“Watch out for the freshman 15!” It’s one of the many things that will people say when you tell them you’re an incoming college freshman and it’s usually accompanied by many horror stories either personal or not. One thing is for certain: the freshman 15 is universal but not unbeatable. The Freshman 15 is a phenomenon that has been around for many years and has plagued many Freshmen during their first year away at College. Who can blame us though? Here at Duke, with Marketplace being basically an all you can eat buffet and being given a minimum of 419 food points at the start of each semester on the Freshman Meal Plan, food is practically dripping from our fingertips and for the first time in our lives for many of us, we’re in control.
Most of us have never been exposed to the all you can eat dining hall style of Marketplace as well as the plethora of additional eateries on West Campus that sometimes, we can over eat out of excitement because of all the new options. Coming from my high school, we always ate in the cafeteria which was small and had limited options, especially limited edible options, so being given this much power in deciding all my meals was a little overwhelming at first.
I’ve always been a big advocate of healthy eating and exercise and coming to Duke my schedule was drastically changed. Having such a big workload coupled with hour-long breaks between classes makes the time between meals seem like decades, making me prone to frequent snacking. While getting used to this new schedule and my workload, I found myself exhausted and putting working out on the back burner while. After getting in the swing of my schedule and figuring out the food situation, I’d like to share some of my tips for how to be a healthy eater/exerciser on Campus with some of the wonderful on campus options as well as my own personal tips!
1. Only keep food in your room that both fills you up and has some nutritional value: I know this sounds super boring but think about it, if you only snacked on granola bars, cereal, nuts and fruit in your room, you could spend your food points treating yourself to something super delicious- like Red Mango in the BC or even a milkshake from the Loop from time to time!
2. If you’re like me and feel like you tend to make regretful food decisions without any thought, just make a plan! For example, plan to have lunch or dinner with friends a couple days a week in advance so you know exactly where you’re going to eat and can better plan your other meals as to not over (or even under) do it!
3. Know what’s in your coffee because if you haven’t started yet you will be drinking tons of it- I like to keep it simple and get an iced coffee (French vanilla flavor, its so yum!) from Au Bon Pain or sometimes when I feel like I deserve a special treat, I hit up Saladelia (the café connected to Perkins Library) and splurge on a skim caramel leche latte.
4. Late night snacking is okay if you’re smart about it: to reiterate point #1, if you keep healthy food in your room, you won’t feel bad grabbing a quick late night snack while finishing up your problem set as you would if you either didn’t eat or ate junk.
Healthy eating isn’t the only thing that contributes to combating the Freshman 15, exercise is equally important and there are so many ways to get fit on campus! Living right near Brodie Gym, I spend a considerable amount of time there using the cardio machines (my favorite is the elliptical) but for people who want a more fun and engaging exercise environment; I highly recommend trying the classes at both gyms (though Wilson does offer more with a more variable schedule). My favorite classes are:
1. Pilates Burn (w/ Lisa Monday’s at Wilson): This class is super fun and challenging! While not your traditional Pilates class, this class combines Pilates, barre exercises (sans the actual barre) and high endurance repetitions- trust me, you’re guaranteed to sweat it out to one of Lisa’s high energy dance inspired playlist.
2. HIIT: HIIT, aka High Intensity Interval Training, is exactly what it sounds like. This class is intense from the moment the music starts, from warm up to cool down you will be sweating and getting stronger and faster. I like to do this class once a week because I usually need at least one recovery day. This class is also offered many times a week at the Wilson gym so you can conveniently fit it into your schedule almost any day of the week.
3. Cardio Dance (At Brodie on Thursday’s and Sunday’s w/ Rebecca): Cardio dance is a Zumba inspired dance workout but more hip-hop based than the Latin dancing which Zumba dervies from. This class is really fun, I recommend getting a group of friends together and just going for it! The music is fun and the songs are current so who knows when you’ll have an opportunity to break out these moves on the weekends…
4. If you workout on West at Wilson the best reward after any workout is a Quencher’s smoothie! These smoothies are healthy and delicious, making a great post workout snack. My favorite combination is mango, peach and vanilla protein powder.
Overall, I think that there are many ways to avoid the dreaded Freshman 15 here at Duke if you plan accordingly and try to fit in exercise into your schedule. I’m not perfect and there are nights where I can’t stand to eat another Marketplace salad and just cave in and get Chipotle, and that’s okay too! We’re not robots and as long as we eat in moderation there is no reason why anyone should deprive themselves of all the amazing (and not always healthy) food here on campus and beyond in the greater Durham area!