Coming into freshman year we all hear of the dreaded freshman 15. The “freshman 15” is a known saying that stems from the fact that many students tend to gain 15 pounds during their freshman year of college. There is even a website about it! Maybe it is the increased beverage consumption or the endless amount of food you can put on your plate in a buffet style dining hall. I personally thought the freshman 15 was a myth. There are articles debunking the myth of the freshman 15. Whether it was a myth or not, I thought I would be fine. I already ate a lot of junk food before coming to college and almost never exercised, I figured that if the freshman 15 was a real thing that I would be invincible to it. Unfortunately I was not, I was shocked, depressed and just overall disgusted at myself. How could my small 4’11” frame go from 95 to 115 pounds in the short 4 months of first semester, I couldn’t believe it. I know 115 pounds does not sound like a lot, but on a small person even one pound shows.
A lot of girls are already insecure with their bodies and have trouble dealing with the changes that getting older brings. One of my friends moms told us, “Don’t worry about the weight, everyone gains weight when they become a woman”, although her words comforted me and made me feel much better about this weight gain I was still not happy. After winter break I promised myself I would try to lose the weight; it was my New Year’s Resolution of 2015. I started off by going to the gym, I went maybe once or twice and then never went again. The gym was not for me. I am just incredibly lazy. Albany is also very cold, or at least it was my freshman year. I did not want to have to walk all the way from State Tower, where I lived, and go to the gym. It was freezing outside and I just was not up for walking outside in the tundra of Albany unless I was going to a class. Having an unlimited meal plan is what ultimately hurt me. Freshman year, many of us would not dare step foot into the dining hall alone, so of course anytime anyone asked for someone to come with them, you went. Unlimited swipes into a dining hall where I can put as much food on my plate as I want and have as many servings as I wanted was a dangerous thing for me.
In order to help myself lose the weight I told myself I would only go to the dining hall for my three meals a day, I would not go extra times with friends because watching someone else eat makes most people eat more. I also said I would try to only eat the amount I think I would eat or be served if I was at home. At home you don’t get an unlimited amount, at least not in my home. Your mom makes one amount that is served for dinner. I know there is other food in the house but it is not the same as having that food displayed in front of you in a buffet. By changing my ways and only going to the dining hall a limited amount of times a day, I slowly started to lose the twenty pounds I gained freshman year. It would have gone a lot quicker if I was more motivated and went to the gym. But the most important thing is to learn how to adjust to all these changes, different dining and weight gains, and not to let them stress you out, college classes are stressful enough. I hope you can take my story and use it to you can fight off the freshman 15 or keep them, whatever works for you!
UAlbany Project MyStory 
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