why gain weight in college?

I'm really curious. Aren't that when you are in college, you walk a lot from buildings to buildings? And you have control over your own food? And you are suppose to be busy?

From what I've heard, a lot of people gain weight in college because of all the food that's involved with socialising.  Most colleges require you to purchase meal plans and are usually set up so that you eat buffet-style so it makes it hard to resist over-eating or indulging.  Plus, a lot of people like to munch away while studying and also when they're with friends.

They don't call it the Freshman 15 for nothing. :p

I gained weight in college - I attributed it to the lack of sleep, bad food choices (anything that could be microwaved, hot plated, or came out of a wrapper) and overall stress.

Booze, dear... booze!!!  The heady mix of parties, late-nights, new friends, washed down with lashings of beer and then all calling into the nearest greasy spoon/kebab shop/curry house/pizza parlour for a closing time snack or three!  Couple that with the offerings at the college restaurant and a lazy reluctance to chop up a few vegetables... voila!  Arse brushing the carpet.

Well.. I gained weight back in late '06 when I started college and I walked around a fair amount, but at the same time, I wasn't paying attention to what I was eating and was stressed out, so it was a combo of lack of sleep, pizza, alcohol, soda, ice cream, cookies. It was my first time on my own and I think the case for alot of college students is that this sense of freedom allows them to think that they can do whatever they want without considering the consequences. You know, it's the first time for some that it's not all about what's for dinner at home or conventional school hours.

Alcohol and the munchies! I watched a girl get drunk and eat an entire order of mozzarella sticks and french fries AND AN ENTIRE GIGANTIC TURKEY SUB

If you're aware of your choices, college can be an easy time to lose or maintain.

Plus it's around the time that the metabolism slows. Our bodies are still growing but not as much as they were when we were 16. Plus by the time we graduate we will be regular adult women with consistently slowing metabolisms! 

I found myself starting to gain weight and a few days ago started on a path to reverse it by religious counting my calories and not eating junk food. But the all you can eat soft serve dispenser, freshly baked cookies, and greasy pizza on my meal plan can be mighty tempting.

Sticking to the salad bar and the vegetarian entrees these days :)

Many college students are between the ages of 18 and 22 so they are still growing into their adult bodies.

yes i gained about 10 lbs first year due to the partying and LATE NIGHT SNACKING.

We would eat dinner at the cafeteria, then we would go and use our meal plan at the store at like 11 pm and snack on chips.

Then the weekend involved ALCOHOL, and second dinners at like 3 am.

If I know about calorie count back then, boy would I have cut down!

I'm actually finding it easy to eat well in college.  It's not easy to get healthy food - you really have to look up what you're eating, but as long as you're aware, you can do really well.  The problem most people have is they'd rather have the fried chicken over the grilled, the bean burrito over the salad - and it's all available and often much less expensive than healthy options.

Oh, I gained a good 20-25 lbs my first two years of college because I had NO IDEA I was gaining so much weight.

Reasons:

1. I worked out a ton and assumed that gave me the ability to eat alfredo, pizza and tacos everyday. WRONG.

2. Wore sweatpants pretty much everyday, so I had no clue how much I was expanding. By golly, these jeans shrunk *again!*

3. Never once stepped on a scale to keep myself in check.

4. Terrible sleeping habits.

1.  alcohol--look at the calories of a bottle of beer

2.  Buffet-style eating at the dorms--not only is there vast amounts of food that you have already paid for through a meal plan, you have no control of what goes into it.  The pasta is smothered in cheese and butter, the fries are deep-fried and not baked, the fruit is few and far between, and even the salad dressing is full-fat.

3.  Stress-eating--for the first time in your life, you are trying to balance a social calendar and more difficult academics without parental supervision.  That leads to quite a bit of procrastination and a lot of late-night studying, which leads to late nite ice cream, chips, fast food runs, and/or pizza. 

4.  Loss of P.E., high school sports, etc. 

5.  General Busyness--I'm in college right now, and I'm working about 25 hours a week, going to school full-time, in four student groups and volunteering at two places.  I'm taking four upper division science classes and by the end of the year, I need to have taken at least one, but preferrably two standardized tests and start prepping for senior apps, all the while trying to maintian some semblance of a social life.  At this rate, I am literally sceduled from the moment i wake up to the moment my head hits the pillow.  There isn't a lot of room for counting calories, packing lunch every morning, going to the gym, or cooking dinner.  It sucks, but that's college :)

well my school did have a mandatory gym class for first years...needless to say, it did no good. parties, alcohol, late night snacking, munches, all take their toll on your body.

but in addition to all the other reasons why weight gain in college is so common, is stress! Stress causes you to eat more, and even if you still ate normal portions, stress suppresses your metabolism, which in turn makes you store the extra cals as fat. Lack of sleep also attributes to that....

