If you have ever found yourself pondering this question, you are not alone. Millions of freshmen across the nation struggle with weight gain each year as they adjust to college life, and quite often this weight gain comes as an unpleasant surprise as they return home and step on the scale at Thanksgiving or Christmas…
So in this time when college weight gain has become almost as inevitable as term-end finals how do you, the college student, know if you are gaining the freshman fifteen?
1. Have the contents of your diet changed since entering college? Calorie-laden cafeteria food, greasy fast food, and cheesy pizzas often become staples in the diet of a college student. When you lived at home chances are that your parents served well-balanced, nutritious meals. Once arriving at college, however, your diet can skyrocket in extra fat and calories resulting in weight gain.
2. Have you been eating more since entering college? Buffet-style cafeterias and late-night snacks increase the total calories that you eat each day. When you consider the fact that one pound equals 3,500 calories, an extra 500 calories each day will be an extra pound gained each week.
3. Has your activity level decreased since entering college? Hectic class schedules, part-time jobs, and social activities often dominate your days, leaving no time for the gym. You may have played on a sports team in High School or participated in some other organized activity that now has no place in your schedule. This decrease in activity will end up showing around your waistline.
Did you answer yes to one or more of the above questions? If so, then chances are that you are on your way to gaining the Freshman Fifteen. But wait! You don’t have to follow in the footsteps of the millions of college freshmen who gain this unwanted weight each year. By making yourself aware of the causes of this traditional weight gain you have already won half of the battle.
About the Author: Diana Keuilian, Certified Personal Trainer, and author of “Avoid The Freshman Fifteen”, has a proven method for avoiding college weight gain.
Students today are faced with the serious reality of unwanted weight gain as they enter college. A recent study by Cornell University found that, on average, college freshmen gain about 0.5 pounds a week…
This is almost 11 times more than the average weight gain among 17- and 18-year olds and almost 20 times more than the average weight gain among American adults! In the face of such staggering statistics, two obvious questions arise: 1) Why are college students gaining weight at such an alarming rate? 2) How can college weight gain be avoided?
Q: Why are college students gaining weight at such an alarming rate?
A: There are many different specifics that lead a student to gain weight in college, but they can be summed up into three main categories:
An increase in Calories: College life encourages an increase in the caloric intake of students. College is filled with social events and social events usually equal FOOD! Most college cafeterias serve their food buffet style, and when given access to unlimited amounts of food most people automatically overeat. Fast food, while laden with calories, is cheap so it appeals to the budget of a college student. Studying for long hours often leads to snacking for hours. Blended coffee drinks and smoothies are often staples in a college student’s diet even though these items often pack more calories than a regular meal.
Decrease in Activity: When students enter college most of them leave organized sports behind them. These students that were used to practicing five or more times a week for hours at a time are now left with no accountability to be active. Couple this with the hectic schedule that most college students deal with, and it begins to make sense why most incoming freshmen don’t even make time to find the campus gym, let alone visit it regularly!
Metabolism Killers: College students are notorious for crashing their metabolism by poorly managing their diets. This occurs when a student eats too few meals and ends up eating extra-large meals once or twice a day instead of proportioned meals throughout the day. A common metabolism killer of college students is skipping breakfast, the most important meal of the day as it starts one’s metabolism up in the morning. Eating late at night is another classic metabolism killer of college students.
College weight gain
Q: How can college weight gain be avoided?
A: The first step in avoiding weight gain is to be aware of the things that cause it. Couple that with the following three suggestions of proven ways to avoid weight gain, and you are looking at a plan of success!
Set a Goal: The best way to ensure that you don’t become the next college weight gain statistic is to make it your goal not to gain weight. Be aware of the changes to your lifestyle once you enter college, and make a conscious effort to only allow healthy changes to occur. Post your goal where you can view it every day and periodically check your progress by weighing yourself.
Practice Nutritious Eating: Be aware of the pitfalls of college eating habits and concentrate on eating nutritious, well-balanced meals. Avoid fried foods and those high in calories. Eat as many fresh vegetables and fruits as you can, and practice portion control while roaming the cafeteria.
