Loading ...The freshman 15 is based on a college legend about how many pounds a person will gain their first year; however, 15 can be an average number because not everyone will gain 15 pounds, they may gain less or gain more.
“I think the freshman 15 exists,” said Jill Siegfried, director of the Fitness Center. “It might be down to 10 because people are more aware and might be more active than they were 10 to 15 years ago, but I think it’s still out there.”
Then the question is, why is gaining weight so common within the first year of college?
According to Siegfried, being away from home and having access to 24- hour food supplies, as well as lack of schedule, causes students to have unhealthy eating or exercising habits.
The largest factor is skipping breakfast. “Breakfast gives your brain a quick start and gets your metabolism going,” Siegfried said.
Young women are also faced with an adult female metabolism, so they may not be able to eat as much as they used to and balance their weight, according to Connie Diekman, MEd and RD. Weight gain is also an individual issue, so there is no immunity to weight gain. A person’s genetics determine how much a person gains, where they gain and when they gain. Most students will struggle with stabilizing their weight during college, said Diekman.
When a student is at home, they usually receive meals with the food choices made for them by their parents or guardians; however, being away at college can change their eating styles and cause them to eat at random hours throughout the day.
“You have to make those informed decisions on your own, and that’s kind of where the challenge comes,” said Siegfried. “And maybe that’s part of the growing up process because you figure that out.”
Siegfried says that a person needs to feed their body every three to five hours. That does not include a full meal, but fruits or yogurt and granola for fuel is key to a healthy lifestyle.
In an anonymous survey involving 74 Lewis students, 30 of which were male and 44 female, broken down into resident and commuter, 69 percent of males and females only consumed snacks three or less times a day; however, more students who ate snacks less did not exercise as much as those who would eat snacks five or more times a day. Is this a balance? Or are people eating less because they are less active?
Only eating when their stomachs growl rather than eating a decent-sized meal can cause a student’s unhealthy weight management.
Having a grazing-mentality can contribute to a person’s weight because a person might not feel like they are eating anything, but eating a little here and there can affect a person’s judgment on how many carbohydrates or calories they take in.
Not eating anything and then overeating during dinner can interfere with your metabolism, as well.
Siegfried’s solutions to healthy eating include, “To make a goal that within an hour to waking up, you’ll put some food in your body. It really gets you going and it helps balance your metabolism throughout the day.” She also suggests using a food journal.
“If you have desert during lunch, do you really need desert at dinner? If you have heavy carbs at lunch, do you really need heavy carbs for dinner? What about protein and vegetables? But then again, it’s not like at home where the meal is put on the table,” said
Siegfried, in regards to keeping a journal of what a student eats during the day, and what they do not need.
However, are there really that many healthy options in the Lewis cafeterias?
“I think there are plenty of healthy alternatives in the cafeteria,” Siegfried said. “You just have to look for them.”
She suggests that a person needs to eat more wheat products and other foods that convert to energy, rather than heavy starches and carbs, such as French fries, breads and pasta. “Unless you are a long-distance cross country runner who needs those carbs, we really can function with more energy and pyramid-type diets,” said Siegfried
Although Siegfried believes that there are plenty of options in the cafeteria for healthy eating, many students do not seem to agree.
“We are told to eat healthy, but there are really no healthy food choices,” said junior Crystal Koetz.
Price seems to be an issue with the available food at Lewis, as well.
Senior James Meador says, “The meal plan food should not be as expensive, or more expensive, than restaurant food. Lewis has high food prices.”
“Not only is the food ridiculously over priced,” says senior Brett Lyons, “but it is the same stuff over and over. And it takes 20 minutes at the Courtyard and Flyers Den to get it. Unbelievable.”
The variety of foods at Lewis is minimal. “I’d love to see Lewis bring in an outside food vendor, such as Chipotle or something along those lines,” said junior Jason Beneventi. “If they did this, I would definitely find myself eating at school more often.”
According to the student survey, 47 percent of male residents were concerned with the nutritional value of food purchases, as opposed to a 54 percent of commuters. There was a tie in concerns with cost of male residents and commuters. Female commuters, however, were more concerned with the cost of the food at Lewis compared to 30 percent of female residents.
Siegfried believes that if a person feels their health is important, then they will put themselves on a schedule. “I think people who really want to be healthy start to figure it out. You might learn different choices in the cafeteria, and stick with whole foods instead of mystery foods, like casseroles. You might figure out that you should have more salad and less dressing, and stay away from high-fat condiments.”
Being aware of food choices and how much a student consumes can affect weight gain and control. Keeping a food journal of food in-take throughout the day can help maintain and avoid the freshman 15 nuisance.
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