<p>Well, im going to be moving into college a little less than a month from now, and one of the things I hear is that you supposedly gain weight your freshman year in college.</p>
<p>I'm not really buying it though... in fact, I'm worried I might lose weight. Currently at home, I eat just about every 3-4 hours (sometimes a little longer because of work, but usually ill get in around 5-6 meals every day... and I do work at subway where I can eat for free) and I can't remember the last time i've skipped breakfast. </p>
<p>But I just can't see myself being able to do that in college.. living in a dorm, I can't really cook with just a microwave, and since i'm somewhat of a cheapskate (orr... I wanna be on a budget :)) grocery prices will scare me. Not to mention it'll be harder to find the time to sit down and eat every couple hours like I currently do at home. I live with only my dad and he's great at keeping the fridge well stocked.</p>
<p>That being said im 5'11" and only around 155-160 lbs, though i'm reasonably strong for my size and used to be even skinnier before I started lifting around 2 yrs ago... and to a certain degree i'm into nutrition (I eat fruits and veggies every day, along with peanut butter/eggs/meat/yogurt/etc.) not to mention it seems like healthy foods are more expensive in comparison to garbage (like ramen noodles... which taste great, but have no nutritional value) another problem for me, but oh well.</p>
<p>So... if anyone has anything to say related to this topic... go ahead haha</p>
<p>I, like you, generally eat every 3-4 hours or so. It wasn’t a problem in school, but I didn’t eat full out meals, just snacks and the like between meals.</p>
<p>I didn’t gain much weight (3-5 pounds MAX, and at least a couple of those pounds were muscle). I also didn’t really lose any until I cam home for the summer and had a crazy insane work schedule that prevented me from eating at least 1 meal per day, usually lunch or dinner, and I rarely eat breakfast.</p>
<p>Go grocery shopping. I don’t care if you think it’s too expensive…it’ll be worth it. For about $15/week, you can get a decent amount of healthy/healthier food to supplement your cafeteria food. That is about the most I spent any given week, and it got me enough to last a week of snacking and a couple extra meals in there as well.</p>
<p>Some cafeterias have one swipe all you can eat setups which can make that dessert tray very tempting lol…plus everyone always seems to order pizza at odd hours of the night?</p>
<p>I’m concerned about nutrition because I have a weird diet. (I’m the pickiest person I’ve ever met).
I’m a vegetarian so I really only ever eat veggie burgers, yogurt, protein bars and fruits/veggies. But now I’m on this medication so I can’t eat any soy/gluten - so no more protein bars/veggie burgers/tofu…so now I really only eat yogurt (and I only eat Wallaby brand).<br>
And that I can’t even eat until the afternoon -_-</p>
<p>So I really havent been eating and I don’t know what I’ll do during the school year. I’ll probably have to buy stuff, but its so expensive and the meal plans are already expensive - it feels like a waste.<br>
I can’t get a medical exemption until sophomore year…I may have to stop being a vegetarian :(</p>
<p>I think it depends on your habits mostly. A lot of people start to eat whatever and how much they want once their parents aren’t there to tell them what to eat anymore and they fall into an unhealthy eating pattern. But then you also have to take into account the campus. The school I’m going to in the fall has a big spread out campus with lots of hills. So people get a lot of exercise walking to classes. At orientation they said students on average lose around eight pounds when they go to the school.</p>
<p>I had a hard time at school because I am used to eating small meals every few hours, and with my schedule and the cafeteria schedule that is no longer possible. Last year I often didn’t eat anything but snacks until dinner because there was no time to go to the cafeteria and then I stuffed myself at dinner because I was starving. I think I planned my schedule a little more reasonably this year so it shouldn’t be as big of a problem.</p>
<p>My friend lost 15 pounds from the stress… gained it all back 2nd year though, haha</p>