Join an Exercise Program: Whether you join an intramural sports team, enroll in PE, or attend an aerobics class, the bottom line is that you need to be active in order to ward off the freshman fifteen. Find an activity that you enjoy and consistently do it. You should be exercising for a minimum of half an hour three times each week. A great way to stay consistent is to build accountability with a friend.
In Conclusion
Armed with an informed game plan and some effort, any college student can avoid weight gain. You don’t have to settle for depressing weight gain as you navigate through the most exciting time of your life! You deserve the body of your dreams.
Author:
Diana Keuilian, Certified Personal Trainer, and author of “Avoid The Freshman Fifteen”, has a proven method for avoiding college weight gain.
Identify the Problem and Find a Solution to Your Child’s Weight Gain.
If you have recently found yourself fretting over your child’s waistline, you are not alone. The youth of today are fatter than ever before, and parents are starting to panic. Why are our kids so big, and what should we do about it?
Childhood obesity has been described as an epidemic. It puts our children’s health at risk, making them more susceptible to problems involving their cardiovascular systems, endocrine systems, and even their mental health. Type 2 diabetes mellitus, depression, and low self-esteem are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the problems looming over the heads of our overweight children.
It is ironic that both the problem and the solution to this heavy problem boil down to one simple equation. Energy In vs. Energy Out. When more energy is consumed than is utilized, the result is fat storage. In short, our kids eat too much and do too little.
Energy In
The Problem: Parents today are busier than ever before, navigating through hectic schedules with convenient fast-food restaurants lurking on every corner. Our kids are eating more fried, processed, and sugary foods than we did as children due mainly to the convenience factor. These foods are laden with excessive calories that result in weight gain.
The Solution: Take time to evaluate your children’s diet. Do they eat three balanced meals a day? Do they eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day? Are they limited in their servings of fried, processed, and sugary foods? Avoid buying sugar-filled snacks while grocery shopping, fill your cart with fresh, healthy snacks instead. Make time to plan family meals so that you don’t find yourself in another drive-thru.
Energy Out
The Problem: Computers, video games, and satellite T.V. are our children’s latest and greatest toys. Who has time to play outside when you are about to beat the hardest level, or your favorite show is about to start? Our kids participate in less physical activity and are more sedentary than any generation before.
The Solution: Limit the time your children spend on sedentary activities, such as TV and video games. Sign your kids up on a local sports team so that they can run and be active with other kids. Take the whole family to the park on a weekend instead of gathering in front of the TV.
As a parent, it is your unique responsibility to teach your children the healthy habits that lead to good health. Children who are obese have a greater chance of remaining obese into adulthood, thus greatly increasing the likelihood of serious health problems. Talk to your children about their eating habits, and activity levels, informing them of good choices versus bad choices. Make it a family effort to start eating healthier and increase physical activities, and you will be pleasantly surprised with the results!
Diana Keuilian, author, ACE-certified Personal Trainer, and co-founder of HitechTrainer.com offers online personal training and nutrition programs that fit your budget and schedule. Whether your goal is to lose weight, firm, and tone, or build muscle, HitechTrainer.com will build a custom-designed program just for you.
Quick Tips for Increased Muscle Tone, Faster Fat Burning, and Energy Levels Like a 9-Year-Old!
So many people are talking about how slow their metabolism is and why they need to start taking the latest diet supplement scam yet they don’t even understand how the human metabolism works. So before I even go into how to speed yours up, I want to first go over some of the basics…
What is metabolism?
Although there are many scientific ways for me to explain it, and I could make it seem really confusing like most of the so-called experts do, I won’t. I’m going to give you my extremely simple and easy-to-understand definition…
metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories to sustain life
I should also note that your body, yes yours, burns calories 24 hours a day, every day – regardless of whether or not you work out. Remember that your body needs energy all the time, even while you’re asleep and that is why skipping meals is the absolute worst thing you can do if your goal is to lose weight (body fat).
