Low carb. High protein. Low cal. No sugar. Meal-replacement shakes. Point systems. We are a society obsessed with quick-fix diets and college freshmen worried about the “freshman 15” are no exception.
Russ Klettke, co-author of “A Guy’s Gotta Eat,” said there are 15 things college students can do to minimize weight gain and unhealthy lifestyles.
“With no limits in a dining hall and 24-seven pizza deliveries, the calories-in, calories-out equation can fail you by midterms,” according to “15 Steps to Avoid the Freshman 15,” an article Klettke co-wrote with Deanna Conte, dietician and co-author of “A Guy’s Gotta Eat.”
Klettke said college students are more concerned with weight than health because our culture does not support or encourage excess weight. But learning about health is equally important for the long term and preventing weight related diseases like type two diabetes that are increasingly targeting the younger population, he said.
The list is divided into three parts: what you eat, how you eat and how you structure your life.
Complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables digest slowly making energy levels more consistent and making these better meals for brain function, Klettke said.
Muffins and bagels are processed carbohydrates. They digest quickly, so a half hour after eating them you feel hungry again and all the nutrients like fiber and B vitamins are taken out of processed food, Klettke said.
Fruits and vegetables help reduce cravings. Leaner protein like legumes, low-fat dairy, skinless chicken and unsaturated fats from nuts, vegetable oils and cold-water fish give the body necessary nutrients.
Three ounces of lean protein contain 100 calories whereas three ounces of high fat protein like salami, pepperoni or ground beef contain 300 calories, Conte said. Most people eat servings of six ounces or more at a time which increases the high fat calories.
The second part of the list deals with how to eat focusing on curbing your appetite.
Klettke and Conte suggest watching portions by eating a healthy green salad before eating pizza, or socializing while you eat. Talking can limit how much total food you gobble up.
Snacking right also helps curb your appetite and reinforces eating healthier foods. Examples include peanut butter on celery, any fruit, any vegetable dipped in hummus and even a hamburger – but without the unhealthy condiments.
“Late night snacking is a category unto itself. The dark may allow you to gorge unseen, which is why this is a particularly common college phenomenon,” according to the list.
Stocking your dorm room or refrigerator with the right snacks is a healthy alternative, Klettke and Conte said.
This leads to the last part of the list, which suggests planning as the best way to implement healthier eating habits.
Students might need to wake up slightly earlier to pack themselves a lunch instead of relying on fast food every day.
“Meals made outside the home have 55 percent more calories than those made in,” according to the list.
Sophomore Jarrett Day said as an active person who plays volleyball and basketball to stay lean, he is more concerned with consuming enough calories to sustain his weight than making sure he is eating right.
When he was playing for the ULV men’s volleyball team, he ate more than 3,000 calories a day because he was so active.
It is also a bad idea to skip breakfast and go without sleep, Klettke said, a difficult feat for many college students.
But Conte said that eating breakfast will help jump start metabolism.
While exercising regiments often take a backseat to studying, socializing and working for many students, the authors said walking is a great substitute.
“For busy multi-taskers, it’s a great way to think through lectures and other situations while going from point A to point B,” Klettke and Conte said.
“Working out is a good stress reliever. It kills your muscles, you get tired and then you settle down,” Day said.
Senior criminology major Kim Scott kicked exercising up significantly during her early college years, she said. As a cheerleader, Scott lifted weights alongside the football team every day from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. and put in another hour at L.A. Fitness for cardiovascular.
“When I’d get home, my roommate would still be asleep,” she said.
Scott now exercises three times a week and does not leave the gym until she burns 1,000 calories. Her focus is losing the weight she gained after having a baby.
She said combining the Atkins diet with exercise has helped her lose more weight than she could with exercise alone.
But Conte said the low carbohydrate Atkins Diet “is a quick way to lose a lot of water weight.
It’s not a long term solution because it’s metabolically unsafe, unpractical and there is no solid scientific data that says a high protein diet has positive effects.”
Even when exercising everyday, one can still overeat and cause more damage than by just maintaining a consistent, healthy change in diet, she said.
Bailey Porter can be reached at porterb@ulv.edu.