What Is Freshman 15?
The Freshman 15 is a term used to refer to the weight gain people typically experience in their first year of college. Freshman is a first year student, and 15 means 15 pounds of weight gain.
The reality is, you can gain more or less than 15 lbs when going to college. I gained more like 23 lbs in my first year. I had a friend who gained 40 lbs and another friend who gained 50 lbs. So if you only gain 15, you are kind of lucky. It's frightening to think of how much weight a person can gain in such a short amount of time.
This extra weight gain can be depressing. Whether you are looking to prevent the weight gain, or get the weight off after you have already gained it, my tips will work for either situation.
What Causes The Freshman 15?
The cause of the freshman 15 is increased consumption. You are likely just as active as you were in high school. The only real difference when you are in college is more socializing. And with more socializing, there are more reasons to eat and drink and be merry.
You've got parties where there is alcohol. There are birthday parties and dorm parties, and holiday celebrations with cake. There are late night study groups with snacks. There are the cafeteria and fast food places on campus with lots of tempting food. The list goes on. When people get together, they love to eat together.
When you take in more calories than what you are burning, you start to gain weight. That's what causes you to gain that extra weight in college. You are finally away from Mom and Dad and can make your own rules. But what you'll find is that you typically make poor decisions, especially when it comes to your health and well being, and this leads to excess weight gain.
The last thing you want is to come home for Christmas holiday and let everyone see you with a big ole gut. And family will comment because they don't know how to be polite about those things.
Where To Start
This is a big job to handle, but you can do it. You can get the weight to stay off. Start by figuring out how many calories per day you should be eating.
Everyone needs a certain amount of calories per day. This is according to your age, height, weight, gender, and activity level. You can plug that information into this calculator to find out. The maintenance number is the amount of calories you burn every single day. Men usually burn more calories than women each day.
In order to lose weight, you will need to eat less than your maintenance number of calories. You will see beneath maintenance a fat loss number and an extreme fat loss number. You can pick one of those calorie goals and stick to it every day.
If you count your calories and eat only that amount of calories per day, you can lose up to 2 lbs per week.
As you lose weight, you calorie needs change, so go back to the calculator and plug in your new weight after you have lost some. Then see if the numbers change. If the number of calories got lower, then you will need to lower your intake even more in order to keep losing weight.
Sounds easy right? Not so fast.
Plateaus
The math of calories in/calories out should work theoretically. It should, but it doesn't always. Our bodies will sometimes adjust to this and you could stop losing weight completely, even though you are doing everything right. This is called a plateau. Don't give up. I've got some tips to help you even more than just counting calories.
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is my go-to weight loss tool. It works so well. You don't even have to save this for when you hit a plateau. You can start this immediately as soon as you want to lose weight and it will likely completely prevent a plateau from ever happening in the first place.
Intermittent fasting is when you eat all of your calories within a time limit. Have you ever heard of someone saying they never eat past 5 p.m.? Well that is a sort of intermittent fasting. It's very simple. You just eat during a specified window of time, and do not eat outside that window. You can drink only water outside of that time frame.
The most popular intermittent fasting schedule is 16/8. On this schedule a person would skip breakfast and stop eating earlier than usual. It would look something like this:
8 p.m. (stop eating) (only water)
8 pm.m to 12 p.m. noon (only water)
12 p.m. noon (have your first meal)
12 p.m. to 8 p.m. (continue eating your daily calories in the form of snacks and meals during this time)
8 p.m. (stop eating) (only water)
And repeat every day.
It's really not that difficult to do and it has many scientifically proven health benefits such as anti-aging, better immune function, decreased risk of cancer and other illnesses, etc.
This method of eating has helped many people lose weight and reduce the risk of hitting a plateau on a weight loss program. You are not starving yourself by any means. You are still eating the same amount of food. You are just changing the times when you eat the food. Your body functions much better on a schedule such as this.
During your fasting window, you can drink only water. There are ways to spruce up your water while fasting, so read this article and it will help you make your water taste more appealing.
What To Eat To Lose The Freshman 15
I've talked about how many calories you should eat to lose weight, but I didn't expand on what you should eat.
There are so many modes of eating. There is vegan, keto, paleo, carnivore, vegetarian, etc. In reality, a variety of diets work for a variety of people because our bodies are all made differently. What works for one may not work for another. I won't tell you how to eat. That is your decision.
But, I understand that in college you have some limitations. Especially when living in a dorm room, you are super limited in ways you can cook and what kinds of foods you can store. That's why I wrote an article with tips on healthy ways of eating in college. It will give you some tips for choosing healthier options and how to make the most of your limitations while in college. You should check it out if you are living on campus and struggling with the freshman 15.
Other Freshman 15 Weight Loss Tips
I have a few more tips for you so that you can lose weight in college.
Pedometer
Get yourself a pedometer, or use your phone's pedometer. Many smart phones have built in pedometers and there are apps you can use as well. You'll want to track your activity level and make sure that you are getting 10,000 steps per day. Most people only get about 5,000 steps in, so you will want to increase that number to make sure you are active.
For tips on how to increase your step count, read this article.
Gym
Your college has a nice gym. All colleges do. As a student, you get to use the college gym for free. Take advantage of that. There are cardio machines, free weights, weight machines, yoga classes, etc. Check out everything your gym has to offer you. Try to visit the gym about 4 days a week.
I'm not going to tell you what to do when exercising, because the truth is it doesn't matter. As long as you are active, you are doing your body good. It's even better if you are doing an activity that you love or enjoy. Make sure that your workouts are enjoyable. Make it a group activity with at least one friend. Then you will know that that friend is expecting you to go to the gym on certain days and you will feel obligated to go, even if you don't feel like going. This will motivate you.
I have very fond memories of going to yoga class each week with a friend and then having a nice cup of hot tea afterward. The feeling is incredible after yoga class. You are tired, yet buzzing with this satisfied feeling. We always knew that Wednesday was yoga day. It was just expected that that's what we were doing that evening.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is a little weight loss secret. It helps lower insulin sensitivity and reduce your appetite. Taking 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar per day mixed in a glass of water will help you with weight loss.
I understand it stinks and it definitely doesn't taste great. You can add honey, lemon juice, and a number of things to help with the taste. You can also mix it with orange juice which will almost completely disguise the taste of the apple cider vinegar. Always use a straw when drinking apple cider vinegar.
Apple cider vinegar is found in the grocery area, next to the salad dressings because vinegar is often used as an ingredient in salad dressing.
Green Tea
Don't become a coffee drinker in college. Become a green tea drinker instead. Green tea is scientifically proven to boost your metabolism. That means it increases the number of calories you burn each day. Yeah, it helps with fat loss. Make sure you get a good quality green tea and sweeten it with zero calorie stevia.
With all of these tips in mind, you should have no problem losing the freshman 15 and keeping the weight off for good.
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