The College Student Guide to Avoiding Weight Gain

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You Don’t Want to Wind Up Getting an A for Adipose

You may not gain an ounce during your freshman year, but if you do gain weight, it will probably amount to something in the range of 6.5 to 9 pounds, according to surveys, which is most of the 10 to 15 pounds that weight-gainers are likely to add during the entirety of their college years. If you become a weight-gainer, it will be for three fundamental reasons. You eat more, you drink more and you do less. You do these things because (1) you don’t yet know any better and (2) there is no longer anyone around to lecture you about the consequences of unwise choices. That lack of a wise and present counsel is important, because the entire collegiate lifestyle seems designed to pork you up.

The Root Causes: Dorm Dining Halls and Stress

Statistically, you will most likely live in a dorm, and thus will probably take your meals at a dining hall, which allows you to determine your own food selections and portion sizes, and which is often a source of late-night snacks from the high-carb food groups: pastries, pizza, nachos, burritos and their ilk. When you want a snack or pick-me-up during the day, it won’t be coming from your parents’ kitchen, but a vending machine or convenience store, our two leading outlets for junk food. You’ll be on the go a lot, and of necessity, your lunches will increasingly consist of fast food, and your breakfasts of McMuffinesque cholesterol bombs, assuming you eat breakfast at all.

You may find yourself dealing on a regular basis with stress, and damping it down with comfort food or alcoholic drink or both. Alcohol will in fact be a greater presence in your life than ever before, especially beer, with all the liquid calories that implies. In the case of some universities, year one will seem like one long keg party with breaks for lectures and studying. And whereas in high school you may have been on the football or basketball or track or some other team, that won’t be the case here. Any calories you burn off with physical exercise will be optional, not a requirement.

Tactics: Offsite Dining, Healthy Snacks, Diet Sodas, Sleep

So, given all this, if it seems that the weight-gain odds are stacked against you, you’re right. Fortunately, there are ways to shift the odds in your favor. Here are a few.

It’s probably too late for this year, but if you have a choice between a dorm or living group with a dining hall on the premises, and one where you have to go out to a separate dining facility, choose the latter. Studies have shown that the further the student has to walk to grab a snack between meals or at night, the less weight he or she gains, on average.

When you feel stressed out, you can kill two birds with one stone by burning off some tension at the gym, pool, fitness center or track instead of taking on more calories at the snack bar or dining commons. If anything, your college should have more and better student recreational facilities than your high school; use them.

Take healthy snack foods with you when you go to class; fruit, raisins, nuts, crackers. Remember, you’re not a kid anymore, and it’s time to outgrow the notion that a daily booster shot of Baby Ruths and Ho Hos for a sugar rush won’t linger on your hips or midriff.

As to beverages, replace the sugary soft drinks with sugar-free versions, and difficult though it may be, go easy on the beer. There are plenty of reasons to keep your alcohol consumption to a minimum, the size of your butt being just one of them.

Make a point of getting enough sack time; insufficient sleep has been repeatedly shown to lead to weight gain.

If you live in an apartment, of course, you determine your own menus and the food items available to you at all hours. In that case, it becomes elementary: make smart choices. Buy food intelligently, and consume it moderately.

For that matter, the amount of weight you gain or don’t gain as a college student is really up to you. You’re now in charge of what you eat and drink and whether you exercise. You know what’s good for you and what isn’t. You’re not stupid; that’s why you’re in college. It’s time to grow up, not out.

(By Robert S. Wieder for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News):

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The College Student Guide to Avoiding Weight Gain is a post from: CalorieLab - Health News & Information Blog

Source: http://calorielab.com/news/2012/09/17/the-college-student-guide-to-avoiding-weight-gain/

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