Minna's Dorm Room Workout

(CBS)  College students juggle challenges like studying, making new friends, and making good choices with all that is offered to them. And the unlimited access to food can be overwhelming, to say the least. So The Early Show fitness expert Minna Lessig has some tips for keeping fit during your first year.

Time management is an extremely important skill, and a key is to find a balance between tending to all the responsibilities of being a student and taking care of oneself.

Many students fall into the belief that non-stop work is what it takes to be successful. They feel they are too busy to exercise and take the time to get a healthy meal (instead of snacks that are high in sugar and fat). While it is true that hard work pays off, you are only as strong as your weakest link. If that weakest link is your physical self, your mental self will be hindered.

If you are a student, you must realize that to be your best is to strive for balance. Don't only demand output from your "mental self."

Taking 30 minutes (even 15 minutes) to do some physical activity will not only help in avoiding the infamous freshman 15, but also help keep your mind clear and capable of absorbing and filing constant stimulation from studies.

Here are some exercises you can do right in your own dorm room, followed by suggestions to how to round out your fitness program while at college.

• Keep your mind and body on those books. Most women want to become leaner and this means you do not have to lift heavy weight. Instead, light weight and higher-repetitions is what it takes. Light-weight in weights would be 3, 5, 8, and 10 pound hand weights. Use those heavy textbooks and backpacks as substitutes.
  
  
• Plie squats and alternating side lunges to work legs and butt wearing a backpack for extra resistance - you can even do these exercises while studying or typing.
  
  
• Use your dorm room furniture as your personal home gym. You can do resistance exercises with tubing or therabands. Use the chairs and desks as exercise stations:

The Desk:

• Ab tucks off chair
  
  
• Pushup and downward facing dog, using your desk
  
  
• While working on computer at desk: resistance exercise with exercise tubing: triceps extension while sitting at desk. Or 2 arm tricep extension with heavy book.

On The Bed:

• Stretches - spinal twist

Study break/mini workout: Neck stretches and hip flexor stretch, which is good to do every now and then if you are sitting for prolonged periods of time.

Other Dorm Room Friendly Exercises:

• Hoola hoop - cheap fitness toy that really works your abs and takes your mind off stress of exams.
  
  
• Jumping jacks - cardio galore! Even doing a set of 20 to get your heart rate up and blood pumping will help your brain feel more alert.

More tips for staying fit:

1. Sign up for a fitness class. You are graded on attendance and this helps you develop a regular habit of weekly exercise.
   
   
2. Avoid using food to soothe emotional needs. Check your feelings throughout the day. How do you feel? Food is fuel, not the answer to relieving stress.
   
   
3. Inline skate/bike ride in between classes
   
   
4. Plan your meals and exercise. Schedule times when you can have a healthy balanced meal at the dining hall.
   
   
5. Late-night snacking while studying: Choose high-protein snacks like lowfat yogurt, turkey slices, nuts, low-fat cottage cheese instead of chips, pizza, and candy. High carb snacks only make you sleepy. Protein snacks help keep you mentally alert.
   
   
6. When eating meals, eat slowly. Chew each bite before digging the fork in for more. At dining halls where all you can eat is offered, view this as your opportunity to exercise will over temptation. Remember, it takes 3,500 extra calories to gain one pound of body fat, which spread out, means 145 extra calories a day above what your body needs. That could be the second helping of food you were tempted by.
   
   
7. Carry a water bottle around with you everywhere. Avoid sodas and high sugar "juices" - they offer no nutrient value and only show up on your body as extra calories.
   
   
8. Alcohol has almost as many calories per gram as fat does. Fat has 9. Alcohol has 7.
   
   
9. Non-fat foods do not mean 0 calories. And calories are calories. It is important to get nutrient-dense calories so that you preserve lean muscle tissue and your body utilizes body fat for energy.
   
   
10. Forgive yourself. If you eat a ton of junk and skip exercise for a week, let it roll off your shoulders. Pick up where you left off. You've already got mucho stress just from being a college kid - why load up on more from self inflicted guilt? Past is past. Do what you can now. It's okay to have pizza, ice cream and chocolate every now and then. If you constantly deny your craving, you are headed for a binge; you are setting yourself up for failure. Remember, balance is key. You are juggling a lot. Every now and then, a ball falls. It's your choice to pick it up and keep up with the balancing act.