Everyone has heard of the “freshmen fifteen.” Many people assume that weight gain during college comes from an unbalanced diet, but the truth is weight gain can come various other places. Many students will often convince themselves that the “freshmen fifteen” will never happen to them. Whether you believe that you will gain weight in college, it is important to recognize the impact of weight gain in college, beyond just the physical aspects.

I am entering my junior year of college, and since I’ve left high school, I have gained approximately seventy-some pounds! How? I’ve been asking myself this painful question for quite some time. How did I surpass the “freshmen fifteen” so severely? After months of deep thinking, I was able to come up with several possibilities as to why my weight shifted so drastically.

For one thing, I wasn’t watching what I was eating. This seems like a pretty simple reason, but it stretched along more surface than just what I was eating. I was eating far more than I needed to. I ignored portion sizes and would consume several platefuls of food. I was eating all the time. I ate when I was studying or watching a show. I ate when I was bored. I ate when I was sad. I ate when I was angry. I even ate for no reason, but rarely did I eat when I was actually hungry, and unfortunately, I wasn’t doing anything to burn off those excess calories.

When I first told someone that I’d work out at the gym every day, I was very shocked at the lack of confidence and support that came with the reply: a smirk, a chuckle, and a sarcastic, "Good luck."

The person who said this is, in fact, a very friendly person, but this shows that in college, unless you're a fitness junkie or student athlete, no one expects much. I started out strong, going to the gym for an hour or more a day for about a week or so, but courses got harder, I started meeting new people, and my priorities changed. Walking from class to class may burn plenty of calories for a normal person, but for a college student, that isn’t always enough.

Another cause of weight gain in college students comes from radical amounts of alcohol consumption. For me, this is not a problem because I have never had a drop of alcohol, but for other students who are experimenting, they may not realize that they are drinking their calories, and maybe more than they think. I’ve watched friends who eat relatively well and exercise a couple times a week gain weight because they drank excessively.

Another cause of weight gain in college students, that many may not even think about, is the rate at which we eat our food. As an education major, I often find myself running around in circles 24/7, having small breaks, and pulling all nighters. Due to all of this, I was eating at ridiculous paces. I was eating like the way my brain moves: sporadically. Eating this fast caused me to not be aware that I wasn’t feeling any hunger. It caused me to overeat without knowing.

Finally, something that almost all students can relate to is anxiety and depression. How many times have we, as students, sat in our dorms by ourselves with a bag of chips or a bottle of soda? We often allow our emotions to take over. Too often we choose to suppress our anxiety and depression through food, eating away all the pain. Even when it feels good to fill our bellies full of food, we end up feeling more depressed and self-conscious in the end.

Since gaining the copious pounds, I have begun to see beyond just the physical effects. I have seen the emotional and social consequences of gaining weight. I have seen the insecurity build because I don’t feel confident in my own skin.

Physically, I can say that gaining weight has made me feel weaker. I feel like I am fighting just to get from one place to another. My joints hurt frequently, and I am always exhausted. Emotionally, I feel drained, depressed, and insecure. I feel self-conscious. Trying on clothes can be a hassle. Mirrors are evil. I can’t take myself seriously. This also causes insecurity when around friends, especially those back home. I fear seeing people from home because I question what they will think about me. It is scary, but there is hope.

For those who have already gained the weight or those who may be afraid that it might happen to them, it is important to take time to

care and nurture your body. Feed it the proper nutrients it needs, get out and lounge in the sun for awhile. Tell yourself daily that you are beautiful. Remember that the outside isn’t always important. Enjoy the body you have now. Remember that those who treat you well even with weight gain are true friends, not those who abandon ship when things change or get tough. And remember, a few pounds here and there is OK. Love yourself as you are.