<p>I’m commuting, so I’m planning on having a good breakfast at home, and I can either pack a lunch or try to find something healthier on campus (eh…) and either go home for dinner or something.</p>
<p>The 15 pounds is typically caused by alcohol. Even if you have only, say, 5 beers in a night, that’s about 500 calories. Wine is just as bad. People that go out a lot gain a beer gut. Work out to keep off the calories.</p>
<p>^the 15 pound gain is partially the result of an increase in alcohol consumption. </p>
<p>In general, people gain weight because they consume more calories, both in the form of alcohol and an overall lax nutritional diet ie fast food, pizza, snacks, etc… But, let’s not forget that some of the weight gain is also in the form of muscle, especially for guys because the late-teens and early-20s are prime muscle building years. Once your body stops growing vertically, you start growing horizontally.</p>
<p>Haha, I intentionally chose the dorms closest to the on-campus gym. Hoping to tone up and lose some extra weight, anyone have any good workout suggestions?</p>
<p>I intentionally chose the dorms that were up a hill from everything (and 12 minutes to the gym), so I could get continuous exercise, and I can get a good jog to warm up on my way to the gym.</p>
<p>I definitely think that I will end up losing weight (or growing taller and staying the same weight).</p>
<p>It really depends on where you are and what you do.</p>
<p>For many, they just don’t keep a check on what they eat. For others, the new environment results in a lack of exercise.</p>
<p>Personally, I ended up losing 60lb unintentionally. It was a combination of several things: the dorm food wasn’t all that appetizing (though I still got my 2500kcal/day), having to climb up a 300ft elevation to a dorm every day, getting health-conscious and choosing to eat more healthy / substantial foods, but most of all, biking. Thing is, I previously didn’t do much exercise but my 30min walk / day. However, when I got a bike, I started going everywhere with it, and before I knew it, I was casually doing 40mi rides. This caused me to burn off three times more calories than before. Weight loss was rapid, despite the fact that I started to eat more than ever. In fact, the weight loss didn’t taper off until I started to actively look for high-fat foods and gobbed down candy like no tomorrow.</p>
<p>Anyways, I think my situation is unique. Yours will be unique too.</p>
<p>Yeah, a lot of it depends on how much you eat at home. My parents rarely buy snacks or quick-to-eat foods, so when I got to college I took too much advantage of campus junk food and the ability to buy whatever food I wanted. I gained around 10 pounds or so, and I’ve lost about half of that just by being back at home. Hopefully I can lose the rest of that by eating in moderation and utilizing the gym.</p>
<p>I will say you start off being ambitious about working out…and then it dies slowly. The high preservatives in the dining hall food probably isn’t good either. For mixed drinks: use diet pop. There is now Mike’s Hard Light Lemonade. Ultra has 95 calories and 2.6 g carbs. Liquor is the best bet.</p>
<p>I lost twenty pounds during my freshman year because I had to ration my dining points. (I didn’t exercise once.) The key is to drink lots of water – it’s free and will keep you full.</p>
<p>I forgot to add our campus had a burger king, quiznos, pizzeria, and about 5 other cafeterias. Not to mention across the street there is a subway and two blocks away there is a Popeyes. Oh and we’re surrounded by a ton of mexican and chinese restaurants.</p>
<p>We also had meal plan exchanges. Free burger king, quiznos and pizza - well kind of.</p>
<p>in my experience its the girls who really pack on pounds freshman year. For guys it’s usually a gradual accumulation of fat in the later years of college, and that’s mainly for the ones who don’t workout or play sports.</p>
<p>Don’t drink…
-Soda every meal (once every few days)
-Alcohol (there’s a reason people have “beer belly”). </p>
<p>Don’t Eat
-Meat every meal (including breakfast)
-More than you usually do at home (because the temptation is there with all you can eat)</p>
<p>I didn’t follow any of those guidelines freshman year and I put up 18 pounds. This summer I’ve lost 17 pounds and nothing’s changed except my diet (home cooking FTW)</p>
<p>You can work out but the most important thing is to be cautious of your diet.</p>
i lost some in fact.</p>