Lighten the college load

You can pound away at the freshman 15 over the holidays

The Indianapolis Star, November 21, 2006

COURTENAY EDELHART

The holidays are approaching, and families with college students coming home for winter break could be in for a shock when they see their children again.

College doesn't just swell your brain. The rest of you tends to swell, too, thanks to all-you-can-eat cafeterias, heavy drinking and the snacking that fuels all-night study sessions.
Brittany Hendrix should know. The Marian College junior packed on 30 pounds her freshman year. She lost it all the following summer, but her weight has fluctuated ever since. This year, she moved from a residence hall to a campus apartment in part so she could cook her own meals.

"I'm finally learning to cook healthy," said Hendrix, 21, originally from Hobart. "My roommate is a health fanatic, so that helps."

The famed "freshman 15" weight gain is not inevitable. There are lots of strategies for staying trim that don't take a lot of time or money. And yes, you can start during the holidays, insists Robyn Flipse, a registered dietitian and co-author of "Fighting the Freshman Fifteen," (Three Rivers Press, $9.95).

Flipse concedes that the holidays are tough, especially in the context of returning to excited relatives after having been away from home for the first time.

"Families have all kinds of ideas about deprivation. They think their child is starving, being at school with no home cooking," she said. "They've missed their kids, and they tend to cater to them a lot more than they did in the months before they left for school."

It's silly to attempt to keep holiday fare fully at bay, Flipse said. Odds are you'll fail, anyway. The key is portion control.

"Go ahead and eat a little," she said. "Just don't go crazy. And when you get back to school, get into some kind of fitness regimen and healthy lifestyle."

College students are often hard-pressed to find time to exercise, but they can work it in, said Daphne Oz, a 20-year-old Princeton University junior and author of "The Dorm Room Diet," (Newmarket, $16.95).

Hook up with a friend for regular workouts, she suggested.

"If you were originally going to take a coffee break with a friend, ask that friend to meet you at the gym, instead," Oz said. "That way you still get the socialization."

It's also helpful to plan ahead of time to have healthful foods to snack on during study breaks, she said. "Buy soy crisps, a couple of hard fruits like pears and apples; and vitamin C packets mixed with water give you a lot of energy without all the sugar of the energy drinks."
Andrea Hite is an 18-year-old freshman at Ball State University. She carries a full load of classes and still manages to run regularly and teach a fitness class six times a week.
The former high school cross-country and track star comes from an active family, and her relatives will keep her motivated over the upcoming holiday breaks. She's already signed up to run a 5K over Thanksgiving, and two more over Christmas.
"There's always time to exercise if you're motivated," Hite said. "Start with where you're comfortable, even if it's just crunches in your dorm room."

Mary Luisi, 19, a sophomore at the University of Indianapolis, gained 7 pounds her freshman year, but she has since lost most of it.

She finds it difficult to block out time for regular workouts at the university's many fitness centers. Instead, Luisi tries to build exercise into her normal routine by taking stairs instead of elevators, and walking whenever possible instead of driving.

And she'll be restraining herself over the holidays.

"We make a lot of cookies, and there are usually lots of treats from neighbors," she said. "I'm a big advocate of portion control. I'll be eating some of those, but I just won't get seconds."