This week, I am going to be dedicating my blog to the freshman 15. Firstly I see it as a hot topic and one that is rather controversial so over here I’m going to try and get some things cleared out.

Classes have just resumed for the spring semester, many students are new, many are still in highschool and wondering if the freshman 15 is myth or fact, and then, there are of course those of us who have been through the first semester of college and already know what to expect.

As a general rule, stereotypes exist for a reason and from my experience here, I can assure you that freshman weight gain is no myth. Although I have very healthy habits and have maintained a good frame, a lot of my friends have gained a couple of unwanted pounds whilst some others I know have gained over 20lbs. 20lbs in 4 months is no joke, and when I ask them how it happened, they answer that it all happened so fast they did not realize how it happened and now all of them are trying (often blindly) to shed the weight off.

Of course there are exceptions, and some people actually end up losing weight when they arrive at college (although that isn’t necessarily a good thing either), but on average reports say that the average weight change in freshman year is an additional 5-8 lbs and often times they keep on piling on the weight throughout college so by the time they graduate, they have indeed gained over fifteen pounds of unwanted fat and sometimes much more. So before going to college, remember that your lifestyle is going to change and a change to your habits will have to be made in order to stay in top shape for years to come. Here are the primary causes for unwanted weight gain in college.

Cause 1: New Eating Habits

We left our parents back home and are introduced to a freedom that we have never experienced before. Food is readily available whenever we want it and nobody is going to stop us from eating what we want to eat when we want to eat it.

Cause 2: Eating socially and studiously

Although both scenes take place in a completely different atmosphere, both are generally unhealthy methods of consuming food because when eating socially the most common place to go is the fast food joints and hit the French fries. Eating while studying though may be equally bad for you because you are often not aware of what you are putting in your mouth and even worse cannot tell when you are starting to get full and may just be eating in order to get some extra energy so you don’t fall asleep whilst studying.

Cause 3: Snacking on the wrong foods for the wrong reasons

In and of itself, snacking is actually not a bad thing when done right, the problem occurs when you snack because of your emotions, this often happens due to boredom, sadness, depression, anger, stress and lack of energy. In addition, the food people snack on while being emotionally stressed is very often unhealthy and filled with simple carbohydrates and excessive amounts of fat.

Cause 4: Binge drinking

In many cases, college and drinking come hand in hand and in many cases it is inevitable that you will drink in order to relax and enjoy yourself. Back in highschool drinking was still very much part of weekend activities but now that you’re in college, the opportunity is there for you to drink every hour if you so wish.

Cause 5: Reduced physical activity

Back in highschool, it was much easier to be on one of the school’s athletic teams and that generally kept us fit. Some of us even took P.E or gym classes, but now that we’re in college our priorities have changed and representing your school has reached a whole new level of competition which gives less incentive to stay physically active in college.

Cause 6: We’ve stopped growing.

By the age of eighteen, our bones, muscles and height no longer increase naturally in size and no more huge growth spurts can be forecasted. For this reason, our metabolism may have taken a plunge that means that when we eat, the weight won’t go to our muscles, bones or height but straight to our bellies and thighs.

Come back on Wednesday to hear how to deal with these six causes and tackle the freshman fifteen.