The time has finally come!
You are officially a college student, and it's the first time in your life that you have not been involved with a competitive sports team. But never mind that, you have the freedom to party all night and wake up whenever you please without having to report to your coach the next day. Should be fun, right?
I grew up playing soccer and football my entire life. Everyone knows that one teammate that is calling everyone to work out on their day off. The one that comes an hour early to practice and stays an hour late. Nope, that wasn't me. Instead, I was the guy able to make it off of my natural God-given talent —heck, maybe if I was that guy I wouldn't be writing this right now— but back to the matter at hand.
Staying in shape came natural to me since the sports seasons ran back-to-back, sometimes even overlapping if we made a late push into the post-season. Thus giving me the freedom to not really worry about weight gain because there was always practice to attend. Collegiate sports was a brief thought but for once I wanted to experience the feeling of being an actual student, not a student athlete, but simply a student. So I set off to college with a lifetime of sports behind me and the body to show for it, ready for whatever came my way; at least I thought I was.
Anyone who has ever been a college freshman living on campus knows that gaining weight is inevitable. There is no more of mom's wonderful home-cooked meals. No more being able to walk into the kitchen and ask "What's for dinner?" The choice is completely yours. So if you want to wake up and eat french toast for breakfast, pizza for lunch and burgers for dinner, you have the freedom to and that's exactly what I did.
Whatever attracted my eyes became cuisine of the day and this trend continued throughout the two years I lived on campus. Of course there would be that time where I felt that extra jiggle whenever I jogged up the stairs or hear comments from that one brutally honest relative at Thanksgiving dinner but I'd just ignore it, believing that I still looked the same.
But the real issue that took me so long to address was the fact that my body wasn't used to being inactive. So whatever I ate would find a comfortable spot on my body to settle as I ignored the thought of working out. This went on for a while until the muffin top completely mushroomed and the weight gain was unavoidable.
This is where the hard part comes in. Realizing that you have to make a change.
As athletes, many of us do not realize that we are working out when we are at practice or playing a game because we are enjoying the sport that we love. If it wasn't for that sport, the drive to actually get up and work out on our own would most likely be nonexistent. So when faced with a situation where there isn't anyone watching your diet or forcing you to run laps, you must take the initiative.
Use those same ideals that were drilled into you as a player of the game to remain healthy way after you hang up your jersey. Discipline yourself to eat better and work out regularly like you did when you were back home. Join an intramural league for the sport you grew up loving or even try a new sport. The options are endless.
Coming to college you expect to learn all you need to know from these fancy professors that stand up in front of the classroom but in actuality the majority of what you learn during your college experience is from yourself.
Yes, you are officially a retired athlete now and it sucks but all hope isn't lost. You could always join that adult league and ball out on senior citizens!
