Freshmen 15?
 

There is this odd urban legend that Freshmen girls put on an average of 15 pounds their first year in college.

Is there any truth to this? And how long did it take for you to lose your Freshmen 15?

I actually LOST about 15 pounds my freshman year because I am a picky eater and I lived on bagels, rice, and salad. But several of my friends did gain that extra weight. I think it comes from not having high school sports activities to keep active, eating late night snacks in the dorm, and excess consumption of empty calories in the form of alcohol.

Me too! I got food poisioning from the school's cafeteria and I was traumatized to eat there.

i lost 15 pounds too. Actually, we had a theory on my floor that the freshman 15 actually occurred because a lot of women start taking birth control when they go to college.

I too lost weight when I went to college b/c I walk so much with my classes spread out all over the place, plus the food in the dorms AND in my sorority house is nothing I'd ever eat! And I am a picky eater to begin with so w/o my mommy there to cook me stuff I specifically asked for, it was hard to gain weight. At my school they have the "Mizzou 22" not the freshman 15....talk about scary!!!! :eek:

I never lost it. My body didn't really develop till I got to college and since I graduated from HS I've gained 25 pounds.

It's okay though...everyone says I look healthier.

Yup I've lost since I've been in college too. The cycle seems to be that I'm home, gain weight. go back to school and lose wait since the food there is just sooo "tastey" :rolleyes: Riiiggght

I lost some weight instead of gaining too. I got really sick, unhappy, and was a picky eater to begin with....so since I've transferred..I've gained it back and I"m much healthier

I've never heard that it was only for the ladies...everyone was included in it.

If guys are included in it, I'd like to make a claim that it does exist...I got my freshmen 23 last year. A combination of all I cared to eat food from our house cook (whose food is fantastic), lots of beer, and at times multiple, drunken late night runs to Amigos for really greasy mexican fast food - which I proceded to eat and then pass out immediately.

During the summer I unintentionally (I was still thin as it was, even with the extra 23 pounds) I lost 15 of it, ending the summer only eight pounds heavier than the year before. That loss was mainly due to the really horrible food I had to eat while a camp counselour this summer. (I can't wait to have another whole summer full of it!!!:rolleyes:)

So far this year, I haven't weighed myself, so I have no idea what I way now.

Almost everyone I know, including myself, lost weight. There are probably loads of reasons why, but my deal was that the food in the cafeteria next to my dorm was prone to making people ill, and I stayed stressed anyway so I hardly ever ate. But sophomore year, I finally filled out a little (in high school, I was built like a praying mantis or a tobacco stick, take your pick) so I gained a few pounds, but I was glad to see it because it made my pants fit better and it got my grandmother to quit remarking on how skinny I was. :)

guys too!
 

Hey... let's at least be fair. Guys get it just as much as freshmen girls, with all the "free" frat beers going around.

Some people gain when they're living on their own for the first time, and some actually lose weight.

I wasn't thin when I started college, but I wasn't heavy. I didn't gain any considerable amount of weight the first year. I drank with the rest of them but kept it in balance.

Another thing, that I suppose goes for both guys & girls... bodies are still developing at age 18. If a freshman girl gets a bit curvier, who's to say it's not just her natural shape developing as she gets to a womanlier age? Most high school girls' bodies aren't quite at their adult shape yet. Of course, this would only apply to those who gain a reasonable number of pounds, not like 30.

Everyone I know gained about 10 lbs. our first year at college. It was no doubt from the sorority house food, the beer, the Homecoming courting desserts, the Big Sister Revealing and Initiation candy, the latenight Pita Pit and Taco Bell, and the random munching b/c someone around is always eating which makes you want to eat, too.

We lost it over the summer but when we came back for rush we started our bad habits again b/c of all the eating out during Spirit Week and Recruitment Week.

Now that we're on winter break I'm trying to be healthy again...here's to another year of weight fluctuations!

I have essentially stayed the same weight though I went down a size or two. I started working out seriously my freshman year and developed a kick ass body. Then I had my wisdom teeth out and gained 20 lbs. Eeek. Then when I got back to school I got really sick and lost it all and then some. I'm still losing a lot of weight but overall I have stayed very consistent. But most of my friends (guy and girl) gained a considerable amount of weight, some as much as 30 lbs.

That happened to me too! But I did have several friends who gained 15 or more pounds by the time our first Christmas break from college rolled around.

i think adjusting to college life will make you go either way depending on your personal physiology. miami has incredible food so i did gain a little bit of weight when i started, but of course walking all over campus helped keep it to a minimum.

once i moved into my own place and started really cooking for myself, i lost a little bit, but pretty much stayed the same. i didn't walk as much cuz i took the bus a lot. (i lived pretty far off campus) all in all my weight stayed up and i didn't really lose all the weight i gained. it's coming off now that i'm out and working out more.

shelley j
sigma k