College Invasion Today

The Washington University at St. Louis reported in the Journal of American College Health that about 70 percent of college students gain a significant amount of weight during freshman and sophomore year of college. Most of students’ freshman weight gain is usually around 3-5 pounds, but it’s also possible for some students to gain up to 25 pounds in their first year alone! This is called the Freshman 15, or the significant weight gain a college student experiences in his/her first year of college.

Because college is a whole new experience for them, freshmen have to grapple with lots of dietary temptations such as novel and untried delicacies, different new places to eat, and even friends who love to chow down on junk food. These make the Freshman 15 pretty tough to avoid. Here are a few tips to consider which might help you avoid the Freshman 15:

Maintain a balanced diet – Sure, spoiling yourself with your favorite junk foods can be something you can get away with in college. No/minimal adult supervision, remember? But this can take a toll on your health if you don’t know how to control it. Indulge in junk foods only occasionally, like during parties or as a reward when you’ve aced a test you never thought you can even pass. But as much as possible, eat healthy. Try checking out the salad bar in the cafeteria, and stock up on healthy foods as much as you can in your dorm’s fridge.

Drink lots of water – The key to a balanced and healthy body is being hydrated. Drink at least 8 glasses of water daily. It may be one of the oldest sayings in the book, but it really helps. Your digestion, blood flow and all the systems and organs of your body will work better when you’re well-hydrated.

Exercise – People in college tend to lead a sedentary lifestyle. Sure, there are plenty of things to do such as study, play video games and go to the mall. But being too idle can cause you to gain weight without even noticing! Also, exercise will increase your energy and stabilize your health.

Avoid vices like smoking and drinking – You’ve heard of ‘beer belly’, right? That’s because beer (and other alcoholic drinks) are high in calories that can cause you to gain weight. Smoking, likewise, can cause weight problems. Sure, while you’re a smoker the weight gain is kept at bay. But once you attempt to stop, all the flab can go back! And if you don’t stop, you’ll expose yourself to a higher risk of getting lung diseases and even skin diseases.

Get enough sleep and rest – Remember when you were a kid and you had at least 8 hours of sleep? How’d that make you feel when you woke up? You’d feel very energetic and well-rested, right? It’s no different to when you’re in college. You’ll have more energy to do all the stuff you need to do, and it will help maintain your weight if you get enough sleep. If not, your tendency would be to eat more food or drink caffeine to get your energy up, resulting in weight gain. Try to get at least 7 or 8 hours of sleep each night.

Tags: freshman 15

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 pm and is filed under Uncategorized . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.