4. Avoid Stress And Sleep Well | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

How to Avoid the Freshman 15: 4 Effective Strategies

Freshman 15 weight gain

24396
Woman doing floor exercises on a fitness mat

In This Article:

If you're an incoming student then you've heard about the freshman 15. The freshman 15 refers to the weight gain during a student's first year of college. Being exposed to endless amounts of foods in your college community, you are destined to gain some weight. I'm here to tell you that it's okay. Learn to maintain your weight and keep yourself away from this horrible pattern.

Here are some tips to prevent this from happening to you.

1. Meal prep at home

Healthy meal prep with grilled chicken, grains, and assorted vegetables

Meal prepping in advance is not only a great way to save time but to also prevent one from over-eating in college. Start off by going to the grocery store and picking out healthy items you can cook with to make your meals. If you cook healthy recipes in advance then you are ensuring you don't buy unnecessary food on campus. Learn to control your portions which will benefit your health and put you off to a great start for the year. Make sure to have a protein, veggie, and starch to balance it all out. Remember: reusable, microwavable, plastic containers are best.

2. Eat Healthy Snacks

Sliced fruits and vegetablessliced fruitsPhoto by S'well on Unsplash

If you are constantly hungry or love to eat when bored than instead of having a full meal, try to hold off your appetite with a snack. Try a healthy snack to get rid of that sweet tooth or to help you hold on until your next meal. Nuts, walnuts, dried plums, celery sticks, frozen treats, and veggies can help you balance out your diet. Instead of bingeing on chips, cookies, and ice cream try one of these.

3. Start A Fitness Routine

Woman jogging up a flight of steps for a cardio workoutwoman running on stairsPhoto by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

To prevent weight gain it's best to develop a fitness routine. You can easily get in the habit of exercising by finding yourself a 'gym buddy' or joining a fitness club on or off campus. Drinking lots of detox waters is also recommended to help you start off on the right track. Using fruit infused recipes you can quickly get accustomed to a water diet. Avoiding eating sugars and focus on what's best for your health. Not only will this help getting rid of the toxins in your body but it can help with weight loss. Some of the benefits to detox waters include getting rid of your sweet cravings, extra hydration, and water intake.

4. Avoid Stress And Sleep Well

Woman asleep with head on comfy pillowwoman sleeping on blue throw pillowPhoto by bruce mars on Unsplash

Stress causes binge-eating. Not only does it affect the way your body functions but it's also a cause of obesity. Stress is a leading agent to overeating. College tends to stress students out especially those who do not know how to use time management. Manage your stress by exercising regularly, attending social events to keep yourself distracted from things bothering you, or try speaking to someone about what's going on in your life-- that way you won't have to worry about dealing with too much.

Improve your health and maintain your weight by trying some of these out. It may be difficult at first but you have to keep in mind that progress takes patience and dedication.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
student sleep
Huffington Post

I think the hardest thing about going away to college is figuring out how to become an adult. Leaving a household where your parents took care of literally everything (thanks, Mom!) and suddenly becoming your own boss is overwhelming. I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job of being a grown-up, but once in awhile I do something that really makes me feel like I'm #adulting. Twenty-somethings know what I'm talking about.

Keep Reading...Show less
school
blogspot

I went to a small high school, like 120-people-in-my-graduating-class small. It definitely had some good and some bad, and if you also went to a small high school, I’m sure you’ll relate to the things that I went through.

1. If something happens, everyone knows about it

Who hooked up with whom at the party? Yeah, heard about that an hour after it happened. You failed a test? Sorry, saw on Twitter last period. Facebook fight or, God forbid, real fight? It was on half the class’ Snapchat story half an hour ago. No matter what you do, someone will know about it.

Keep Reading...Show less
Chandler Bing

I'm assuming that we've all heard of the hit 90's TV series, Friends, right? Who hasn't? Admittedly, I had pretty low expectations when I first started binge watching the show on Netflix, but I quickly became addicted.

Without a doubt, Chandler Bing is the most relatable character, and there isn't an episode where I don't find myself thinking, Yup, Iam definitely the Chandler of my friend group.

Keep Reading...Show less
eye roll

Working with the public can be a job, in and of itself. Some people are just plain rude for no reason. But regardless of how your day is going, always having to be in the best of moods, or at least act like it... right?

1. When a customer wants to return a product, hands you the receipt, where is printed "ALL SALES ARE FINAL" in all caps.

2. Just because you might be having a bad day, and you're in a crappy mood, doesn't make it okay for you to yell at me or be rude to me. I'm a person with feelings, just like you.

3. People refusing to be put on hold when a customer is standing right in front of you. Oh, how I wish I could just hang up on you!

Keep Reading...Show less
blair waldorf
Hercampus.com

RBF, or resting b*tch face, is a serious condition that many people suffer from worldwide. Suffers are often bombarded with daily questions such as "Are you OK?" and "Why are you so mad?" If you have RBF, you've probably had numerous people tell you to "just smile!"

While this question trend can get annoying, there are a couple of pros to having RBF.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments