Freshman 15 - Don't Do It!!!!

Hey friends! I am working on a blog that will "air" in a few weeks with regard to the Boston Collaborative on Food & Fitness! I got involved through the Boston Local Food Festival which will take place on 10/2/11! What a great project (both of them), but you'll have to wait for the skinny on the BCFF until the blog goes out! Anyway, I have been thinking I'd like to connect fitness into this blog without getting boring. I'm still looking for creative and fun ways to do it and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated!

But for today, I wanted to talk about an article I read on boston.com. In a recent email conversation with Amy, she asked for suggestions for a care package going to her cousin who is headed to college this weekend! Oh my, I can't believe its that time of year! Seems like yesterday I was doing the same (we won't mention how long ago that actually was)!

I randomly came across this article about avoiding the dreaded FRESHMAN 15 and thought it useful information for all of us, not just the college bound!

Here's they synop!

1)     Don't skip! Throw granola bars, cut veggies, nuts, etc. into your backpack before you leave your house! This way you're not missing meals, starving to death and then eating your face off in chicken fingers later!

2)     Save your quarters for laundry! The point here is don't eat out of the vending machines. It absolutely does not take a rocket scientist to know the stuff in those things is bad for you physically but also mentally. Learning and attention span are compromised when we're not fueling our bodies with good food!

3)     Try extracurricular activities! This is a terrific one! Colleges and Universities across the country have tons of clubs and teams to get you up and moving. Find a few and get to it! This will also make you some friends in a new environment, and don't we all agree the best thing we all took away from college was our lifelong buddies!

4)     Stock your mini-fridge with healthy items! This really explains itself. Avoid the pizza rolls and fill your fridge with veggies, fruit, lean meats! I sat across from this girl in my Womens' Studies class who always snacked on a snack size Ziploc of turkey. At the time I thought it was strange....she was in MUCH better shape than I was!

5)     Avoid late night snacking! This, in my opinion, is by far the hardest thing to avoid in college, but is VERY much what caused me to gain the Freshman 15! You're up late...ehehemmm studying....and you want to eat. If you get to that point, try to get some sleep instead. You're probably overdoing it anyway and sleep will get your brain back on track for the trecherous 8am class!

6)     Eat reasonable portions! This goes back to the snack size Ziploc. On grocery day, portion everything out in baggies so you can grab and go with your busy busy college class and socializing schedule! This kills like 14 birds with one stone!

7)     Eat meals slowly! This has never been a problem for me, but if you're like my husband, you only chew about 20% of the time in a mad dash to get on to the next thing. Don't do it! Eating too fast doesn't trigger your "full" feeling until you've already eaten way too much. Sit down and eat. Eat in class while you're "taking notes"! But be conscience of how long it takes you.

8)     Drink lots of water! Ok so the hard truth is that you're in college and you're likely drinking more beer than anything else. I'm not your mom, so I won't tell you not to do that. What I will say is in the morning instead of grabbing a soda, fill a nalgene with water! The expert in the article suggests an 8oz. glass of water before any meal stating that "one study in particular found those individuals who did so saw a 44% boost in weight loss"! Additionally, this will ultimately make those hangovers easier to manage!

9)     Be aware of WHY you're eating! If you are eating because you're stressed out, bored, homesick or something other than hungry try to be able to identify that! If you find you're eating because midterms are about to kick your butt, take a study break and head to the gym! Again with the birds and stones!

10)     Don't deprive yourself of favorite snacks, but eat them in MODERATION. So the cafeteria pizza is definitely not good for you. But if you never allow yourself any of it, you one day cave and instead of eating one slice you turn around and the whole pizza is gone! And not only have you just ingested 2 -3 days worth of calories and fat but now you also feel like crap! When you want a cookie, make sure you're not just bored, and have one...not the box!

Great article boston.com!

Hopefully this will help Amy get a healthy care package together and for all you headed off to college...Enjoy! These are the best times of your lives!!!