Question?! Answer: Ask Tuffy Luv. Email Aunt Tuffy at tuffyluvCC [at] gmail [dot] com

Dear Tuffy Luv,

I’m fat. I hate my body. Now what?

Fatty

Dear Girl,

That’s right. I refused to call you Fatty. Because–what the floop?! Girl, you have got to address these issues now before they eat you whole–literally. Look, sometimes people gain weight. But people also lose weight, right? Right. So here’s what you do:

Figure out what’s making you gain weight. Is it the types of foods you’re eating? The amount of food? Or are you not exercising enough?

If it’s a food issue, start reading up on what’s healthy and what’s not. If you know what is good for your body, you’ll want to give it food that makes it run better. Vegetables, whole grains, lean protein–these things can be prepared deliciously, and they’ll make you feel great.

For amount of food, think portion control. At the beginning, weigh your food. I’m not kidding. Read up on portion sizes (from nutritionists and health experts, not crazos) and weigh it until you know what the right amount looks like. Limit yourself to eating only that amount. You might feel hungry at first, but within a week or so, your body will adjust. Most of us are used to overeating–you’ll feel much better when you’re actually eating the right amount.

Exercise is good for everyone. You want cardio AND weights. Find something you like to do (dancing, running, whatever) and make a schedule that has you doing it four times a week. And then stick to it!!! And do NOT reward yourself with food–reward yourself with the knowledge that you’re taking good care of yourself and starting better habits for the future.

And in the meantime, girl, seriously lay off. I’m sure you’re absolutely beautiful just the way you are. It is not healthy to be significantly overweight, but that doesn’t mean you should feel unattractive for it!!! Lots of men like a little extra meat. Don’t slim down for that; slim down because you’ll feel better, and you’ll have fewer health problems as you age. Do it for yourself. And in the meantime, always, always love the body you’ve got. Because that’s you, baby!

Hearts & Skulls,

Tuffy Luv

[lead image via Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock]

You wake up early to the sound of an alarm for class or work on weekdays. But you follow a totally different sleep schedule on the weekends, sleeping in and going to bed later. Does this sound like you? Sounds like almost every college student I know, myself included!

But it turns out that this habit might have some seriously negative effects on your health, beyond just the rude awakening on Monday morning. Scientists call this condition “social jet lag” – the practice of following a different sleep schedule on the weekdays than on the weekends. Essentially, social jet lag means that your body’s clock, or your circadian rhythm, is out of sync with your weekday sleep schedule. Which is why, when you have the chance, you sleep in later on days off. In some cases, it’s the equivalent of changing time zones for the weekend, and switching back on Monday. That’s what led researchers to compare it to jet lag. Read More »

While watching the Grammys last Sunday, my sorority sisters and I swooned over how much we love Adele. She’s beautiful, funny, British, and her voice gives us goosebumps. She’s graced us with the perfect breakup album and songs that are actually scientifically proven to tug at our heartstrings. Adele is twenty-three and is already more successful than most people her age can ever hope to be. When I found out about her vocal hemorrhage, I was legitimately worried that we’d never hear her voice the way we did before.

It seems silly that music can help you through things, but it’s the truth. And Adele’s music has definitely helped me out through some tough moments during the past year. So hearing her perform “Rolling In The Deep” at the Grammys was a delight and a relief. Not to mention she was actually humble (cough cough Taylor Swift) and gave the cutest little speeches for her many wins. And if that isn’t enough to love her for, she doesn’t really care what you think about her weight. Read More »

Is obesity contagious? What about smoking and drug use? Is it possible to unconsciously pick up the bad habits and health problems of your friends? First introduced in 2007, this idea has sparked a debate among researchers and doctors that is still heating up.

A controversial study led by researchers from Harvard and the University of California, San Diego, concluded that behaviors such as overeating and cigarette smoking could be contagious within close social networks. The researchers came to this conclusion by analyzing data from the Framingham Heart Study, a long-running, detailed survey that examined over 12,000 participants. The Framingham Study included information about body weight and drug use habits, and also indicated which subjects were friends or family members. Thanks to this unique feature, researchers were able to take a look at rates of obesity and other health risks among friend groups.

Read More »

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We hear all of these ads and campaigns telling us to “Be fit! Stay healthy!” But, what does that really mean? Eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables every day? Exercise 5 times a week? Do you have to be a certain weight? A certain size?

Maybe not. There’s no doubt eating healthy and living a healthy lifestyle are good life choices, but maybe it’s time we rethink things. Maybe it’s time to stop focusing on what we should be doing and define healthiness as how we  feel.

I am sure that somewhere in the mix, your weight, stomach size, or Body Mass Index matter. Yet, when it comes down to it, who needs doctors and health experts to tell us whether or not we’re fit? Your body knows better than anyone else how it is feeling. For example, bloating is the body’s natural response to an overfill of sugar or salt. On the other hand, a good workout will release endorphins, giving you a post-workout glow and leave you feeling pumped. You don’t need some health expert to explain those things to you. Nature knows best – you feel good when you do good. Read More »

Whatever your pleasure, I think all of us ladies can agree on how great it feels when you realize you need to go down a pants size when you are trying to lose weight. Over the past two years, I got to experience this phenomenon a whopping 5 times as I descended from a size 12 to a size 2. I’ve also thrown it in reverse and bumped back up to a 4. For some that might be the worst feeling, but for me, putting weight back on was necessary. And it made me feel even better.

