The transition from highschool to college is a big one, and going from your parents making your dinners and doing the grocery shopping, to being able to choose from all-you-can-eat buffets is hard. Portion control to balance starches, vegetables and proteins can be confusing and varies greatly depending on your lifestyle. Furthermore, as our bodies change and our metabolisms slow, we should be aware of what type of food works best for our changing bodies. By having a nutritionist on campus, available to all, students would be able to discuss how best to feed our bodies. No body needs the same diet, therefore someone available for a conversation about what could work best for each individual can be so important. All-you-can-eat dining halls can make it tempting to avoid vegetables as there are no parents leaning over our shoulders suggesting that we eat green beans over ice cream. If there were people who could explain to us why we should eat vegetables and in what proportion we should eat them, I am sure more students would be interested in healthy eating.
Furthermore, many who played on sports teams in high school did not continue onto college level. Although there are club sports as an option they may not practise enough or stimulate bodies to adequate fitness. This change in the type of physical activity, intensity and frequency can have large effects on our bodies. In my opinion, a trainer to help find a workout that fits our time constraints and works best to keep our bodies healthy would be helpful to many students at Lafayette. The workout classes at Lafayette are a great start to providing non-athletes with workout routines and ideas but, if there was someone available in the gym to show us new exercises that would benefit us individually and make sure we were not injuring ourselves, it could be even better. Having a trainer at the gym at busy times could help people prevent injuries if they are using too much weight or incorrect body form.
Lafayette college has state of the art gyms and equipment so it is only fair they continue to provide the level of support and encouragement to maintain their physical health as much as they stress mental. Health and happiness of students is dependant on more than just stimulating their minds in academics and making sure they are not getting sick, but by encouraging students to live a rounded life.