The freshman 15 is one of the scariest parts about moving onto your first year of college. I hope to help guide you away from that travesty with my freshman routine....
By the way, IN NO WAY am I a health coach or anything, I am a Chemical Engineer. This is how I PERSONALLY avoided the freshman 15.. ..I have no intentions of demanding anyone to follow what I did, this is just for anyones reference.
So, you are off to college, no more parents to cook for you or make you eat healthy. Now,the dining hall/any on campus food will be your biggest enemy for the coming months. No one is there to portion control you or to tell you not to go for the all you can eat pizza and fried food. You are an adult now so its time to start acting and eating like one! Most of your new friends will just eat and eat and eat without ant regard to the weight they are about to gain in the coming year.
During my first week of school I realized how doomed I was. You can just swipe your meal card and eat whatever food you want and however much you want. I knew that I couldn't do that especially after being spoiled with home cooked meals my entire life. I personally do not like most of the food my campus serves.. tastes just like the garbage in high school that they tried to pass off as lunch.. GROSS!! I tried to eat selectively at first but eventually I just lowered my standards and ate whatever was in front of me. Needless to say, I forced myself to stop eating the dining hall food altogether after the first month of school. Instead, I took a nice little trip to the grocery store to buy HEALTHY and CHEAP food every few weeks..
This is how I PERSONALLY (aka you do what works for you) survived...
1. Avoid dining hall at all costs!!
- I repeat DO NOT GO TO THE DINING HALL!! especially if you have no self control like me.. I thought I did, but I absolutely do not.. There is also like a subway and chipotle type place and grille on campus but nonono do no go there until you learn how to avoid the junk... But do what works for you
2. Go to the grocery store
- Hitch a ride,walk or take the bus if you don't have your own car. You need to plan out what is super cheap but also healthy that will fill you up for your meals these are some of the things that were always on my grocery list
- bananas
- peanut butter
- pretzels
- tuna packets(sounds gross but 10/10 recommend for salads)
- lettuce
- peppers
- more fruit
- healthy microwave meals
- orange juice
- literally anything is better than the food at school
- I also created a pinterest board of simple food you can make on a budget and with minimal kitchen resources, there are a lot more than you would think.. get creative
3. My meal method
- Ate fruit and yogurt for breakfast, Drank smoothies for lunch(if your campus has a smoothie place).. get that little extra protein booster added and you will be good til dinner time. Be cautious when eating dinner, I would get subway SOMETIMES and get every veggie they had... or just eat a salad.....or pizza YOLO.. whatever you eat just do it in moderation. And never forget your proteins like meat, fish or eggs... even nuts and such. but hey if you want pizza or wings, eat it!
4. Resist all junk food snacking temptations
- if you never buy junk food, you will never have the chance to eat it!!
- ...At least that was my method. I usually get really hungry right before I go to bed cause I am tired and really don't care about my health at that point but gotta resist it!! Instead of junky food, I would eat an apple or banana to hold me over til morning.. gotta keep that belly full! if you are hungry, EAT nutritious snacks.
5. Go to the gym
- even if its just walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes, you being that much more healthy than you would've been laying in bed watching TV.
6.Change your meal plan
- meal plans are super expensive, especially when you don't use them. Your school will probably require you to have a certain level of meal plan the first semester but after that, switch to the lowest one possible. I saved about $2000 just switching from my original meal plan to the one I have now and I still didn't use all of it by the end of the second semester.
- Instead of wasting that money eating garbage food, I bought good food from the grocery store that didn't make me gain the freshman 15!
7. Watch what you drink
- Don't drink pop.. soda.. whatever you want to call the carbonated beverages under any circumstance... they make your teeth yellow, make you gain weight, give you cavities.. bad idea all around
- AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT DRINK BEER or anything alcoholic for that matter since you're probably not 21....but you will probably go to parties and you will be amongst a bunch of drunk half naked people that are completely belligerent. Don't be those people. Handle yourself with grace if you do decide to be a party animal. I personally am the friend group "mom" so I usually volunteer to take care of the crazy ones...so I actually remember the absurd stuff people do.. just be the mom of your group... its better that way....trust me, I have had my moments.
I hope that my personal experience will help you as you move onto your first year of school... I began my first year weighing over 150 pounds and now I way about 130... I defeated the freshman 15.. more like freshman -20 for me.. just remember to not over eat or under eat, find your happy medium! ALWAYS eat if you're hungry, just be cautious to falling victim of the fried and greasy foods that colleges love to serve...it is a trap!! STAY HEALTHY, DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF OR FEEL GUILTY BY WHAT YOU EAT!!
Best of Luck in College!
xoxo Lil
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