Does the Freshman 15 Really Exist or Is it Just a Myth?

Going into college as a freshman, everyone warns you about the freshman 15 and how unavoidable it is. People that are very aware and cautious of what they eat are definitely the ones that fear this the most. Personally, I like to watch what I eat and workout. I told myself I would not get it.

 

To my surprise, I didn’t even have to try and make an effort to avoid it because I found myself not even having time to eat anymore and if I did eat, it was maybe an actual meal a day. Both my roommate and I found ourselves having lost weight instead of gaining and made us think, “Does the freshman 15 even exist?”

 

To answer my own question, I think it definitely does to some extent, especially for people who find themselves often feeling stressed out, not being mindful of what they’re eating, or just going out a lot and drinking every weekend- but I also think there’s a possibility it doesn’t and just depends on the type of person you are.

I’ve spoken to other freshman, some that attend the university and others that don’t, but the response I get when I ask them whether or not they believe the freshman 15 is real is the same: No.

 

My roommate, Raiya Browning, has lost weight since being at school. Therefore, she naturally believes that it is not real. “I don’t think it exists. I think that you have to not be aware of your stress levels, your sleeping habits, and your drinking in order to gain weight. If you’re not aware of that, then you will gain weight.”

 

I then asked another freshman, Andre Adalin, what he thought about this and his response made a lot of sense and is probably the main reason many people do end up losing weight instead of gaining.  “It exists, it just doesn’t exist for me. I’m so focused on school that I never have time to eat and when I do get hungry, it’s usually around breakfast or dinner. A lot of my classes are 11-3pm so I just don’t eat lunch.”

I can personally relate to that and I’m sure many other students can as well because it’s difficult sometimes to make time to grab lunch, especially when you’d rather go somewhere to study or do homework.

 

Now, I’m sure there are people that have most definitely gained weight. How can you not when you see the pizza at the ike dining hall everyday, or you think about how good a chipotle burrito sounds after a night out with friends?

 

But food isn’t the only thing that can cause the weight gain. Do you ever think about how back home you had a strict workout routine or maybe participated in sports and now that you’re in college, that’s suddenly just…stopped?

 

I asked someone whether or not they had experienced the freshman 15 and they said yes. “I’m not doing sports anymore…yeah so you just eat and not get the same amount of exercise, so you gain the freshman 15.”

 

His friend begged to differ and said, “When I’m at home it’s really easy to just grab food constantly, whereas when I was on campus, I didn’t have that. So I definitely was eating less and I also wasn’t working out as much, and I definitely lost weight.”

 

Overall, the popular opinion seems to be that although people have experienced it, most people don’t and they either remain the same or lose weight. It really comes down to your own habits and whether you care enough about the number on the scale, because in the end, that’s all it really is. Just a number.