The NEW Freshman 15.

For year the term "Freshman 15" has been given to the 15 pounds of weight every college freshman adds on in their first year. Or semester. For the most part, this has always been true. If you look at the culture of college campuses, it's not surprizing either. Take a look at the meal plans at most colleges. What is the most common plan across the country? 14 meals a week. Now, most college students don't have time (or energy) for many more than 14 meals a week. Especially when you consider the average time of waking up on a sunday to be somewhere between 12 and 6. The eating options on these campuses are normally quite numerous. Everywhere you turn there is another place to get some grub. Food isn't just a necessity in college, it's a social gathering. In your first few days on campus the big question always was, who are you going to eat with? I truly feel this is the reason roommates tend to be friends in the first month or two of school, then gradually separate. For awhile, you don't know anyone else, so you eat with the only person you know. Over time this changes as you start to spend more time with the people you share common interests with.

Along the same lines, in the first few weeks of school there are hundreds of organizations having their initial meetings, and what better way to bring a hoard of potential freshman members than free food? Floor meetings, dorm meetings, adviser meetings, picnics, cookouts, it seems in the first 2 weeks of school you dont even have to touch your meal plan if you dont want to. But you do. You eat early, you eat late, and then you get a package in the mail of cookies your mom baked fresh and sent still warm. Food truly is everywhere. You never will go hungry.

This freshman 15 has been pretty much constant for years. As long as I can remember at least. Slowly but surely it is changing. There is only one place on campus that is more social than the dining halls. Any guesses? The Fitness Center. The fitness bug has been going around the country for years, and it has hit the college campuses like chicken pox at a daycare. I hear "Do you wanna go to the gym?" almost as much as "do you wanna go get some food". Believe it or not, but the fitness center is open more than the dining halls are. 8 TV screens playing 8 different channels hooked up to a system allow you to plug your headphones in and get the audio from any channel you wish. The fitness center becomes a place for socializing the minute you walk in the door. The "Jocks" seem to take up all the free weights, but basically everthing else is fair game. Some people are more antisocial than others, running on a treadmill with their eyes closed listening to an iPod. Most though come to the gym with two or three of their friends, or people that soon will be. They start for a warm up on the bikes, each with a TV screen and a simulated bike ride, including other riders and resistance proportional to the slope appearing on the screen. Then they go to the ellipticals, all lined up with just inches between them, perfect for conversing. A nice jog finishes it off before the short walk back to the dorms.

I feel like the Freshman 15 are no more. So instead, i propose the Fit 15. The 15 pounds every college freshman loses. Sure, maybe its not actually 15 pounds, but alot of time, its close. Personally, I was at 202 pounds on the day I got here. Thats about 25 pounds overweight for someone my age and height. I mean, I wasn't huge, but it wasn't very fit either. (For reference, I was 175 pounds at the end of the baseball season this year. FUCK TGIFridays.) I'm officially a month into my college experience, and I'm sitting at 190 today. I'm already 12 pounds less than what I was when I got here. It's not just the fitness center thats drivings this though. Look at a Mountain Dew, only because I have one sitting right in front of me. A regular old 12oz can: Calories-170, Carbs: 46. YIKES! Compare that to the most readily available beverages on a college campus. As much as it pains me to say it, cheap vodka and Natty Light. A shot of Vodka? 50 calories. A 12oz can of Natural Light? 90 Calories. So I can have 3 shots of vodka or 2 beers for the same amount of calories of one can of dew. Lets just say I dont see many dew drinkers at the parties on, and off campus.

Now thats not to say that everyone out there is saying why have a can of soda when a beer has less calories. In fact, I dont think anyone is saying it. But the fact is that these college kids are going out there drinking light beers, and 2 (3?) nights a week puking up everything they ate that day anyway. I mean it can't make you GAIN weight. Feel free to disagree in the comments, i'm just tellin it like I see it...

-College Student (about to enjoy a Mountain dew, although... it DOES have 170 calories... )


P.S. The lingerie parties certainly don't hurt either... I mean who wants to be THAT guy at the party who doesnt take his shirt off... Or THAT girl who wont skimp down to a bra...

Episode 17

It's 1am Episode 17...