The summer's almost over, and students everywhere are facing back-to-school stress. Between downing soda to staying up late celebrating with Ben & Jerry's, it's easy to end up smart with fat jeans on, whether it's your first year of college or not. I checked in with leading nutritionist and author of Food Cures, Joy Bauer to identify 15 ways to fend off the freshman 15.
- Ditch the wheels You'll burn about 80-100 calories for every mile you walk. If you average 5 miles of walking a week, at the end of the year you'll have burned 26,000 calories and prevented 7 pounds of weight gain.
- Skim it (the milk, not the books) For every cup of skim milk you swap for whole milk (whether in a glass, over cereal, or in coffee), you'll save 60 calories and 8 grams of fat.
- Get Z's During sleep, our bodies rest and regenerate so we can be strong and clear-headed the following day -- including clear-headed enough to make wise food choices. Sleep deprivation, on the other hand, causes an imbalance in certain hormones, including ghrelin, which causes weight gain, and leptin, which decreases appetite. When we don't get enough sleep, our levels of ghrelin go up (meaning more weight gain) and levels of leptin go down (so we are hungrier). Don't think of it as downtime so much as another important facet of your weight management plan.
- Go green Substitute a cup of unsweetened green tea for that 20-ounce soda -- you'll save 250 calories (16 straight teaspoons of sugar) while gaining disease-busting phytonutrients. Do this every day and, bonus, you'll prevent 26 pounds of annual weight gain!
- Beware of buffets Burgers, fries, pizza, pasta, fried chicken, mashed potatoes.....the dining hall is full of unhealthy options. Although these high-fat foods are hard to resist, save the money for a new pair of jeans by sticking with turkey burgers, veggie burgers, grilled chicken and fish, plain vegetables, and the salad bar instead.
- Work it out Exercise is a great way to deal with stress -- and it's contagious. Recruit roommates and friends for a friendly (or not!) game of basketball, a spinning class, or an hour at the gym.
- Take one for the team When you join a team, you meet people, get built-in exercise, and have a ton of fun while you're at it.
- Get a mini fridge It's inevitable you'll eat in your room from time to time. Better to have the right foods on hand than to order a late-night pizza. Stuff your mini fridge with nonfat, plain, and flavored yogurts, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, hummus, low-fat cottage cheese, apples, grapes, and other fresh fruit. You can also stock dorm-friendly snack foods that don't require refrigeration, like small bags of soy crisps (I like Glenny and Sensible Portions), Boston Lite popcorn (or low-fat microwave varieties), Nature Valley granola bars, and rice cakes.
- Just say no to Domino's If you do cave, blot the top with a napkin -- you can sop up almost a teaspoon of oil from the high-fat cheese -- and order your slice topped with broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, onions, and other veggie combinations.
- Watch your TV Okay, so joining a gym in college is not always an option -- it's expensive, and during those fun four years, frankly it's just hard sometimes to motivate. If you know you're not going to go, buy a DVD to work out to instead (try Fat-Burning Kickboxing Workout for Dummies or Self: Slim and Sleek Fast, for example).
- Foggetabout fried Fried food is waistline sabotage. Compare grilled, skinless chicken at 195 calories and 6 grams of fat vs. fried chicken at 580 calories and 35 grams of fat. How about a baked potato with ketchup at 180 calories and 0 grams of fat vs. French fries and ketchup at 400 calories and 20 grams of fat? The choice is clear -- just like your arteries will be.
- Get zen Remember, stress leads to mindless munching. Try meditation or yoga to keep your stress -- and your snacking -- to a minimum.
- Hug it out If you need someone to talk to, try your school's counseling program or friends. Do not look to the vending machine for advice. Twinkies don't talk, and neither do chips, cookies, or candy bars. In fact, between the sugar, fat, and calories, they'll only leave you feeling more down in the dumps.
- Pace yourself Studies confirm you eat fewer overall calories when you slow down the pace -- about 60 fewer per meal or 180 fewer per day! That all adds up to 18 pounds you didn't gain by the end of the year. So taste your food. Savor the texture. Put your fork down between every two bites and sip water during your meal.
- Avoid the 15 common culprits After asking many clients who have gained the infamous freshman fifteen, I compiled this list of the top 15 foods most likely to pack on the pounds. Eat with caution!
- pizza
- buffalo wings
- mozzarella sticks
- french fries
- fried chicken
- soda and sugary drinks
- vending machine items
- ice cream
- candy
- chips
- macaroni and cheese
- frozen yogurt with tons of toppings
- hamburgers
- dining hall desserts
- oversized bagels and muffins
And check out these tips on better snacks!
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