Before I came to Pitt, I believed the Freshmen 15 to be a myth. My brother had told me stories about how much people put on weight in college, but I didn’t think it would actually possible to put on 15 pounds or more in one year of college. Since our classes are in different buildings, we would be walking a lot from class to class. So, the calories we just ate would be burned off easily while walking to class. At least that’s what I thought.
I should’ve known that college students aren’t the healthiest eaters. Especially freshmen year when we all live in dorms. We don’t have a kitchen, so we can’t make our own food. Some of us probably can’t even cook, so even if we did live off campus, we would still have to rely on campus food.
Even though the campus does offer healthy options, such as salads and wraps, students necessarily don’t get those meals. They prefer eating pizza, pasta, and burgers. At least, that’s what I usually go for whenever I am in the dining hall.
Coming to college, I realized that the freshmen 15 is actually real although slightly exaggerated. I saw my friends put on 5 or 6 pounds a week because of all the unhealthy food they ate at the dining hall. Some of my friends bought a scale from Target and were surprised at how much they had gained in such a short amount of time. Even if they were exercising daily or staying fit, the amount of food they ate or what they ate, it wasn’t enough to combat the freshmen 15. Some of my friends even gained more than 15 pounds. However, not everyone puts on weight.
For me, the dining hall food had no significant effect on my weight. In fact, I lost weight more than I gained weight or my weight would just fluctuate back and forth. Since I’m a vegetarian, it’s harder for me to find actual healthy food that wasn’t pizza and pasta every day at the dining hall. For me personally, I can’t live on pizza and pasta every day. I easily get bored eating the same food constantly However, the dining halls offer the same food every single day. Often, I found myself skipping meals or just eating one meal a day, which isn’t a good thing.
Although I did gain some weight, it wasn’t a lot. Maybe like a pound or two. Not 15 pounds.
From what I’ve observed, the freshmen 15 doesn’t affect everyone. As long as you know your limits and control the amount of unhealthy food you put in your body, you should be good. Since college campuses are usually large, it’s easier to exercise because you walk to your classes every day and there’s so many opportunities on campus to get fit. There are several gyms located on my campus and there are always several fitness classes happening on campus.
From my almost two semesters here at college, I have learned that the freshmen 15 is slightly exaggerated and doesn’t necessarily affect everyone. The majority of students actually don’t gain 15 pounds or more.
