Written by Vanessa Carrillo

So you gained the freshman 15 (or more). This happened to me and my roommate (Hi Raquel). You’re learning how to navigate true independence- there’s no one telling you to not go out for the drink specials during the week or teaching you how to balance your plate in the dinning hall. Its American college culture to serve pizza everywhere: library during finals week, club meetings, or literally any fundraising event. It can get even crazier when you can use your school’s dining point system at the local cafe (Iowa State had THE best zebra latte that was made out of dark and white chocolate syrup).

The point is, it can be easy to gain weight without noticing and when you do notice, it can be uncomfortable to not recognize your body.

The first and most important thing to do is be kind to yourself and recognize this is a new life transition you’re going through. It happens and this won’t be the last life transition you’ll face.

Below I’ll break down how to navigate college and weight loss.

Balancing Dining Hall Food

The dining hall does not have to be intimidating as it seems. You’ll have to plan it out based on what’s available. MyPlate is the perfect starting point for the dining hall. For weight loss, you’ll focus on 3 food groups: Protein, Produce, and Carbs. Half of your plate should be a non-starchy veggie, one quarter should be protein and the reaminig should be carbs.

Cooking in Your Apartment

So you moved into an apartment off campus and now need to cook for yourself. If you have resources, I would recommend a meal delivery service like HelloFresh or Blue Apron. They give you everything you need to cook the meal and picture instructions on how to cook the meal.

There are ways to save on money while grocery shopping, you just need to plan your trip out and some research.

Make sure you have all the cooking equipment you need to be the perfect home chef. During tailgate season, you can always be the person who brings low cal recipes- don’t worry no one will know.

Stay Active: Sport Clubs, University Gym and Group Fitness Classes

If you were active in your high school’s team sports but college sports seems to extreme, try out for the clubs. These are low pressures and mainly just for fun! It’s a great way to meet new friends with similar interest.

If you’re not a sporty person, explore your schools gym. Bigger schools will have a state of the art gyms that even have personal trainers and group fitness classes. I use to teach indoor cycling class at ISU!

If you’re a beginner, listen to our podcast with TMN personal trainer on how to get started.

Reduce Stress

Exams and finals week can be stressful on your mind and body. With that being said, you can always utilize your university’s student resources to be academically successful and attend study groups to ease your stress and worry levels. Outside of academics, try out new activities to find what works best for you.

Walk to Classes

If you’re attending a large campus like Indian University, there’s campus buses to take you from one side of campus to the other. Campus now offer electric scooters that make it faster for you to travel to class. Walk when it makes sense. For example, if you have an hour between classes, take the walk to class instead of the bus or scooter. If you’re short on time or it’s raining, I get it. Low impact physical activity is key in weight loss.

Low Calorie Coffee Orders

We have plenty of blogs on how to order low cal at Starbucks and other coffee blogs. With PSL season creeping up, the basics of keeping your beverages low calorie are

Try low fat, 2% milk, or almond milk
Ask for half the amount of syrup
Try a small or medium size

1:1 Counseling

TMN is a team full of Registered Dietitians who are experts in sustainable healthy weight loss. They work with your weight loss goals and resources. Discovery calls are always free.

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