It has been found in most of the students at the college that they gain weight by varying amounts in the first year. This phenomenon has been given a popular name in USA and Canada -Freshman15. From the popularity of this name it sounds that every student gains 15 pounds of weight in college. But this is not true. Some may gain only 3 pounds. Recently the number 15 has been changed to 10. While doing online research it has been found that only 10% of the students reach that number 15 while 90% are still okay. But it is a fact that they do gain weight. It is natural to gain weight because they move from a set style of high school life to college life. In the college they have more freedom, parties and night-outs. They do not stick to the 3-food plan anymore. 3-Food plan which is breakfast,lunch and dinner is replaced by any-food plan. This means they are having a bag of chips while attending a class or eating a pizza slice at lunch. More or less every Friday is a day of rejoice at the college bar and late night activities are quite common. Please forgive me. It is not a generalization. There are many who still try to follow the school-days schedule and that is why the percentage of Freshman 15 or 10 whatever is only 10%. Apart from eating habits,stress is another contributor to weight loss. Stress demands overeating and that leads to overweight. Once again with due apology I want to say the present-day college student is more health-concious than 10 years ago. But still lot more needs to be done. Experts in the field of Nutrition have recommended the following methods to curb weight gain which equally applies to anybody:
- Always stick to a schedule: Your high school 3-meal schedule can work wonders here too.
- Snack smart: Grazing all day on processed snacks like chips can add weight. You can replace them with nuts. This will have added advantage of building your memory and keeping you full longer.
- Make better meal choices: Always try to have balanced diet with adequate amounts of fats(good fat),carbs and proteins. All three have their own roles to play.
- Avoid alcohol consumption: I know it is not easy to avoid alcohol consumption alltogether but still reducing can do wonders. With less parental supervision and newly attained freedom from school life there is greater chance of falling prey to such habits.
- Stay active: Check with your college gym just possible there may have been an automatic deduction to gym dues. So that is a bonus. If that does not work make a regular habit of having a walk with a buddy especially your classmate. You can discuss your difficult Chemistry problems while having a walk. Is not it a fun? LEARNING CHEMISTRY WHILE WALKING.Why can’t we follow President Barack Obama-Walk the talk.
- Thanks
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