The dedication it takes to diet - While working out felt great, my gut didn't want to go away.

I'm a guy, and I'm trying to lose weight. I'm not ashamed to admit that I put on the "freshman 15" over the past year. I came to school at a comfortable 180 pounds, and since I'm 6'2", that's pretty reasonable. I didn't think I needed to exercise, and didn't care to work out to get bigger. I went as far as laughing at my roommate for getting up at 6:30 a.m. to go lift every morning during my freshman year. I thought it was an absolutely useless activity that did nothing more than make him a "little" bigger than I was, and cut in on sleeping time.

I just figured that my high metabolism would keep me from getting fat, so I ate a ton of unhealthy food and didn't exercise regularly, except for a pickup game of hockey here and there. My views on everything, however, changed over the summer.

I got a job working in an office that didn't have a cafeteria. This, along with the fact that I had an hour to burn, drove me to the McDonalds or Burger King just minutes down the road. I basically ate that greasy crap every day of the week for lunch, and did nothing to burn off those calories. I sat on my ever-growing ass in my chair, doing my work and sipping on my fourth cup of coffee.

It was at this time that I realized that I didn't have as much energy as I used to have, and I noticed that my gut was getting exponentially larger. This drove me into a panic, for my horrible eating habits had made me into a fat kid. It may not be apparent by my tall, lanky appearance, but the gut that my baggy t-shirts now hide is surprising to most. I had grown to be around 195 pounds, and much of the added weight was pure fat. Since it was the end of summer, I was hoping that my roommate could whip me into shape.

Right when school started, I informed my roommate that I wanted to lose my flab, and put on some muscle. I started going to the gym with him whenever I could. I learned the right way to work out, as opposed to my way back home, which was essentially useless when compared to my roommate's method. I was highly motivated to become stronger, and hopefully become more toned in the process.

It was tough at first, since working out made me extremely sore, and I hardly wanted to get up from bed, let alone work out more often. But my fat gut reminded me that it was necessary for me to continue. While working out felt great, my gut didn't seem to want to go away. This is when my roommate informed me that much of getting leaner depended on my diet.

My eating habits suck. I eat greasy foods and candy, drink soda and take in many more calories that I could ever dream about burning off in any given day. I started to cut out the soda and candy in an effort to cut calories, and have tried to stop eating the fatty foods. While I am not on nearly as strict a diet as my roommate, I have cut down on many of my previously loved munchies.

With all the busyness of college life, it's hard to devote most of my free time to going to the gym to work out and eating healthy. It is much easier to play video games and eat UniMini subs and RoFo cheese fries. Phasing out these two aspects of life has proved difficult to do, and I've found that it is a gradual process. Unfortunately, losing fat, gaining muscle and keeping a lazy lifestyle is impossible.

Many say that getting on the diet track and staying there is the hardest part of a diet. However, I would say that officially getting on the track is the hardest part. Right now, I seem to have one foot on and one foot off. I may not look like I'm on a diet or work out yet, but everything takes time. Give me a few months, and hopefully I'll no longer be that kid with a huge gut.