In the four years of gaining an education, we collegiettes experience peer influences, homesickness, adjustment, independence, stress and sleep deprivation. All of that can really impact your health and weight.
Freshmen commonly feel excitement and apprehension as they begin to live in a place that will soon become their second home. Trying to adjust to the college life, I remember being homesick and balancing the overwhelming emotions of practicing independence with the effects of social pressures. While attempting to find a balance, I found comfort in food. The dining halls and any snacks in my dorm room offered the comfort that I needed during my freshman year.
The “freshman 15” is a myth according to Elizabeth Lloyd-Richardson, professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University Medical School. Lloyd-Richardson says, “While most are not gaining the Freshman 15, many are gaining weight and are not taking it off.” My weight gain made me more self-conscious about my appearance and I knew that I wanted to shed the pounds, but I didn’t know how.
Not happy with the 10-pound weight gain, I worked out every day and attempted to eat healthier. However, with the erratic schedule of classes and extracurricular activities I found it hard to maintain a weight. Jennifer R. Scott explains, “Whether you’re stressed, studying or relaxing by watching a movie, it’s easy to eat on auto-pilot. When your mind is on other things, it isn’t monitoring what or how much you eat. Try to separate eating from other activities.” I was constantly snacking and not paying attention to the timing of it. As my sophomore year came to a close, I wanted to make a drastic change for when I walked into my junior year.
Junior year is one of the most stressful years of college. It’s the year to build your resume, become more involved in your major and to have an increased workload. Knowing that I was about to walk into that, I wanted to eat and feel healthier. To make a change, I chose to become a vegetarian and kept a food journal so that I could pay close attention to what I ate. In the article “Food and Activity Diary,” Lyndel Costain describes keeping track: “Known as ‘self-monitoring’, research shows people who keep track of what, when and why they eat, and active they are, lose weight and keep it off.” Keeping track of what I ate during the day and when I exercised made me more aware. It allowed me to lose weight over an appropriate time span.
As I’m about to start my senior year in five months, I can happily say that my journey through college has been memorable and a learning experience (not just academically). Experiencing weight fluctuation has allowed me to learn about how to eat healthier and be healthier today. It’s extremely important for college students to prevent excessive snacking, not to look at food for comfort, exercise on a daily basis and to learn ways to eat healthier.
Sources
About.com. Seven Ways to Make the “Freshman 15” History. Available at: http://weightloss.about.com/od/childhoodobesity/a/losefreshman15.htmight…
BBC Health. Food and Activity Diary. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/your_weight/reachi…
USA Today. Freshman 15 Drops Some Pounds. Available at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-10-22-freshman-weight_x.htm