Even Miley's been having troubles
For those of you who don’t know, the Freshman 15 is the supposedly inevitable gain of 15 pounds during one’s freshman (first year) in university or college.
As the university year comes to a close, I thought I’d address how to avoid the freshman 15.
Here’s the Top 10 Reasons Why You Gained the Freshman 15, and how to fix it:
1. Too much Snacking – With most college residences having no kitchens, one must resort to snacks to fuel those late night study sessions. Crispers, chips, chocolate puddings, rice krispie squares and fruit roll-ups are the usual culprits.
Just because they're "baked" doesn't mean they won't make you fat
The Remedy: Empty up your cabinets immediately (I’m sure your friends would love to empty them for you). Invest in a mini-fridge if you haven’t already and buy fruits, ham, cheese, and bread and make a sandwich in between textbook readings. Better yet, purchase some whey protein and a shaker cup and take a protein shake if you’re ever feeling hungry.
2. Out of Whack Meal Times – It’s easy to let one’s mealtimes fall at the mercy of classes, studying and other events. All this does is promote on-the-run snacking (Snickers bars and chips anyone?), and over-eating junk at the cafeteria when you do finally sit down for a meal.
The Remedy: Don’t let this happen to you. Plan out proper meal times and eat a big breakfast. I’m not certain whether the theory that a big breakfast will “speed up the metabolism” matters too much like some scientists say, but either way it’ll prevent cravings and snacking.
3. Drinking – College and university students LOVE to party, ’nuff said. I go more in-depth on the consequences with heavy drinking here.
The Remedy: Read the article and set limits on your alcohol consumption based on your personal goals. The more you drink the harder you’ll have to work to fight the Freshman 15 – but to some, frequent drinking is worth the extra work. Also, if you drink a lot but all the other factors are in check you’ll have a much easier time.
4. Cafeteria Food – From my experience, cafeteria food tastes like garbage. I don’t blame people for lessening the crappy taste of their food by at least getting the deep fried and sugary stuff. However, this is obviously not going to help keeping the fat off.
The Remedy: I hate saying this because it sounds so soft… but portion control. Another tip is to make it a habit to lay off carbs for the most part. Have a chicken breast (even if it’s fried) and steamed vegetables rather than pasta. Sausages and eggs, but no pancakes and syrup. Drink water instead of juices or sodas.
First month of term partying = No sleep during mid-terms
5. Not Enough Sleep – Sleep is important because your body secretes Testosterone and Growth Hormone while you sleep. If you aren’t in a proper sleep cycle you’ll miss out on these benefits which will lessen your ability to gain (or even retain) muscle, which in turn facilitates fat gain.
The Remedy: It’s pretty obvious, time manage yourself so you don’t have so many last minute late night cram sessions to finish assignments on time and limit late night parties to once every week or two. Use earplugs to effectively ignore dorm parties.
6. Eating Late at Night – I hear people say a lot that eating food late at night is bad because your body doesn’t get to burn it so it immediately gets stored as fat. Whether this is true or not, I find that the fact that people tend to eat absolute crap late at night that really does the damage.
The Remedy: You can eat late at night as long as you keep it small and relatively low in carbs. Learn to like low carb, high protein foods like cottage cheese. It’ll keep you full longer, NOT promote an insulin spike (meaning less fat storage), and feed your muscles as you sleep.
Use your limited mini-fridge space wisely.
7. Sugary drinks – For some reason almost all of my friends have sugary drinks like Coke, Iced Tea, and other crap in their dorm rooms. My theory is that sodas, beers, and other crap drinks seem perfect for the mini fridges that most college residences provide.
The Remedy: Like I’ve said earlier, use mini-fridges to your advantage instead of as a temptation! Fill them with carrot sticks, apples, cottage cheese, sandwich components and milk. Sure it won’t be as inviting to visiting friends but it’ll keep you slimmer.
8. Inconsistency – Most people I talk to will go to the gym ever-so-often, “Whenever I have the time”, which usually means once every two weeks.
The Remedy: College life is busy. Make a commitment to hit the gym four, three, or even two times a week and consistently go that many times every week. A tip of mine is to go every morning at 6am or 7am so you have it out of the way before other commitments come in the way.
She wasn't that cute anyway - Don't stress brutha
9. Stress – The stresses of sinking grades, weight gain (ironic, huh?), and the typical drama that comes with college living increases levels of the hormone cortisol in the body. Cortisol is the enemy of anyone trying to maintain a good body since cortisol facilitates greater body fat storage and increases the likelihood of muscle breakdown (atrophy).
The Remedy: Start drinking green tea often. Really make use of week ends to wind down and relax. Get enough sleep. And if you’re really feeling stressed, I’ve found breathing-relaxation exercises to be really helpful (especially during mid-terms).
Note: Even if you’re typically a level-headed person, the combination of heavy lifting, and over exertion from long study sessions really takes a toll on the body and needs to be dealt with.
A carb-less, and yummy meal
10. Too Many Carbs - In today’s society carbohydrates are overeaten by large proportions. My view is that carbs need to be EARNED. If you aren’t working out hard consistently (at least four times per week) then you likely need to cut down on your carb intake. The gist of it is that excess carbs spike insulin which promotes fat storage.
The Remedy: Like I’ve said before, cut down on carbs as much as possible. Even cutting out carbs from one meal a day will help out. At the very least, as you draw closer to the evening, taper off the carb intake.
Conclusion
College can be a tough transition for first years. You’re on your own for the first time ever and you’re forced to take full control of your diet while keeping up with studies, social events, and other errands like laundry and cleaning. Unfortunately, one’s diet is bound to deteriorate (cafeteria food never matches up with my mom’s cooking), while activity levels drop, and other habits start to sprout up (alcohol, snacking, late night study sessions).
Time to rebuild your body to how it's supposed to look.
As summer approaches, and you’re given a chance to come out of the rubble and rebuild your body so-to-speak, it’s time to make combat against the F-15.
I recommend going hardcore while you still have time to salvage the remnants of a solid physique by trying out the Super Diet ASAP. Pair that with some Complexes, and a Solid Work Out Routine for 2 – 3 months. If you stay dedicated you may just have a couple weeks in the sun where you’ll be proud to take your shirt off with no traces of the dreaded F-15 to be seen.
Don’t be embarrassed to see that cute girl from back home again – Start fighting back against the F-15!
