Being a Healthy College Student: How to Lose that Freshman Fifteen

When I moved from my small town atmosphere, in Brockport, NY, to Daemen College, and the hustle and bustle of the Buffalo, NY area, I faced some brand new challenges. I went from walking - sometimes, three miles in a day - just to get somewhere or do something, to walking a maximum distance of five minutes to get across campus. I went from working in a library ten hours a week, complete with constant movement and lifting stacks of books, to spending the majority of my time here, at Daemen, on my butt and checking my email, playing a game, or reading my textbooks.

I don't know about you, but I definitely gained weight moving here. I'm now on a track to lose it, and the quest is by no means easy. After all, think of all the things working against me: a substantial amount of reading for my classes; a work study job that takes my afternoons away; an all-you-can-eat buffet three times a day; complete with oversized servings, an abundance of fattening foods - ice cream, soda, pizza, to name a few; stress of a new environment; essays to write... In fact, the only thing that worked for me happened to be the stairs in my residence hall. And I just took the elevator my first semester.

So, what can we, as brand new college students, do to maintain our health? Well, most colleges have gyms, don't they? Check out the hours! Thirty minutes a day - say, a five minute warm up, twenty minute exercise period, and a five minute cool down - boosts endorphins, increases metabolism, burns fat, lowers your heart rate, and helps you deal with stress more effectively. Taking a walk around your entire campus - from end to end and back. That will burn some serious calories as well. What about taking a walk to the nearest restaurant or fast food joint? Just pick something healthy. Look up nutrition information about a food before you eat it.