5 WAYS TO AVOID “FRESHMAN 15” (week 4)

Hi Guys!

If you read the previous blog, you will have an idea of what ‘freshman 15’ is and the top 5 causes of it. If you don’t know what it is or haven’t read the previous blog, CLICK HERE.

This blog will reveal the top 5 ways to avoid “freshman15”.

After being in an American university for four years, I have learned a lot about this myth. As a student, I have taken a couple of on-campus jobs. However, the job experience that inspires me to write this post is being a student worker at our campus bistro or cafeteria.

The 5 ways are recommended for a typical freshman who lives in the dorms, has a meal plan, maybe has a part-time job and or plays sports.

5 WAYS TO AVOID “FRESHMAN 15”

1.WATER- replace energy drinks and alcohol with water.

 

2. REST- Current students generally complain about how they never get time to rest or sleep. However, most of them never mention how late they go to bed. Once you get to college, you begin to appreciate nap time and wish you could turn back the hands of time and take all the naps you missed as a toddler. As much as you can afford. Find time to ret in-between your day. I call them ‘power-naps’, 30-45 minutes of sleep can make a big difference in your day. Lastly, try to go to bed early.

 

3. EAT BREAKFAST- The truth is that college students typically don’t wake up on time, except they have an early morning class. However, to avoid ‘freshman15’, you need to take breakfast seriously. It is not the meal to skip. You might want to skip the kind of dinner you eat by 2 a.m. if you have to skip a meal.

 

4. CHOOSE HEALTHIER OPTIONS- Stay away from food that goes into the deep fryer. Try to eat more salad and snack with fresh fruit and vegetables.

 

5. MAKE HEALTHY DORM-FRIENDLY FOOD- On our campus, each dorm room has a fridge and microwave. You can store fruit and vegetables in your fridge so you have something healthy to snack on at 2 a.m. when you are starving. Also use your microwave to make healthy meals, including oatmeal for breakfast.

 

To keep track of your food intake, my nutrition professor recommended that you use the ‘Super Tracker’ on MYPLATE.GOV to track what you eat. It will help you measure calories and generally show you what you are having too much or too little of.

Here is a link to SUPER TRACKER

I hope this has been helpful to you, please feel free to share in the comment section, any other ways to avoid ‘Freshman 15’ you know.

Thank you for reading.

… Coming up on the next blog: HOW TO MAKE A HEALTHY BREAKFAST IN YOUR DORM ROOM