As a former fat kid, I am almost certain I do not have a metabolism. Or at least not the kind my friends had where they could eat endless Cosmic Brownies and still shop in the junior's department, while I was wearing a bra in third grade because I had man-boobs. I spent my formative years frequenting all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets until my gym shorts started to look more like a gym diaper.
At home, temptations are manageable. I don't have cake after dinner every night and my mom would be super suspicious if I sat in bed with an entire bag of Doritos. But now it is really hard to pass up the chocolate cake in the dining hall. It is also really hard not to completely disregard the six alarms I set each morning with the intention of going to the gym before class. And it is really, really hard to remove myself from the comfort of my twin-xl after a night of trying to get one of those semi-decent-non-rapist guys to buy me a drink. Welcome to college, where left to our own devices we must actively choose to be healthy. My AP classes did not prepare me for this.
My first week at school I thought the freshman 15 was a joke. I couldn't comprehend how anyone could gain weight when the food supply was a ten-minute trek from my dorm. But then my mom called, and told me I better use my meal plan. So I went to the dining hall, and now my dreams consist of buffalo sauce and waffle fries. Thanks, Mom.
Since the title of this implies I am giving advice on health in a collegiate environment, I will share with you the golden nugget of knowledge on the subject: YOLO. Yes, you should go to the gym, eat leafy greens, drink plenty of water and get enough sleep. But college is not the time to be stressing over caloric consumption or miles logged on a treadmill. No, I am not going to tell you how you should "cherish these four years" and "take not one moment for granted" because ew, I can't wait to get into the real world. But these four years are to prepare you for when you have a job, and bills, and a house plant that you will ultimately forget to water and certainly less time to be "healthy."
Eat the cake, just not every day. Because where in the real world is dessert offered every night? One salad is like, 30 minutes on the treadmill, right? And you can take at least one weekend off from being a social butterfly to watch "Sex and the City" and fall asleep before most places stop delivering. The bars will still be there when you get back. Honor yourself always. That's how to be healthy in college.
