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Starting college in the fall...Advice?

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kassiebby1124
kassiebby1124 Posts: 927 Member
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So I got accepted into my dream college. ECU. I want to major in nutrition and athletic training. (: My questions are:
1) What is college life like?
2) How do I avoid the "freshman 15"?
3) Tips on getting in shape BEFORE college?
4) How can I make friends and find like-minded people?

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  • lolitarun
    lolitarun Posts: 6
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    The best piece of advice I can give you is to learn to control your portions NOW, before you go to school. I actually lost weight my freshman year because my portion sizes were very small and I was doing a lot more physical activity than I had been before - and my campus was only about 1 square mile back then! Gained it all back later because I wasn't paying attention to my portions and I stopped walking as much when I went to grad school (my first year of grad classes were contained entirely in one building on campus at my current school, which was less than 2 blocks from the parking lot), so now I'm just trying to get back down to my freshman and sophomore year weight!
  • goldmay
    goldmay Posts: 258 Member
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    I'm not sure if I can really answer your first question. I go to a "commuter school," where most people live off campus, so the vibe at my school is probably different from what you'd see at a school where a lot of people live in the dorms. People generally have the get in/get out attitude where they aren't involved in any campus activities.

    I lost about 20 pounds my first 2 years of college. I walked to school (lived nearby), joined a gym and tried to pack my own lunch for school everyday. Most of our restaurants are fast food places, so I avoid those.

    I think the easiest way to meet new people is to join clubs or other activities, or form study groups for your classes. For your major, you'll probably see a lot of the same people in all your classes. With your major, it should be easy to find people in your classes to workout with too. Even easier if there's a fitness center on your campus. :-)
  • hannahpark3r
    hannahpark3r Posts: 50 Member
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    1) What is college life like? It definitely depends on your school, but it's like nothing you've ever experienced before. You get to know people so quickly. You probably won't get enough sleep...ESPECIALLY not on the weekend. Try to find a balance between schoolwork and fun and you should be good.

    2) How do I avoid the "freshman 15"? Avoid the dining hall. Avoid going out to eat all the time. If you're able to make trips to the grocery store, that's probably the best alternative. "Quick" food is often not healthy. And if your school had a gym, definitely try to take advantage of it! I set a goal of losing 15 instead of gaining it, and I was pretty successful.

    3) Tips on getting in shape BEFORE college? Learn as much as you can about healthy eating and try to maintain that lifestyle through college.

    4) How can I make friends and find like-minded people?Join clubs! Get to know people in your major! I joined the marching band and that changed my entire life. Just find something you're even slightly interested in and show up to a few meetings. You don't have to commit to anything at first.

    Best of luck to you! :)
  • Winter_Nights
    Winter_Nights Posts: 14 Member
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    1) What is college life like?

    College life is different for everyone and depends on a lot of factors. Some people party a lot, some people study a lot, some people join greek life and that consumes their life, some people commute and are not involved. etc. College will be what you make of it!

    2) How do I avoid the "freshman 15"?
    My best advice would to become aware of all of the healthy options on campus! For example, find out where they have good salads, soups and lower calorie options. What i like to do is start off my meal with a large salad and soup. then, if i'm still hungry go from there. This keeps me from craving the pizza cake and fried foods that everyone around me eats.

    3) Tips on getting in shape BEFORE college?
    Get in a habit of not eating at night. Most people gain weight because they eat bad during the day AND eat late at night.
    If you are living on campus, try to keep some healthy snacks in your room so you wont be tempted to order pizza and Chinese late at night when studying.

    4) How can I make friends and find like-minded people?
    The best thing you can do is try to talk to people and join clubs. Get to know some of the girls or guys on your hall/dorm and see if you click! this is how i met my friends. Also, talk to people in class if you get the opportunity.
  • jayche
    jayche Posts: 1,128 Member
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    1) College is what you make of it, it can be an awesome new experience or just another X years of high school.
    2) Don't fall into the fast food trap/get lazy/drink too much.
    3) Workout and get to familiar with the gym.
    4) It's college, just do the things you like doing and you'll meet like-minded people along the way. No searching is necessary.
  • xxghost
    xxghost Posts: 4,697 Member
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    College life is really great. I think you're going to have a fantastic time. It is so cool being completely on your own. It took almost a full year for it to sink in that I could do what I wanted when I wanted. I also really liked being surrounded by people 24/7. Someone is always awake at any one time and there is always something going on.

