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It always seems impossible until it’s done.

— Nelson Mandela

When we’re young, our lives are pretty much planned out by our parent/guardian. We get told what we can and can’t eat, the amount we should eat, and what time to even eat. It’s hard to even  remember the time of being forced to eat peas! But then, BOOM. College happens. The place where there’s freedom galore and where we get to determine when, where, and what to eat. This is also the same place where “Freshman 15” came about. 

“Some of the most common health topics students receive information on from their school are alcohol and drug use, depression and anxiety, stress reduction, and physical activity (Elflein, 2019.)”

Being a college student is hard and can be very stressful at times. It’s easy to not even pay attention to how much we’re eating on a daily basis due to us basically having a buffet at our fingertips. We all have those moments where we say “this is the day I’m going to finally start working out and eating better,” but end up giving up by the next week due to how busy our lives are. It’s easy for someone to offer tips on what we should and shouldn’t do all day long, especially without them truly being in our shoes.

Just know, you aren’t alone. There are many college students who struggle figuring themselves out as a whole, it just takes time and nothing will happen overnight. The goal through all of this is not giving up on ourselves and believing that the goals we set to not only beginning a healthy lifestyle, but a healthy lifestyle as a college student are achievable. 

How can we stay more healthy in college? How can we fight against that “Freshman 15” stereotype? Is staying “healthy” in college even possible? Why does it even matter? We’ll figure out these questions and even more as we continue on this health journey as college students. Stay tuned for more blog posts soon to come as we aim to become a healthy u n’ i.