Before we go any further let’s talk about what affects metabolism…
What affects metabolism?
What do you think has the biggest impact on your metabolism? Activity levels? Your Thyroid? Age?
WRONG! WRONG! and WRONG! Activity levels, Thyroid function, and age do affect metabolism but not nearly as much as…
Any idea? It’s muscle tissue! The more muscle you have the more calories you burn regardless of how active you are, how old you are, etc. It’s live tissue and it’s there working for you and burning calories 24 hours a day – each and every day!
Here’s a list of some of the factors affecting metabolism in order of greatest impact to least:
· Muscle tissue (you already know why this is on the top of the list)
· Meal frequency (the longer you go between meals the more your metabolism slows down to conserve energy)
· Activity level (important but doesn’t make any difference if you don’t match your eating to your expenditure)
· Food choices (ex. low-fat diets tend to result in poor hormone production which leads to a slower metabolism)
· Hydration (over 70% of bodily functions take place in water – not enough water causes all your systems to slow down and unnecessary stress)
· Genetics (some people have higher metabolisms than others – you can’t change genetics but you can still win the battle!)
· Hormone production and function (think you have a slow thyroid? It’s not likely – before you go blame it on the thyroid first stabilize your blood sugar and throw in some progressive exercise 2-3 times each week)
· Stress (stress also can slow metabolism by placing extra stress and strain on numerous systems. Plus, many people tend to overeat when “stressed out”)
Why does it slow down?
How many times have you heard someone say, “As soon as you hit 30 your metabolism slows down”? Maybe you’ve said it. I know I hear it all the time and I got tired of hearing it so I did a little research and found that the metabolism does NOT slow down significantly due to aging but DOES due to a lack of muscle. And, you don’t lose muscle quickly due to aging either but due to a decrease or lack of physical stress.
So, the major cause of a slowing metabolism is threefold…
1. you lose muscle due to the lack of physical stress
2. Your body cannibalizes muscle when it needs energy but you won’t supply any because you are “dieting” and skipping meals
3. Your activity levels tend to decrease as you get older
So now that we know the problem… what’s the solution? Address those 3 issues! I’ve found through years of experience helping hundreds of people, that increasing your metabolism and getting rid of that excess body fat can oftentimes be quite easy! Yet you’ll hear of all these experts telling you how hard it is and why you need to buy their new diet program, supplement, or fitness contraption.
It’s not that hard, it doesn’t have to be confusing, and you don’t need any of that crap! All you need is an understanding of how your body works and the willingness to make some small changes.
Here’s my basic formula for jump-starting your metabolism:
Step 1 – Stop the storage of new fat
It doesn’t make any sense to start an exercise program if you just end up adding new fat later that day. This is a problem that is very common among people who start an exercise in an attempt to lose weight.
See the problem is this…
We don’t get fat due to a lack of exercise – we get fat because we supply the body with more calories than it needs at a given time. So the solution has nothing to do with exercise – it’s all about your eating! And I’m not saying you have to eat a low-fat, super clean, and healthy diet consisting of salad and tofu only. You can still eat the foods you like IF you can give the body just the amount it needs.
The key is to give the body the energy it needs, but just that amount and not a bunch extra, because extra is extra, is extra, it doesn’t matter what it’s from. Salad can be stored as fat, celery can be stored as fat – if it results in extra it can be stored as fat. I should also note that not all extra energy is stored in the fat cells and I will touch on that later.
So forget about trying to burn off any fat unless you can first stop storing new fat! Again, you do that by matching your eating to your activity level. This means small, balanced meals or snacks every 2-3 hours and the amount of calories in each feeding should depend on how active you are at that time of day.
Step 2 – Attack the existing fat
This requires a combination approach consisting of stable blood sugar/energy levels and progressive cardiovascular/aerobic exercise and strength training.
We already talked about how important stable blood sugar and energy levels are and how to match your eating to your activity level so now I’d like to cover the exercise part of the equation.