Through my long and trying journey, I’ve come to learn that both losing weight and gaining weight can be fantastic feelings, so long as you are changing your body for yourself.

For me, it started my senior year of high school. As a graduation requirement, we were forced to watch videos released by the USDA that talked about balanced eating. It was here that I realized just how bad all of the junk food I ate was and what I had to do to fix it. A great, eye-opening experience, right? Except that I’m a perfectionist. I took my eating and exercising to the extreme.

By the summer after I graduated high school, I had become completely obsessed with losing weight. The girl who never ate a vegetable in her life was existing on romaine lettuce and fat-free yogurt. The girl who never exercised was spending 2 hours every day on the elliptical machine. By July, I had lost 80 pounds, but that wasn’t it. My hair was falling out. Despite the summer heat, I needed to wear sweaters as soon as the sun set. I lost my period month after month. Read More »

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman (unless she happens to be charging at us with her fists raised), so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like the three date rule! ) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

In the last year or so there’s been a big upswing in “awareness” about plus-size models. They’ve always been around, but they suddenly started getting a lot more attention for being their bold, beautiful selves. Of course, there’s always a backlash, like a study that showed that ads featuring plus size women actually make women feel worse about themselves – so much so that some networks have declined to air commercials by Lane Bryant featuring a plus size model in the company’s lingerie. So here it is ladies, are we really pro plus size or not?

On the one hand, pretty much everything in my brain screams “all shapes and sizes are beautiful, embrace who you are!” Even the idea of saying that we could be against having gorgeous full-figured gals in our media seems ludicrous (damn you, Ludacris, for ruining my ability to spell) especially when you consider that the average size for women in America is plus size. Having larger ladies on TV and in fashion magazines can only be a good thing, right? I mean, ultimately won’t it just encourage us as a society to accept different kinds of beauty and stop making such a big deal out of it? Read More »

Here at CollegeCandy, we’ve discussed and confronted body issues many-a-times. Whether its about the downfall of too-skinny models, or the recent obsession of using plus-sized models for “contrast”, these articles always incite heated debate. Even posts unrelated to the subject get pulled into the fire!

While we all might not see eye-to-eye in the quest to define the un-definable “perfect body,” we can all agree that college women have some very strong opinions on the subject. Girls our age are the most affected, and most targeted, by a society that thinks Jessica Simpson is fat, so it’s not surprising that the number of girls with eating disorders has been on the rise. New studies have shown that up to 19% of female college students are bulimic and up to 15% of those without eating disorders display patterns of disordered eating.

I’ve had my own battles with anorexia for four years, and have confronted a few friends with their own eating habits (or lack thereof). I’ve been on both sides of the situation and can tell you than it’s not easy confronting a friend from either point of view. So here are a few do’s and don’ts that will help you when you suspect a friend might be in need. Read More »

Mmm. Only 480 calories of fast food goodness.

I can’t lie: I love fast food. So much so that I have mapped out all the fast-food restaurants near my campus and committed all of their locations to memory, as well as the fastest routes to get there. And I may have instructed a cab driver to swing by and grab me a large order of fries and honey for dipping them on the way home from the bar. Twice. Yeah, that’s a bit excessive, but don’t judge; we have all experienced that moment when the dining hall slop is simply too underwhelming and all we want is a Big Mac. And fries. And a milkshake to wash it all down.

It is my firmest belief that fast-food restaurants should be listed as one of America’s deadliest sins. But because I can’t say no to a good drive-thru (Editor’s Note: Don’t try the drunken walk-through-the-drive-thru…they don’t like that), I decided to figure out the healthiest options to order in hopes of keeping obesity at bay. And it’s surprisingly not that hard to find healthy options at grease pits these days.

If you’ve got a hankering for some good ol’ fast food but don’t want to undo that 90-minute Vinyasa class, these are the best options for you:

Wendy’s: I truly believe Wendy’s to be the 4-star restaurant of the fast-food nation. I wish they could all be a little more like Wendy. I would recommend the Mandarin Chicken Salad with Oriental Sesame Dressing and Roasted Almonds. It’s 480 calories and delectable to the last bite. If salad isn’t your bag, try the Ultimate Chicken Grill Sandwich. Only 320 calories and yet still a hearty sandwich. As the name states, it’s the ultimate.

Taco Bell: Taco Bell’s Fresco menu is basically the same items, minus the sour cream. You can get a crunchy taco for only 150 calories. That’s like a 100-calorie pack taco meal. I like the sound of that. But just a warning: You may be saving on calories, but it won’t save you any more time in the bathroom. It’s the curse of Taco Bell. Learn to live with it. Read More »