The expression we all have been warned about before arriving to college. One that we either blew off because we knew it wouldn’t happen to us or feared since we have seen it happen to others before us. All I knew, was that it was a phenomenon in which college students put on around 15 pounds of weight during their first year. Mostly due to the unsupervised consumption of an unlimited amount of food at their disposal or a decreased level of physical activity. Everyone has heard about it, many experience it, and I’m here to share my experience and to let you know that it’s truly nothing to get worked up over!
I was very aware that this “Freshman 15” could happen to me. But did I think it would? Never. I was very athletic in high school and my metabolism never failed to keep up with the amount of food I consumed. This of course changed when I first tasted the freedom that accompanies living on your own in college. Food is at easy access 24/7, exercise is an option, and sleep is a priority!!
Without having 4 sports to keep me active anymore, my body began to transform on its own due to the lessened amount of exercise. Not to mention the stress of preparing for huge exams. Food became a major stress-reliever for me. It was a way to indulge while studying to make it less painstaking, or a reason to take a break entirely so I could go grab something to eat with my friends.
Food is notably a defining cultural force because of the way it brings people together. Hanging out with friends typically entails sharing a bite to eat (or in my case impulsive 2 AM Sheetz runs). Date night almost always involves a nice dinner. There’s no way around it – food is at the center of modern socializing. Especially in college, whenever your scheduled family dinners turn into sporadic trips to the Shack for mozz sticks. Peer pressure comes into play a lot, too. If your friends ask you to go to Coldstone or Chick-Fil-A, are you going decline? Heck to the no! (and you shouldn’t)
It almost seems impossible to maintain the same figure forever – and realistically, it is. As a freshman in college, around age 18-19 is when a female’s body is rapidly transforming from an adolescent’s figure to having more of a womanly curvature. You know – hips, thighs, love handles; All of the lovely changes that come along with aging, but the thing is, this happens to all of us! For some people, these changes are not welcomed with open arms, and I was one of those people.
In my case, I let the weight I gained in college take a huge toll on my mind and body, too. I beat myself up constantly for “letting myself go” and “allowing it to get this bad.” After the first semester, I had gained 17 pounds since graduating high school. I was shocked that in only ONE semester, I had gained over the universal amount people were alleged to gain the entire year. This hit me really hard, and over Christmas break, I decided it was time to change. I came up with an exercise plan for the following semester and made a promise to myself that I would eat healthier. To no avail. I fell right back into my old habits. I can’t lie – I did do much better than the first semester, but the weight still wasn’t budging. I felt like there was nothing I could do. I hated my appearance, my body, and myself entirely. I avoided mirrors, stopped posing for photos, began restricting my diet to the point that I wasn’t consuming enough calories to function normally. This began to hinder my performance in school, and that’s when I realized there was a problem. Not with the weight gain, but with how I was attempting to change it. Needless to say – I didn’t handle this the right way, at all.