In order for the exercise to even be worth your time you must be sure it’s progressive. Just because you run on the treadmill for 30 minutes three times a week, that doesn’t mean your body has to burn off that unwanted body fat! You have to force the body to make changes and improvements and the ONLY way to do that is to consistently provide a stimulus or stress that is greater than what the body is used to.
Here are some general guidelines on how you can make your exercise progressive and productive:
Strength training
· Change exercises frequently (every 2-4 weeks)
· Increase resistance
· Perform more reps
· Slower reps
· Advanced techniques
Cardiovascular training
· Increase speed/resistance
· Perform intervals
· Increase distance traveled
· Cross-train by performing numerous activities
For more specific techniques please check out all the great articles on metabolism and fitness in the free resources section of my website here: http://www.achieve-fitness.com/free_resources.htm I should also say that it is extremely important that you have a well-thought-out and detailed plan to follow. You can’t just say “ok, now I know what to do” and then try a little of this here and a little of that there. You need a roadmap. If you are serious about achieving your weight loss and fitness goals I highly recommend you get the help of a professional. Whether that means one on one, personal fitness training, or just a do-it-yourself fitness plan – your chances of success are much greater.
In closing, please remember, it doesn’t have to be confusing. Hopefully, this information has shown you how easy it can be if you know what you are doing.
About the Author Jesse Cannone, Germantown, MD, USA Jesse Cannone is a certified personal fitness trainer, post-rehab specialist, nutritionist, and national fitness presenter. He is also the author of Burn Fat FAST and A Bride’s Guide To Fast Fitness + Weight Loss in addition to many other popular fitness articles.
I was stuck in a self-defeating cycle! I felt out-of-control with food! I was either overeating or dieting. In either mode, I felt I was never good enough. I had willpower and stick-to-itiveness in many other areas in my life. So why couldn’t I apply that same resolve to my eating habits?…
I wasted so much time, energy, and money. I was obsessed with my weight. Living like that was miserable. Today, I understand that weight was not the real problem. It was actually a symptom. The real problem was that I was an “emotional eater”.
Emotional Eaters use food to manage feelings. We use food to self-soothe. People who have struggled with it, and the professionals who treat it, call it by many different names; compulsive overeating, emotional eating, and food addiction. No matter what it’s called, people USE food because food works!
1. Food works as a tension reliever Both eating food and thinking about food work as distractions from uncomfortable feelings. Being food-focused takes the edge off any feeling that a person would rather not feel or tolerate (boredom, stress, anxiety, anger, loneliness, etc.).
For example…You’re feeling bored. Suddenly you find yourself thinking about the ice cream in the freezer. As soon as you start to think about the ice cream, you are no longer focused on feeling bored.
Food and food thoughts can be used in reaction to and as a defense against any intense feeling or stressful life situation. The use of food to manage mood becomes a self-reinforcing habit. (Today, scientists are also focused on the biology & brain chemistry of overeating. There may also be many physiological reasons why we keep turning to food even when it feels self-defeating to do so!)
2. Emotional Eating happens on a continuum Emotional eating is normal. We all celebrate with food. When something sad occurs, friends and neighbors arrive with cakes and casseroles. It’s only when emotional eating begins to have impact on one’s emotional and/or physical well-being, and it’s used as a person’s primary strategy for mood regulation, that it becomes a problem. When eating becomes a primary coping strategy, it greatly impacts a person’s quality of life. At the most extreme point on the emotional eating continuum, there may be a diagnosable eating disorder present –such as bulimia or binge eating disorder-and often, clinical depression as well.
How to avoid emotional eating
3. Here’s how food works as a mood regulator:
First, an emotional eater experiences an uncomfortable feeling. For example…You just had a fight with a family member and you’re feeling really angry!
Next, you have a FOOD THOUGHT; and you find yourself reaching for a bag of chips or cookies. (You may or may not be conscious of when or why you are having a food thought.) Once you are focused on the chips, you are no longer focused on how angry you feel. The use of food as a distraction works…
You eat the chips, warding off the anger for a little while. Then, the anger comes back. Now, in addition to the anger, an emotional overeater has to deal with the guilt and shame he/she feels every time he or she eats chips (or any other food that he or she has labeled “forbidden”).
