Your Freshman 15 and how you got there

8-22-2006 @5:33PM Meg said... It was a little anti-depressant pill called Lexapro mixed with lack of exercise that led to my freshman 30! Almost four years later and rounding out my college experience, the weight is finally starting to come off. My best advice is to keep active, even moderately. I always ate healthy, but avoided exercise. Now I feel much better. I also switched to better anti-depressent that works on my serotonin chemicals instead of adding pound to my butt.
Reply

8-22-2006 @5:47PM Mel said... I didn't get a Freshman 10, 15 or anything else. What I got was a summer job working at Mrs. Fields' Cookies that started me on the express train to weight-gain purgatory from which I've only recently managed to extract myself!
Reply

8-22-2006 @5:50PM Barbara Ward said... I actually LOST 18 pounds my freshman year. For one thing, I had never been away from home before and was so homesick I had no appetite; second, I lived in a dorm (this was in 1968) and the cafeteria food was not much to my liking; for instance, nachos, sloppy joes and spaghetti, all of which I hated and wouldn't eat. I didn't gain the weight back until I moved to a house off campus in my junior year and could buy and cook steaks.
Reply

8-22-2006 @6:00PM gina said... I have to admit I was pretty good about not putting on any weight my freshman. However, my junior year, when I decided to stay on campus for the summer was a disaster. I put on 30 pounds in 3 months from eating Dominoes pizza about 3 times a week. It was right next door and I got lazy. That was six years ago and i still haven't lost it. I would advise everyone to be very aware because the weight can creep up on you. And once you've gained it's so hard to lose it.
Reply

8-22-2006 @6:01PM Erin said... I'm one of those weird ones; I lost 50lbs in my first semester at college. The dining hall food at my school was horrendous the majority of the time, and I didn't have the money to get delivery as often as I wanted, and I didn't have a car to go to the grocery store when I needed to. Plus, by having to walk everywhere, both on and off campus (and mine is a big campus) and living on the third floor of a building without an elevator all helped the pounds fall off. I was heavy when I got to school, and by the time I got home for christmas, my mother was actually telling me that I needed to eat more, something I never in a million years would think she would say, because I was too skinny. However, now that I'm at home commuting to school, the weight is back (nevermind the physical disability that makes walking even a half-mile difficult if not impossible). But, while I was living at school, I didn't have any problems with weight. I had problems with finding food that I could tolerate on my limited budget.

I think the "freshman 15 or 20" depends on the person. There are some people who pack on the pounds when they get on their own for the first time, but there are also those of us who drop that much weight and more. The only tip I could give is that unfortunately, a lot of it is unavoidable. Colleges and universities can change their offerings as much as they want. Students can always order in or get to the grocery store (since there's always someone with a car!). If schools want to do something to help with the "freshman 15" they should try making their food more edible. That way, students will be more likely to use their dining plan and eat at the dining hall or whatever school-sponsored dining facilities are offered. Take for example, dinner, which is always the meal we had the hardest time with finding something decent. If the school was to offer something good, like say chicken parm with spaghetti and it actually tasted like an actual chicken was sacrificed for the meal and not like the chicken had somehow been conjured from some powder, I'd be more willing to go there and eat a decent meal. Also, breakfast is a problem because noone ever has time before class. We always got up at the very last possible second. My school did something smart to solve this. They installed an Einstein's Bagel store in one of the buildings. Because it's right there before class or it's on the way to another building, a lot more students stop and get something to eat (and their coffee). The bagels are packaged to be portable, but are made right there, not like some of the other packaged foods at the dining hall which taste like they've been there for 5 years. The only problem is that you cannot use one of your meals on you dining plan for it; you have to use your declining balance or cash, which we're always short on!

There are ways schools can help with the inevitable freshman weight gain/loss. But, they don't seem to take the students' opinions into consideration when making decisions as to what to do. If they actually asked the students, and then actually acted on the students' responses, they'd have a better shot at helping. Just making an organic section to the dining hall (most students there must be saying: "there goes more of my tuition to something I won't use!") isn't the solution.
Reply

8-22-2006 @6:24PM Eric said... I gained ALOT of weight... mostly due to the massive parties containing LOTS of beer and party foods (pizza, chips, etc). Also, there are alot of coffee shops open late during finals, so a latte and a cookie or brownie was finals food. Then there was road trips, where fast food was the staple. If you go to UTEP, the favorite place to eat after a night of bars on Cinncinatti St. was Chico's Tacos... not known for its healthy food.
Reply

8-22-2006 @6:33PM Kristin said... My freshman year I gained 17 pounds over the course of a semester and a half, by spring break I realized my eating habits were out of control. One thing I blame would be the cafeteria hours. Since it was only open during certain hours it was hard to get a good meal between classes since it was located near the dorms and I was on the opposite end of campus. Alternatives were offered, but they weren't very healthy; Burger King, Taco Mayo, or pizza, all offered in the dorms. And the breakfast in the cafeteria lacked variety. Apples and bananas were the only fresh fruits offered! But I found ways to keep weight off by substituting water for soda and ordering lower fat and low-cal foods when I went out. Overall I blame my weight gain on dorm living, can't cook a healthy meal (that tastes good) in a microwave...
Reply

8-22-2006 @6:35PM joe said... big foot pizza from pizza hut. every weekend. 40 pounds gained. need i say more.....
Reply

8-27-2006 @9:13PM Jessica said... Im going to be a freshman at HC, and I have already gained like 7lbs just this summer before school! haha, I can't believe it.. I have to say its basically from late nites at Mia's [pizza place] and Denny's.. or very possibly could be late nites of beer pong, and scrounging for food with my friends.. Regardless, I hope I get into some good habits at school.. HOPE..
Reply

8-22-2006 @7:07PM Katie said... I'm so lucky that I played Softball. I did eat all that stuff, but i didn't gain any weight... it must have been from all the times we threw up at practice from running.
Reply

8-22-2006 @7:17PM Aly said... I went to UNI and gained @15 lbs freshman year. My blame goes to Dominos Pizza, who just opened on campus....the grand opening special went for 6 months....$2.50 large pizzas! Also, going to the cafeteria was a social affair, and I'd never seen so many fattening/yummy ways to make potatoes! AuGratin, Lyonnaise, Scalloped, Cheesey, Casseroles with hashed browns, sour cream and creamed soup!
Reply

8-22-2006 @7:33PM Daniella said... I'm vegetarian (and now vegan), so I mostly ate salads, sub sandwiches, and pasta. I grew up eating healthy, so I didn't really eat much of the greasy foods. My mom would always bring me homemade meals and fresh fruits and veggies when she visited because vegetarian options were limited in dining halls. My meal plan was done in dollars, and nothing on campus is an all-you-can-eat buffet. Luckily, I am a student-athlete, so I think my freshman 15 was due to weightlifting three times a week for the first time ever.
Reply

8-25-2006 @10:58PM Sebastian Ehrlich said... Keggers and the munchies... Gained 25 lbs but a college discount at the local gym helped bring me back down. Plus anybody that wants to have fun in the social college scene can't have anything less than washboard abs...
Reply

8-22-2006 @8:47PM Candi said... I think 20 is more accurate as well, but I mostly blame the frat parties and keggers followed by trips to the all night diner where everyone generally ate cheesefries and had oreo shakes at 2 am.
Reply