How to Not Gain the Freshman 15

Every year, tons of freshmen head off to college and come home at winter break with an extra 5-20 pounds.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Discipline
• Access to a Gym

1. Be careful if you played sports in high school. If you played sports in high school and don’t play in college, it is really easy to gain some extra pounds from the lack of regular exercise. Maintain your physique by playing sports in college or going to the gym.
2. Limit your deserts in the dining hall. Try eating desert once a week. It is easy to over indulge when you have an assortment of donuts and cookies available after every meal.
3. Limit your alcohol intake. Try sticking to light beer only. Mixed drinks are usually packed with calories and sugar. Light beer has about 100 calories per 12 ounces, but a regular beer contains about 150-200 calories per 12 ounces. Or, if you must drink hard alcohol, take shots or mix hard alcohol with diet soda. Mixed drinks are sugar-filled and packed with calories.
4. Say no to late-night pizza and snacks. If you live in the dorms, you will probably see food everywhere. Watch out for the neighbor that orders the midnight pizza. Watch out for the friend that always has chips. Watch out for the friend that comes home from his catering job with donuts every weekend.
5. If you go to bars, do not make it a habit to stop for food on the way home. If you feel like you need to eat before you go to bed to “sober up” then stay up an extra hour, drink some water and go to bed. Or, try not drinking as much next time.
6. Go to the gym! You must exercise, otherwise you will come home for thanksgiving and you will have to buy you new pants. Try to get 30 minutes of cardio [elevated heart rate] about five times per week. Weigh yourself once a week at the gym. Keep a record of your weight to help you keep track.
7. Stay away from vending machines. College campuses often have vending machines all over. If you feel yourself being drawn towards the vending machines because you are hungry between classes, bring a healthy snack from home to avoid eating at the vending machine.
8. Walk! Instead of taking the shuttle, try walking to class. Try walking everywhere you can.
9. Take the stairs! Your campus probably has elevators in almost every building. Avoid the crowded elevator and walk up the stairs every chance you get.
10. Eat regularly. You may be tempted to skip meals because of a crazy schedule or because you think skipping meals will make you thinner. You need to eat at least three meals a day. Do not try to skip breakfast. You will probably just get really hungry later and eat more than you should.
11. Educate yourself on calories. Take note of portion size and calorie content of all your food. Your college dining hall may have nutritional advice for its meals. Be sure to ask where you can get this information.

Tips & Warnings

• Keeping the freshman 15 off takes work. Stay on top of it.