Board 8 > I'm terrified of the Freshman 15 guys

(+) Yeah! (+)

17 year old kid here about to go to college. I'm living on campus. Gonna be 3 hrs away from home.

I'm getting ready for the school year and I can't the Freshman 15 out of my head. It terrifies me. I'm already overweight, I don't need to become obese. My eating habits aren't that great so I definitely need to change it.

Any advice guys?
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Don't drink anything but water, and gradually stop eating sugar.
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And exercise, of course. College is depression-inducing, not the merry institution it's depicted as on TV. You should stay active to preserve both your mental and physical health.
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Don't ever take an uber anywhere. Only walk.
Eat smart. Just because you can eat taco bell for breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week doesn't mean you should.
Recognize that all alcohol has calories. Limit your intake as appropriate.
Join an intramural sports team.
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gearofages posted...

And exercise, of course. College is depression-inducing, not the merry institution it's depicted as on TV. You should stay active to preserve both your mental and physical health.

I disagree that college is depression inducing. It's what you make of it
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Wow, 15 guys? College sure has changed since I went.
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College is all about learning to manage your time and build good habits in preparation for living in the "real world". If you can develop good eating habits and a workout routine (something most freshmen utterly fail at in my experience), you'll be fine even in this regard
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It's not about walking or exercise or anything. Just don't stuff your face to death at the dining hall buffet. That's 99% of the reason. And yes only drink water, no soda (beer is okay since you can probably only get calorie free piss water).
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I gained like 40 pounds my freshman year of college

Soda was probably the worst part. And just general overeating
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I lost five pounds :(

Just talk to a lot of older students early in about the dining halls. They'll invariably bitch about how awful they are, psychologically predisposing you to hate them immediately.
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Drink...HEAVILY.

You'll puke so much of the food you eat you'll be fine.
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If you eat normally you should be fine

If you are at a campus that has a big drinking culture then watch out
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foolm0r0n posted...

It's not about walking or exercise or anything. Just don't stuff your face to death at the dining hall buffet. That's 99% of the reason. And yes only drink water, no soda (beer is okay since you can probably only get calorie free piss water).

Exercise helps with mental health too. It's good to get out and move around now and then.
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college is whatever, but culture/media tries to sell the idea that it HAS to be the most amazing time of your life

just don't worry about living up to the hype and you'll be okay

don't drink soda. don't feel like you have to drink alcohol 3 nights a week, or even 1 night a week. GET SLEEP. be honest, matter-of-fact and respectful about your feelings to your classmates, dormmates, and friends. Be quick, quiet and kind in moving away from unhappy friendships or unrequited loves.

I said this already, but get sleep! I recommend melatonin pills if you're having issues, which you can buy over the counter at convenience stores. It took me way too long to emotionally accept that staying up an extra few hours wasn't going to make my life better.

losing sleep makes you hungrier, makes you less aware of your surroundings, and less amicable. sleep's benefits multiply upon themselves and make every single other hurdle easier to clear

keep a scale in your room so you will at least know if you've been doing okay. loosely keep track of what you're eating so you can make rational decisions. Realize that hunger is something that you're supposed to feel, which then motivates you to hunt and eventually eat- rather than something that you should completely avoid by pre-emptively eating

college can be tough for weight in both directions (overeating because you HAVE to eat before 9pm/cafeteria closes, undereating because cafeteria is a 15 minute walk away and you can't be assed). a little bit of mindfulness and tracking can help you adjust
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VeryInsane posted...

If you eat normally you should be fine

this heavily depends on what "normal" is to you. sounds like tc's normal has led him to be overweight.
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College is fantastic what were you people doing?
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banananor posted...

Realize that hunger is something that you're supposed to feel, which then motivates you to hunt and eventually eat- rather than something that you should completely avoid by pre-emptively eating

That's a good point I never thought about

Fat people make so much more sense
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Yea I stayed about the same weight, if anything I lost maybe 5 or so pounds. But that's more that my eating habits that I grew up with usually led to me starving myself at times and then I go through times I just straight up don't eat that much and other times where I can snack a lot. Not exactly healthy but hey no weight on me
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I lost almost 50 lbs in college

Turns out peer pressure can be a good thing
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