    Get a good handle on your portions before going to school. Soon, you'll be surrounded by food all the time, especially if you're eating in the cafeteria. Plus, you may have a roommate that hoards food. My current roommate knows I'm on a diet, but loves to eat/talk about how good the food is in front of me. It takes SO much work to keep from breaking down and eating some too. Its also a good idea to get into a workout routine now. It will be much harder to start once you're at school. Get into the swing of doing something physical every day. Then keep up the working out once you get to school. Maybe look into a IM sport.

    As I mentioned above, figure out your portions and your workouts before going to school. Once you get there, it will be so much harder to get into the swing of things.

    Try everything once! Your school will most likely have a fair for all of the clubs and organizations. Get flyers, and go to as many of the first meetings as you possibly can. That is how I ended up playing polo, shooting rifles competitively, and hunting ghosts.
  • wllwsmmr
    wllwsmmr Posts: 391 Member
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    Congrats on the acceptance!! :)

    The answers will differ a huge deal whether you are staying in dorms or just alone elsewhere!! But for this i'll just assume you're staying in dorms!
    1) What is college life like?
    IT IS AWESOME!! Being in the dorms, I am 24/7 surrounded by peers and also being able to hang with my close friends all day long rocks! I can also look for them any time of the day as long as their awake! It is also easy to be part of school activities since you cut out the travelling from home to school etc! Being independent and away from parents is also a good and enriching experience, doing everything for yourself is fun too, makes you more responsible too! I find studying easier too because there are always people studying in community rooms, study rooms at different times, especially when exams are nearing and then you'll see groups of people in the study rooms staying up! It is much more motivation to study than when you're home and feeling like you're the only one suffering while your parents are asleep! You get to study in groups more often too!
    2) How do I avoid the "freshman 15"?
    I'd say you really have to make the effort and focus on your goals! In general, what you eat and how much you exercise you can decide to do them and stick to it! Stick to your daily caloric goals but don't fret if you go over some days. Look at your weekly caloric intake and as long as it averages out near your caloric goal then you should be losing! Also, get into the habit of eating healthy/ practicing portion control on most days so when you have the occasional meals out with friends then you can enjoy them! Either adjust by doing more cardio, or eating lesser for the rest of your meals for that day! It is gonna be a struggle at times because in my college, there are a lot of people always ordering in pizzas/fast food because they can't sleep/staying up to study, and there's a convenience store where people snack at all times and my friends like to eat and are not too concerned with eating healthy and sometimes I go along because I feel bad being the downer all the time! But I try to make allowance for them by adjusting my caloric goals. If I feel uncomfortable and know that it'll make me feel guilty then I join them but I don't eat! Or I don't join them at all! I just say I'm not hungry :) As for exercising, I make it a point to do some running in the morning so that I don't have to worry about getting it done throughout the day! Also helped that my friends like to gym, and having friends to gym with is definitely more encouraging :)
    3) Tips on getting in shape BEFORE college?
    If you haven't already done so, read http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013 and calculate your BMR and TDEE! You're supposed to eat between that to get a reasonable calorie deficit for healthy and easily sustainable weight loss! Many say TDEE - 10 to 20% is effective! Try to get into a habit of working out regularly now! It will be tough trying to start to work out only when college begins since you'll be swarmed with schoolwork, making friends, activities etc!! Most males though focus on strength training and minimal cardio! I do think that focussing on strength training would be good for fat loss, but cardio is good for me as it relieves stress, increases my stamina, and also allows me to have more calories since I struggle with controlling my eating at times! If there's a gym there then make sure you join it so you'd be motivated to go since you're paying!
    4) How can I make friends and find like-minded people?
    Agree with the other posters above! But if by like-minded you mean those who are interested in becoming fit/staying healthy/losing weight, check out for fitness / health clubs in your college! I'm pretty sure there is some and that would definitely be helpful :) Also if you are a sports person then definitely look to join some sports clubs so you get your workout in too while having tons of fun and being in a sports team is fun!!!

    HAVE FUN :D

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