The reason I'm asking is because when I think about it, living in a dorm in high school is the same. I can't cook, and forced to eat cafeteria food most of the time. I have no fridge. I barely exercise (2-3 times a week and that is it.) because I study a lot and do science research. When My town's public transportation is sucks so I'm stuck in the dorm because I don't have car. Guess what I do.....EAT + SNACK!!!

Now I know a bit of how college healthy life could be., and if I keep myself busy and travel without alcohol (I don't drink and VERY refuse to drink except wine once in a while)...I may figure out a better way to manage my eating life a bit better than what I have to do here in my boarding school...Thanks!

I did not gain in college.  I was actually at my slimmest then.  Now I am  the mom of 2 college kids.  One thing that I notice is that the high school students that are most active in extracurricular activities - including sports - are more likely to go on to college.  But only a very small portion of them play sports in college. 

Then as freshmen they are just starting to find their way in this new place while at the same time getting their first taste of freedom.   That means involvement is down, party time increases and the primary source of vegetable matter is hops.

Is it possible to have fridge in the dorm room? Any access to kitchen in college? Any way to keep healthy? I'm very miserable with my boarding school because when I have free times. I want to eat and some times, I have the choices of junk. Now, when free time combined with eating junk... = weight gain.

 I just hope there are ways to keep busy in college and ways to keep healthy in college.

Original Post by hawkeyegal:

Oh, I gained a good 20-25 lbs my first two years of college because I had NO IDEA I was gaining so much weight.

Reasons:

1. I worked out a ton and assumed that gave me the ability to eat alfredo, pizza and tacos everyday. WRONG.

2. Wore sweatpants pretty much everyday, so I had no clue how much I was expanding. By golly, these jeans shrunk *again!*

3. Never once stepped on a scale to keep myself in check.

4. Terrible sleeping habits.

Aaaaahhhahahah the shrinking jeans! SO true!! It's amazing how much all my jeans shrunk :P

Original Post by charming_imy27:

Is it possible to have fridge in the dorm room? Any access to kitchen in college? Any way to keep healthy? I'm very miserable with my boarding school because when I have free times. I want to eat and some times, I have the choices of junk. Now, when free time combined with eating junk... = weight gain.

 

 I just hope there are ways to keep busy in college and ways to keep healthy in college.

Absolutely!  You'll want one with a GOOD freezer, though, so you can have frozen treats.  Ours leaks all over, and doesn't freeze anything except the celery underneath it.  Yes.  UNDERNEATH.  I don't know either.  But yeah you can definitely have a fridge!  Buy a mini one with as much space as you think you'll need and you'll be set.  It's a lifesaver for me - I wouldn't eat at all if I had to go get milk every time I needed it!

If you don't play sport in college...can you still be active? What do they mean when they say "active". How much activities would define this term?

Well I gained about 65 pounds my first year of college. I just realized this summer that I needed to turn things around and lost about 20 pounds. Since this semester I put about 15 of those 20 pounds back on. Why? You meet new people that eat food at different times than you and you eat with them, all-you-can eat unhealthy cafeteria food, alcohol, late night ordering, stress, and lack of sleep.

I know plenty of people that do not gain weight but everyone gains and loses differently. The hardest part I find is saying no to eating out at night when all your friends are ordering pizza or chinese and to eat one dinner in the cafeteria instead of one serving of everything like lots of kids do. It's all trial and error.

And the deal with the fridge, you can keep one, my college puts one in each room. However, you have to share it with someone and most people I know don't have the money to stock it. Plus who wants to cook by their own when everyone else is getting their dinner in the cafeteria.

its cheaper to eat KD & ramen noodles ;D

dorm fridge--if you have the space and money to get your own fridge, definately do so, but realize that mini fridges aren't as cool as normal ones, and generally they're so small all you can fit in there is a gallon of milk, fruit, and maybe some leftovers/bottled water.  i had one freshman year, and it was horrible.  Depending on your college you might also have a kitchenette either in your room, on your floor, or in your dorm hall somewhere.  check with your potential colleges to see which dorms have them and rank your choices accordingly. 

as for staying active, there's always intramural sports, working out, etc, but again, fitting it into your schedule is a b*** :)

If you're used to dorm style living, and have really good self control, and dont' succumb to peer pressure, it's definately possible to not gain the weight