We hate it, we dread it, and we promise at the beginning of the year that it is just a myth. I mean, how much can a body really change in a school year? In the past eighteen years my body had never changed so drastically, so it must just be an over-exaggeration… right? The dreaded “F” word every first year is afraid of: Freshman 15.
Everyone tries to avoid it in his or her own way. Some buy copious amounts of black leggings and work out clothes to remind them to work out. Others will have a salad before their second dessert at the dining hall. While even others then will fill their fridges with fruits and vegetables, only to believe you deserve the morning doughnut with your omelet because you snacked on carrots and red bull while studying.
But, papers begin to roll in and midterms hang ominously on the horizon of your monthly calendar. Assignments start to pile up on your desk and sometimes the only thing that will make you feel better is a pile of French fries on your plate. With the papers I ate onion rings, with Chemistry I ate peanut butter, with Biology I ate cookies, and with every finished math problem, I rewarded myself with a spoonful of chocolate ice cream. To say the least, I am not proud of the number on the scale that reflects my variation of the Freshman 15 - a number that we will just keep shrouded in mystery.
I will, however, share the biggest surprise that came with the weight gain. It's something I never thought I would feel about gaining weight. The undeniable truth about the added pounds on my body was simply this: I honestly did not care.
Not only was I impartial about the increased number on the scale, but also I can say that, in a way, I enjoyed every moment of it. Not to say I would do it again in the future, but the process of acquiring my Freshman 15 was a quintessential part of my first year in college. That if I could go back, I would not have changed any of my dietary choices, because with the late night cookies came smiles with my friends when we had finally worked through a solution. Cheddar popcorn and animal crackers are the taste of late night biology mentor sessions, where our tutors tirelessly helped us cram for tests and we, as students, teased him for his potential man-bun hairstyle.
Weight can be lost, and it is never too late to get back in shape throughout your college career. One day you will fit back into your old pair of jeans, and, hopefully, you will only have one Freshman 15. I promise you, the cliché that we are expected to fear really is not that terrible. So in the weirdest way, enjoy the Freshman 15 and all the memories that compliment the calories.
