It's the nightmare for most college students, the sales pitch for personal trainers within driving distance of a campus, and the joke of choice for everyone who lived to tell the tale of the dreaded Freshman Fifteen. For anyone who isn't familiar with this term, the Freshman Fifteen is the expected weight gain that students experience at the beginning of their college career due to unhealthy foods, bad eating habits, and lack of exercise. Like any weight gain, these fifteen pounds are treated as a death sentence around campus and when asked about their concerns for their freshman year at college, many students, especially girls, rank the Freshman Fifteen pretty high on their list.
The most ironic part is how non-life-threatening this weight gain is. In fact, it could actually be healthy, and here's why.
In college, it's very easy to get so caught up in schoolwork and other activities that meals become either quick on-the-go snacks or get skipped altogether. Once in a while, this is okay, but when it becomes a habit, it's unhealthy. Your body needs energy from food to get you through the day, especially if you're running from class to meeting to study session to practice and then to another class. Unfortunately, college students see cutting back on food not only as a time-saver but also as a great diet to avoid gaining the Freshman Fifteen. However, they tend to suffer the consequences by being tired all the time and not focusing in class. Gaining weight your freshman year doesn't mean you're unhealthy; it means you're eating and fueling your body. It's more beneficial to you as a student to be full and ready to take on the day than to have problems concentrating because you're starving.
Eating habits also include the type of foods you eat, and while living off of coffee and desserts isn't a balanced diet, having those treats in moderation is a great idea. Your body needs sugars, carbs, and fats just as much as it needs proteins, fiber, and vitamins. And even though eating organically is seen as the healthier option, processed foods don't do that much damage if eaten in moderation. The problem students run into when trying to eat healthy is a lack of time and money. A nutritionist visited my school at the beginning of the year and spent over an hour explaining the importance of buying organically and reading food labels, only to then have us question the cost of buying organically and finding the time to analyze our food before eating it. A lot of us spend most of our money on books, tuition, and gas, along with the school's meal plan that we pay for before the year even starts. And like I said before, sometimes finding time to eat throughout the day can be hard, so instead of comparing the fat content of one meal to another, just sit down and eat. A balanced diet is a great goal to work towards, but eating "unhealthy" once in a while won't kill you.
If keeping a healthy weight throughout college is still a concern, focus on increasing your physical activity first before changing your diet too much. This doesn't mean you have to go to the gym everyday and squat 250lbs; getting a few friends together for a walk or run around campus is a fun and easy way to become more active. Exercise helps gain muscle that dieting alone will not produce, and that's the healthy way to lose weight. But in the end, gaining the Freshman Fifteen, even twenty pounds, is not as drastic as it seems. Most people don't even notice the difference. You're going to have a lot on your plate (excuse the pun) so make sure you're eating and that your friends are, too. As a college student, you'll have a lot more to worry about than counting calories.
