Time management is key to avoiding the dreaded weight gain college can bring

Time management is key to avoiding the dreaded weight gain college can bring
July 18, 2006
By Neil Schoenherr
Washington University in St. Louis

For many college freshmen, the first few weeks on campus are an exciting yet scary time. There are new friends to meet, classes to attend and extracurricular activities to join. And for many, it's also their first time away from home -- their first time making decisions completely on their own. When those decisions involve what to eat for lunch from the student center food court, the consequences can have a far-reaching effect.

The fabled and dreaded "freshman 15" is a term that has been around for years. "It probably got started a long time ago when kids went off to college and came back weighing a bit more," says Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis and president-elect of the American Dietetic Association (ADA). "Plus," Deikman adds, "'freshman 15' flows better than say, 'freshman 12'."

While it may not be clear how 15 came to be the magic number, it is clear that freshman weight gain is a reality.

"When you look at what these kids are faced with, you can understand how they are going to gain some weight," says Diekman. "On campus, food is available pretty much wherever they go and they no longer have a parent telling them when to eat or if they've eaten too much. It's totally up to them to eat whatever they want, whenever they want, and however much they want."

And exercise -- a key component to maintaining a healthy weight -- can be difficult to squeeze in amidst studying, classes and campus involvement. "When students get to college they are on their own for the first time," says Diekman. "They are busy with a lot more activities. It can be easy for good eating habits and exercise to kind of get lost."

The key to warding off the dreaded "freshman 15," says Diekman, is time management. "Students need to plan when they are going to eat and how much, and when they are going to exercise."

What Diekman suggests is that freshmen formulate a plan of eating meals every three to four hours. "Eating every three to four hours helps keep blood sugar from taking massive drops between meals," she says. "Also, by eating that often, students aren't as hungry and can concentrate on making better food choices."

Eating a good balance of carbohydrates and protein at each meal is another good way to keep blood sugar levels stable and hunger under control.
To maintain a healthy weight, exercise should be a part of the everyday routine.

Snacking can be enemy Number One of any good eating plan, especially for the average college student. Diekman suggests that to help keep weight gain at a minimum, "always snack from a plate instead of out of a bag or a box. Doing that will force you to look at the food and determine how much you are actually eating."

Diekman also advises students not to study and eat at the same time. "Try to focus on eating and then focus on studying, one at a time. Don't do them together. If you do, it becomes kind of a mindless process and it's easy to lose track of how much you've eaten. You don't want snacking to be absent-minded because then the snacks are controlling you, not the other way around."

The key to a good exercise program for freshmen? Make it a part of the everyday routine, says Diekman, who is also a member of Parents magazine's board of advisers.

She knows that college students are busy and making time most days of the week to exercise can be a challenge. "I try to get them to look at physical activity as part of what they do, part of their everyday life. Even the little things, like taking the steps instead of the elevators in the residence halls or walking an extra five or 10 minutes to class, will make a difference. Hopefully that grows on them and they end up doing some sustained physical exercise most days of the week."

For students, says Diekman, taking control of the "freshman 15" comes from taking control of their life. "Even though they may not have realized it, their parents made a lot of choices before they came to school. But now mealtimes, meal choices and making time to exercise are all up to them. If they just take it one step at a time, they can get where they want to go with a good plan."

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