Freshers fifteen...

I weighed the same at the end of my first semester of college as I did at the beginning. However, when I went home for Winter Break (which lasts a month) I gained like 5 pounds! Beware of trips home, where your mom cooks for you and you sit around with no responsibility. I just finished my Freshman year at school, and my best advice is make friends with the salad bar, AVOID RAMEN NOODLES AT ALL COSTS, and don't be afraid to try out the Rec Center (if you have one!)

I'm cooking for myself, and I'm not worried in the sense that I know I can cook healthy meals. It's just snacking I'm worried about, and emotional eating cause I'll be missing home, and stressed oh and alcohol calories!

There's a simple solution to the alcohol problem: DON'T DRINK IT! I know you probably think college is supposed to be when you drink at parties and whatnot, but you WILL regret it. Drinking causes you to gain immense amounts of weight, it interferes with your grades, and honestly, parties at college are not all they're cracked up to be. Being drunk just makes it easier for some guy to take advantage of you.

Snacking has the potential to be my downfall too! I fight it by planing snacks, and when I was at uni I wouldn't leave the house without a healthy packed lunch including pittas, houmous, raw veggies to nibble, nuts etc. No excuses to grab processed food that way, and it works out cheaper (always important to consider as a student!).

In terms of alcohol, I didn't abstain but it wasn't a regular thing. You could try to restrict your consumption by only taking out so much cash with you?

Other ways to get exercise in, if there isn't a gym, is to join a sports team. I didn't, but I so regret this, and I know they always welcome beginners. Oh, and exercising is a great way to nip student stress in the bud - endorphins are intoxicating, you dont always need alcohol!

Best of luck with your studies :flowerforyou:

This happened to me. It happened slowly and I didn't really notice. I was catered and it was a three course meal every night and all you can eat breakfast every day pretty much. I look at pictures from this time last year and I'm shocked to be honest. I've lost it now and I still want to lose a little more and get stronger. If you are cooking for yourself you should be fine - most people I know who were self-catering LOST weight their first year at uni so don't worry

EDIT: I forgot the major factor. Alcohol. A bottle of wine each before a night out twice times a week? Noooo. I still go out a lot and I do drink when I go out, but I stick to spirits. We dance so much and so crazily when we are out though, we must burn a lot of it off!

If you go prepared then that should help. I did gain during my first year but I wasn't really paying any attention to my weight. It's nights out that got me but I wasn't really exercising. Sure you'll be fine if you eat well and exercise.

Be sure to enjoy yourself though!!!

On the good side, many campuses are set up for lots of walking. They also tend to have gyms for free or low cost.

And campus food services have become more responsive to students who want to eat healthy.

Some places which are still difficult are
* if you're not used to making your own food choices, some people go wild with the freedom
* the alcohol (as you've noted)
* student events that come with food -- an ice cream social, pizza party, etc.
* late night studying -- when you're up late and tired, it's easy to reach for food to keep your energy levels up

There are many ways to handle this. Since you'll be doing at least some cooking for yourself and have already learned to track and control what you eat, you've already got a good head start. The alcohol and other social foods just need to fit into your plan.

The late night studying / energy is hard... Try to do your work in advance, but it won't always be possible. Find other ways to keep fit and your energy level up, and assume there will be some hard times in each term and that you may need to be able to eat something extra, but maybe you can also squeeze in some time for a bit of extra exercise. For instance, if you're taking a foreign language, can you listen to the lessons on a headphone while you exercise? Can you read a textbook while on a treadmill? Instead of a study session with a fattening food, can you plan a healthier food or even practice quizzing each other while out walking instead of curled up on a couch?

Good luck finding ways to deal with it that work for you!

Other ways to get exercise in, if there isn't a gym, is to join a sports team. I didn't, but I so regret this, and I know they always welcome beginners. Oh, and exercising is a great way to nip student stress in the bud - endorphins are intoxicating, you dont always need alcohol!

Best of luck with your studies :flowerforyou:

Only problem with this is, at least in the UK, joining a sports team is an incentive to spend your entire Wednesday evening looking at the bottom of a pint glass that somehow mysteriously just emptied its beery contents into your stomach!

Hmmm, true! Perhaps that's one of the reasons I didn't join!