Everything that we consume has an effect on us. Some of us may have been taught this since we were you, and others may have just been taught the importance of nutrition. Regardless of one's current views on nutrition, your entire eating routine will be thrown out the window the minute you move into your college dorm. And I want to warn you before you read any further- the freshmen 15 DOES exist, and it will catch you if you aren't careful. Which you won't be; because who has time to think about nutrition when you're a college student?

I know what you're thinking. "I'm a working college student who goes to classes from 8AM-3PM, and I'm involved in 57 extracurricular AND I'm president of the Swing Dancing club. Yes that's a thing, and yes, people go to the meetings." Well I'm here to tell you that that's great. I'm really proud of you. But it's extremely important to find time to eat the right foods in a busy day such as yours.

Being a freshmen myself last year, I went into college at a healthy weight. I was average to underweight for my age and height; a pretty scrawny student. I ate with caution, not intending to blimp up. I was legitimately freaked out by this "freshmen 15" I'd been hearing about. And I told myself that I was going to eat healthily.

Then, I walked into the student eating commons for the first time.

Trays of food lined the walls filling the room with the intoxicating aroma of greasy burgers and salty fries. That cafeteria had everything from pasta to pizza, burgers to sandwiches, home cooked meal options like chicken and potatoes, and bins of creamy Wisconsin ice cream right next to the waffle presses in the back. There was a salad bar somewhere in there, but who's eyes honestly drift to the leafy green stuff right away? Even the vegetarians were drooling over the grill items. This buffet-style feast was part of my freshmen meal plan. I got to come in this room TWICE a day, tempt my stomach, and eat as much crap as I wanted, because it was being paid for with my tuition. And so, I thought nothing of it, and ate to my hearts content. I told myself that I needed as much food as what was entering my body because I was walking around so much. I walk half a mile to class, so that constitutes eating two burgers for lunch, right? My new eating habits eventually got the better of me. I didn't see it at first because I had stopped paying attention to my health as I focused on making new friends and studying. But I'd gained a solid 15 by the end of my first semester.

See, they really should warn you more about this predicament. Because once I realized how much weight I'd put on, I had to loose all that weight, and to me that meant becoming a vegan. Long story short, it worked. I lost the weight and felt a lot better. And I definitely learned my lesson.

I go to school in midwest-Wisconsin where people speak fluent beer, meat, and cheese talk. A meal isn't a meal unless some good ol' cheddar cheese is drizzled on top, or there's extra strips of bacon underneath the burger bun. I grew up around this yet never had an interest in taking part in that diet. Always being a picky eater, I eliminated most meats from my diet as a kid, and stuck to eating a fair amount of Mac n' Cheese and peanut butter sandwiches (no jelly, I hated jelly). I was always an underweight, but pretty healthy, eater. I came from a family that knew the importance of nutritious meals. So it was a shock to come to a college campus where people cared so little about their health.

We gain weight in college for a few different reasons. We have meal plans that allow us access to these death-trap buffets, we're stressed so we eat more, our schedules are different than high school, and the food that is offered to us is 70% grease. No wonder college students are always tired. When we have schedules as random as what we have, we have a tendency to overeat when we have the time to sit down and eat. This isn't healthy for our digestive system. Mix the binge eating with the terrible food we're consuming and BAM, you have cranky people with stomach aches walking around campus, constantly craving more food.

Then, there's the opposite end of the spectrum- the college students who no longer have a meal plan. You'll recognize these students because they're the ones who are always asking for your food, or inviting themselves over for dinner. How can you blame them? Paying for food is hard. Look in their fridge. There's probably an old bottle of ketchup and some Activia yogurt. These students are literally starving all the time. Leftovers and food gift cards are their friends Please feed them- this is a PSA.

College is a crazy time of eating different foods than your used to, being hungry at 3AM and so you end up ordering a pizza, regretting eating pizza at 3AM, and doing it all over again the next week. The freshmen 15 will continue to haunt us for generations of college students to come, or at least as long as the dreaded meal plan is around. The food in the commons is better than your high school meal selection, but just as bad for your health or even worse. So, be cautious.

And if you decide to go off from a meal plan and be your independent, free-spirited self, make sure you have a job that pays good money. Otherwise, you're eating yogurt mixed with old ketchup for dinner. On the bright side, you're getting your calcium and a serving of vegetables in.