4. This is the self-defeating cycle–the trap for an emotional eater. Until you develop healthier coping strategies, and you overcome the “good food vs. bad food” beliefs, the only way to avoid the guilt and the shame that results from emotional overeating–is more emotional overeating! Every time we swear we’ll be “good” on a diet today, and then turn back to food for comfort, we feel like we have “failed”. Then, to “stuff down” our frustration, or anger, or desperation, we turn back to food.
5. So, what can you do if Emotional Eating is a problem? Make a conscious effort to become more aware of how and why you may be using food. Develop new skills for mood regulation. If you need support to do so, find appropriate professional help (find a class, hire a Coach or a Licensed Psychotherapist). The focus should be on self-care and improved emotional and physical well-being–eating well and being fit–not on dieting and weight loss. Remember, dieting is a trap for an emotional eater. Dieting just leads to more emotional eating.
About the Author: Ellen Shuman, Hyde Park-Cincinnati, OH info@aweighout.com http://www.aweighout.com Ellen Shuman is the founder and Exec. Director of the WellCentered Eating Disorder Treatment Programs & www.aweighout.com, which conducts Phone Coaching & Groups about Emotional Eating to people worldwide. A Peabody/Emmy Award winning journalist, Shuman entered the wellness field in 1992 following an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Today, she speaks nationally on the subjects of emotional eating, body image & size-ism.
Children are our future and we as parents need to help them attain their highest potential. If we want to have a strong and healthy future.
Today’s diet is high in simple carbohydrates, sugar, and fat. Soft drinks, cakes, candy, and junk food are constantly bombarding our families, it seems to be their daily diet…
Statistics show that heart disease is showing up at a younger age. Diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions, asthma is becoming a common occurrence. People are beginning to look at these as normal. Well, it is far from normal!
A major contributing factor to these diseases is obesity. So what is a parent to do: the first thing we must do is to educate ourselves.
Here are 10 ways to Prevent Obesity
Be an example Children learn from their parents, the first thing you as a parent must do is to show your children that you are willing to change.
Do a Kitchen Clean-up Get rid of all foods that have refined flour, or sugar in them and replace them with whole foods such as whole grains, whole sugars for example raw sugar, honey, or stevia, and foods with as few chemical additives as possible
Replace soft drinks, and highly sugared snacks, with healthy alternatives. Be creative. Limit sugar intake to 10% of your daily diet.
Limit your dietary fat intake to less than 30% of your total calories, saturated fat should be less than 10%. Avoid all trans fatty acids, such as hydrogenated fats.
Exercise, exercise. It doesn’t matter what you do. Be it team sports, walking, running, hiking, or tennis. Just get your body moving.
Consume at least five daily servings of fresh raw fruits and vegetables, especially dark orange or green vegetables and citrus fruits. Six servings of wholegrains and a least 3-4 calcium-rich foods, and make sure you get plenty of dietary fiber.
Try to have 6 small nutrient-dense meals a day, rather than 3 large meals. Do not eat after 8 pm. Avoid repeated unsuccessful attempts at weight loss (crash dieting).
Include a food supplement, high in vitamins and minerals.
Consume at least 2000 calories of high-nutrient foods Select low-nutrient foods periodically, maybe once a week, as a Sunday. But your daily diet should consist of high-quality foods.
Drink at least 6 8oz. glasses of pure, filtered water a day. Water is the best cleanser.
If you follow this advice, you will not only be preventing obesity but will also: improve resistance to colds and infections. reduce the risk of developing heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis, increased resistance to stress maintain a feeling of well-being, help prevent premature aging increase energy to enjoy life, and improve emotional and mental health.
About the Author Heidi Zator, momfamilyhealth@yahoo.ca Heidi’s love of nutrition and her family helps her to write useful and informative resources. Heidi cares about your family’s health.
The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.
