Health - Freshman 15

In college, weight gain is almost inevitable for most. I for one can testify that I became a victim of the dreaded Freshman 15. Here is a sample of a day’s worth of eating for me as a freshman:

Breakfast: Skipped due to sleeping in since I probably stayed up way too late the night before

Lunch: Dining commons, which usually consist of a meat course, chowder, salad drowning in ranch dressing, and a nice plate of french fries

Afternoon Snack: Ramen

Dinner: More starchy dining commons food consisting of soups, pastas, and more salad with ranch dressing

Midnight Snack: 5 tacos from the local drive in

I didn’t eat like this everyday, but consistently enough. That and not exercising, lead to a lot of weight gain. It didn’t get any better afterwards either and I eventually ended up gaining 40 pounds before I graduated. Now you’re probably wondering what this has to do with transitioning into the real world. Well more than likely most people will end up at a job where you are either sitting or standing for 8 hours a day. I do the latter. So how do you keep the weight off? Start early.

Forget what you’ve seen on TV ads about pills, portion control and exercise is truly the best way to stay in shape and keep the weight off. Now I know that getting into the habit of exercising can be a chore, but trust me, it works. I’ve recently began eating healthy again and working out and I’ve already seen the results. I’ve lost 5 pounds over a couple months. Nothing spectacular, but hey it’s a start.

What’s another easy way to keep the weight off? Stay away from soda. I have to admit that I am a huge fan of Coke, but making the decision to cut it out of my diet was a great one. It’s really nothing more than sugar, sugar, and more sugar. It adds no nutritional value and provides nothing but empty calories. What’s an alternative if you feel the thirst? Water. It has no calories, keeps you hydrated, and it’s free, which is always good in my book.

It's hard for most college students to wake up early to go to class let alone make time to eat breakfast. Breakfast though is probably the most important meal of the day as it will setup the rest of you day’s diet. No one said it has to be a sit down meal with eggs, sausage, and hash browns. It can be as simple as a muffin and tea or a bowl of cereal. It’ll help you start your metabolism for the day and make you less hungry for lunch. Plus you’ll have all sorts of energy to start the day off for your morning classes.

Start early and start now. You don’t want to end up like me trying to lose all that weight I could have kept off in the first place.