goal and an detailed description of what you want to achieve allows for a better understanding of potential rewards. Vague goals such as “Lose weight” or “Get ahead on schoolwork” are unlikely to motivate. However, goals such as “Lose 30 pounds by September 1st,” or  “Finish 3 assignments for next week before going out to the keg race,” are more likely to create a more tangible ending, therefore boosting motivation.

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Salads = phytochemical wonderlands!

We treat our bodies pretty poorly in college. We stay up late, we put our livers to the test (daily), and we eat a whole lot of unhealthy treats. And we feel the effects on Monday morning when we’re trudging to class in pants that barely fit and a foggy, unhappy brain.

What if I told you making one small change could give your body a boost? No, I’m not going to tell you to stop drinking beer – that would be unrealistic – but I am gonna tell you to start indulging in phytochemicals.

Phyto-wha?
I know – when I first saw that word I had to Google it too. Allow me to break it down:

A recent study found that eating food containing phytochemicals at the beginning of a meal prevents oxidative stress, which can cause obesity, heart disease, joint disease, diabetes, and more.

So basically, You + Phytochemicals = Thin, Disease-Free You!

Understandably, I’m a HUGE fan. And I’m ready to hit up the phytochemical aisle at my campus grocery store.

So where can you find phytochemicals? Think healthy, plant-based foods like leafy greens, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes. You don’t need acai berry for this; stick with what you know! In fact, they say that wonder pills and even juices (apple juice, cranberry juice, etc.) aren’t as beneficial for you as fresh/frozen fruits and vegetables. The study specifically mentioned the great phytochemicals in garlic, tomatoes, soy, carrots, red wine, whole grains… Wait, red wine? You know we love any excuse to down a box of red…

In order to get the best health benefits from our food, we are encouraged to “…go back to the whole sources of food, the nonprocessed foods if we can help it.” So even swapping some raw almonds for your typical granola bar on the way to class, or drinking tea instead of coffee will help add more phytochemicals to your diet. Read More »

With all the crazy diet fads, weight loss pills and general hysteria over how to shed extra weight, it’s no surprise when another completely ridiculous tactic comes out.

And I’m not talking “only eat bacon” ridiculous.

Allow me to introduce you to Dr. Nikolas Chugay’s mesh patch. When sewn onto the tongue it becomes so painful to eat, that you just can’t. That’s right this doctor from California who has a PhD in medicine is going to make it so painful for you to eat that you won’t have any other option but to stick to a liquid diet.

Ten women have already done it and – surprise, surprise – some have lost up to 20 pounds. (Really, if you don’t eat any solid food, you’ll lose weight? Who knew!)

Now if this guy has actually found women desperate enough to inflict physical pain on themselves to lose their muffin top, I think the world of medicine is ready to radically expand. Can you imagine how much money can be made inventing other completely unreasonable ways for women to keep their stomachs empty?

I have a couple of ideas already. Read More »

When we heard about the casting call for MTV’s reality show Freshman 15, we might have peed our pants a little. What could be more fun than watching freshman battle the bulge on national television (laughter, tears, and more than one beer and nacho binge guaranteed to ensue)? We are suckers for anything MTV, especially when it includes vulnerable freshies and crack-the-whip personal trainers (do I smell a Dustin Diamond meltdown coming my way?)

Yeah, so there is no doubt I’ll be on my couch with a bag of Doritos on the night of the premiere. Hey I’m going to be eating for fifteen starving freshman now! But despite my excitement, I do have one problem with this new show.

Where the hell was it three years ago? I totally could have used a show like this when I was a freshman, eating my way towards a pair of maternity pants and a premature heart attack. While I spent the summer after my freshman year eating carrot sticks and sweating my ass off on an elliptical, these kids will get free personal training and a good six months of fame out of their newly acquired bulge. Not to mention that the show is a competition, so it will most likely end with some lucky chubster being awarded a prize of some sort.

Being awarded a prize for losing your freshman 15?! All I was left with was a couple stretch marks and the need to suppress a newfound crazing for pizza at all hours of the night. I’ll tell you one thing – these are a lucky bunch of kids.

If you’re a fat college freshman, please allow me to live vicariously through you and apply asap!

"Just smile through the pain. Smile. Through. The. Pain."

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make it here another two weeks. I may kill myself. Or someone else.

I say this because yesterday I was forced to do a mini-triathalon. I’m not sure if I’ve ever endured greater agony than what I just experienced. Alright, that’s sort of an overstatement, but it really was incredibly effing hard. I could use a nap right about now. Until next Tuesday.

Since my last post (and weigh-in) I’ve lost at least 7 pounds. A couple nights ago I looked at a picture taken of me the night before I came here and one taken the other day and I saw really exciting results. I’ve definitely halved myself (at least in the stomach area).

Other discoveries since this last weigh-in: Read More »

Tony Romo kicks Jessica Simpson to the curb.

Penguins swing both ways.

Another reason not to date ugly dudes.

Ryan Seacrest makes a lot of money. A LOT.

Lose stomach weight fast.

Channing Tatum is officially off the market.

