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The Freshman 15
You heard about it, you read about it, but until you tried to put on your favorite jeans and the zipper just won't go up, you didn't believe it.
How is it possible to gain so much weight in such a short period of time? Maybe your jeans just shrank in the dryer. Your laundry skills are dubious, true. But you have to face it: You just might have gained the notorious freshman 15 (or 5, or 10 - or, heaven forbid, 25!).
ASK YOURSELF: What have you started doing since you got to college:
• Testing the limits of the all-you-can-eat sundae bar?
• Expanding the concept of "three square meals a day" to include a fourth meal - midnight pizza?
• Seeking out and attending any campus event that involves free food, even if you're neither interested nor hungry?
• Hitting the keg line a few too many times at the weekend frat parties?
And what have you stopped doing since you got to college:
• Exercising? Even if the only workouts you got in high school were your twice-a-week gym class, that was better than nothing.
• Playing a sport? If you're not going out for the team now that you're in college, your body is missing those regular workouts.
• Running around after little brothers or sisters or doing other errands around the house? Keeping up with kids burns as many calories as playing rugby, unlike sitting in class, which only takes mental energy.
So, make a pact with your roommate that you'll hit the gym together every couple of days, and rediscover the joy of just three square meals. And if you happen to go to college in a part of the country where it gets cold, be thankful for these icy, dreary winter days. You'll burn calories just trying to stay warm as you trudge through the snow to your morning classes. And if it's warm, you have no excuse not to get out for an impromptu touch football game, or bike ride in the park.
From Other HEADS
DON'T THINK THAT YOU WON'T GAIN that Freshman 15 by ordering pizza while watching late-night TV (in my case, David Letterman), eating Burger King, and drinking every night.
-- K.E.R.
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
YOU'RE GOING TO GAIN WEIGHT and you're going to take it off next summer. Don't worry about it. Buy some fat pants. Everybody I know gained a lot of weight.
-- HANNAH
EMORY UNIVERSITY, JUNIOR
Other Web Resources
See what the folks at Middlebury College say about weight and dieting: Middlebury - Weight Loss and the College Student
The experts at the University of California, Berkeley guide you through a healthy fitness walking plan: www.uhs.berkeley.edu/home/healthtopics/exercisewalking.shtml