You are done with high school, the SATs. You got passed the admissions committees and you picked that school you had always dreamed of or never planned on going to. You said all your goodbyes to your past 18 years of life and now you are racing off to embark on the biggest journey of your have ever encountered . . . COLLEGE! As your drive away from campus, leaving you with your bags at the housing office, you get in line to register for a dorm keys and ID an card and race to your new DORM room, and then realize it is nothing special and you can barely fit into it. You went to your first 500 person class where your professor paid no attention to anyone except himself, you went to your first big house party, and you have already begun cramming for that midterm that is on Monday. Then you suddenly become aware that you have gained a few pounds, but it is not a big deal because you will take it off after the quarter is over.

This phenomenon, known as the freshman 15 is caused by poor habits in diet, sleep, partying, and exercise. Most students, including myself, gained the freshman 15, due to one or more of these reason. From what I have seen at my college, UC Davis, the freshman 15 is a combination of who you are (biology) and environment. Some are more predisposed to weight and eating disorders than others. I have noticed that individuals who have a more active upbringing are usually not as likely to develop the freshman 15. If they do gain weight, it is easier for those individuals to take it off than individuals with poorer eating habits. From my own observations, I have seen more girls come into the student health center to deal with the Freshman 15 than the male students.

Although girls may outnumber guys in the Freshman 15 dilemma, I still think the Freshman 15 is as an important issue for guys as it is for girls. *** Let’s use myself as an example.

When I tell people about the Freshman 15 I always like to use myself as an example. I was not extremely fit, but I was not overweight. When I went to college I found that time management became an issue. I found that studying was more of a priority than exercising. Since I was living in the dorms and I was on the freshman food plan, and I could eat as much as I wanted for every meal. I was not a heavy partier, but alcohol did not help my new college diet of pizza, fries, and Taco Bell’s “Fourth Meal”. By the time I was done with my first year of college I had put on more than 30 pounds, and I knew I had to do something about it. 

The following summer I went off to Australia with my Aunt for two and a half weeks, so I was completely removed from the college scene. When I came back I realized that I had lost a few pounds from the smaller food portions and all the walking I did. After I came back I realized it was possible to take off all the weight I had gained. It was not a matter of if I could take it off, it wanted to put in the effort.

A year later, I am the thinnest, fittest, and healthiest I have ever been in my entire life. It took an entire year to get my freshman 15 off.

Then/Now

Then

1. Stressed out from studying:
   1.  Eat

                                               i.     I would snack and binge eat if I was stressed

                                             ii.     I would not control how much food I would put on my plate, or what food were on the plate in the dining hall

                                            iii.     I believe Taco Bell created “Fourth Meal” specifically for college students

1.  
   1. Party

                                               i.     I would not monitor how much  I drank. I was not aware of how many calories were in alcohol and no one in college seems to pay much attention to it.

1.  
   1. Exercise

                                               i.     I exercised very little, if not at all.

1.     Exercising seemed like a chore.

1.  
   1. Sleep

                                               i.     I did not get any the first year, which is common for most college students, but definitely affected my eating and my minimal exercise.

1.  
   1. Studying

                                               i.     Another excuse to eat

Now

• Eat
  • If I am stressed I will go take a walk with my ipod.
  • I started controlling how much food I eat and what is on my plate. I actually don’t like to eat as many greasy, fatty foods because they do not make me feel that great. I literally cannot eat as much as I used to.
  • No more Fourth Meal! I miss it, but I can live without it.
• Party
  • I do not drink as much. If I am at a party, I sip my drink and make it last a long time. I also tell girls that every time they have a shot of vodka it’s like having a scoop of ice cream, so it’s a great ice breaker!
• Exercise
  • I exercise a lot more! I have a lot easier time doing cardio exercises and I find that it relieves a lot of the stress I have from a 15 unit load at college. I am still working on the strength training, but I am getting better at it.
  • I do not find exercising to be a chore, I found friends to go to the gym with me so it’s another way to socialize.
• Sleep
  • I am now in an apartment, but I still don’t get any sleep . . . it’s college. There will be days that I just completely crash and catch up on sleep, but I do notice when I really do not have enough sleep I get lazy with my eating and exercising habits.
• Studying
  • I study where there is no food around, or at somewhere like a coffee shop where I would have to get out of my seat, stand in line, and pay for it. I try to make it a hassle for myself to eat while I am studying. If I feel like I need to eat, then I go and get a meal so I do not feel like I need to be continually eating.
  • I go take a walk with my ipod in between study sessions.

As you enter your new journey of college, take with you these important skills of preventing the Freshman 15. Learn about the foods you are eating. A lot of the time you probably do not even realize what goes into your mouth. Knowing how much you eat and what you are eating both important ways to avoid the Freshman 15.  Do you know what ingredients are in a Chipotle burrito or 6-Dollar burger from Carl’s Jr.? If you are at the Dining Hall do you really need 5 plates for dinner or will one plate be okay? Should you eat pizza and a salad or a burger and fries? Many campuses offer a registered dietician to help students with their health issues.  Usually there is no charge because it is covered through student insurance. If you are new just try to get moving as much as possible. Usually half hour to an hour 5 days a week is optimal, but if you are just starting, then just get up and move around. Most freshman find the amount of sleep is cut drastically, but if you can try to get at least 8 hours of solid, consistent sleep a night. Most people usually discover frat row on their campus, but it can be one of the main sources of Freshman 15. For every drink consumed, whether it is a beer, shot, or a glass of wine, it is usually around 100 calories. If you party, then you can easily add several hundred calories to your normal diet in a few hours.  Monitoring how much you drink is essential for keeping off the Freshman 15.

Jay Lytton, Junior @ UC Davis