If there is one man who knows fitness and health it’s Patrick Murphy.  We found him on Twitter, Tweeting away helpful advice snippets for the taking. And why should you do what this man says? Maybe because he is the man responsible for getting both Eva Longoria and Olivia Wilde their #1 spots on Maxim’s Hot 100. And did I mention that he was willing to sit down and talk to you?

Well not talk to you personally, but he did spend a long time on the phone with CollegeCandy telling us about the importance of switching up our workouts, why it’s crucial to stay hydrated and all the other tips and tricks he uses to get his clients into tip-top shape. Although be forewarned; this man is serious business when it comes to seeing results (i.e. opting for apples and green tea for dessert), so getting in shape his way is no easy task.

And there’s more! (I know!) His new website www.murphyfitness.com is launching today, July 1st, and members can download workouts, videos and keep a food diary where Patrick will give personal feedback to ensure success! And he’s giving away a FREE membership to one very lucky CollegeCandy reader. You (yes, YOU!) can look like Olivia Wilde for FREE. Get to know Patrick a bit and then find out how you can be one step closer to that banging bod…

5 Questions We Ask Everyone:

1.    What is your most ridiculous college memory/most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
I disappeared with a bunch of friends to Mexico without telling my family for like, almost a week. I just disappeared for like five days, that was really bad. I was just starting college so I was just experimenting and partying my ass off.

2.   What are five things you can’t live without?

Exercise, my wife,  my eyesight, contacting my mother every week, and I can’t live without staying hydrated… You’re gonna find out in this phone call that I’m kind of a fitness fanatic. I live and breath my job. I love it.

3.    What’s your motto/advice you live by?
Well, I say many things, but one of the things I like to say is that the root of all evil is the lack of circulation. So, everything – every problem that we have, mentally and physically with our bodies – is a lack of circulation.  That is the cause and root of all evil. That’s why cancer happens, why we have eye problems, why we have skin problems, why we have all types of problems. So,we gotta keep moving. Read More »

A bag of ranch Doritos, an everything bagel and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food later, you’re lying immobile on the sofa with a bulging belly. Not only do you feel guilty and disgusting, but your breath plain stanks.

Oh girl, you’ve overdone it … again.

In trying times like these (cue the violin), you must ask yourself why you just shoveled those unneeded calories into your mouth. Were you actually hungry? Or were you just bored?

Probably the latter.

Somehow you’ve gotten into the habit of associating free time with eating. You’re done with class and you check the fridge. You take a study break and you pick up a Snickers bar. You go for a drive and and stop for ice cream. Quite a pattern.

Food’s a quick fix, but let’s end the regretful food overdoses for good and fight the boredom with something stimulating.

After tossing the fatty snacks (out of sight, out of mind!), sit down and make a list of all the things you need and want to accomplish in the next month. Hang it somewhere (in plain view!) in your kitchen. The next time you stumble upon a couple of Oreos, the list will be there, staring you in the face. You’ll be forced to reevaluate the situation.

Hungry?

Not really.

Do something on the list instead.

Not only will you get a lot more done on a daily basis (I spend a lot of time grazing in the evenings), but without the constant flow of food throughout the day, your body will drop excess weight quickly. More importantly, you will no longer hate yourself for eating until you empty the pantry.

Easy as pie (that you will not eat when you get bored).

If you are considering taking diet pills, more specifically, Hydroxycut, it’s time to get rid of those thoughts once and for all. The FDA recently linked their products to severe liver damage and death (yes, death!), so the makers pulled 14 of its products from shelves.

Here are the gross details, from this article: The FDA said it has received 23 reports of serious liver injuries, including liver damage that resulted in a transplant in 2002, liver failure, jaundice, seizures and cardiovascular problems. The reports include the 2007 death of a 19-year-old man living in the Southwest, which was reported to the FDA in March.

Death, people! And for what? The hopes that a supplement, which is not regulated at all, and could, for all we know, have dog poop in it, may help you lose a tiny bit more weight? To fit into a smaller size? To see results like the commercials (which really just use two different people!)?

I’m pretty sure the cons outweigh the benefits in this situation… Read More »

A little friendly competition never hurt anyone…And when it comes to shaping up, sometimes it helps to have the motivation of others spurring you on. For me, the most dedicated I have ever been to regular gym-going and eating right was when I either had a goal in mind (running a half-marathon last summer) or when I had others keeping me accountable (during my office’s version of The Biggest Loser).

Well, there’s a website I recently discovered that enables you to form a little fit challenge with your friends: fatbet.net. The premise behind it is that “the declaration of goals, combined with regular tracking and the fear of losing a group ‘Fatbet’” works better than going at it alone. And I have to say, it’s a pretty great idea, not to mention totally free and easy to do.

To start, you can sign up for a free account. After that, set your weight-loss goal, enter dates, and create a Fatbet wager. Then, send people you know a Fatbet challenge (word to the wise: you may want to make sure that they want to lose weight before you send them the invite…). Each day, you can track your personal and Fatbet group progress. When the Fatbet ends, all who reach their weight-loss goals win. Those who don’t pay the Fatbet wager (like streak across campus!). Read More »