How I Quickly Gained 22 Pounds in College
I gained 22 pounds in about 4 years while in College. Now looking back at my 16 year old self, I have never felt this much regret as I realize how much I unknowingly abused my body with all the junk food, alcohol, stress eating and all nighters I had done in my college years.
I am now trying to reverse the effects (and it’s very hard), working out as much as I can and eating healthier choices. But if I were given the chance to rewind and give some advise to my 16 year old self, here are 5 things I should have done to prevent my unwanted weight gain.
1. Don’t Stress Eat
There will be days where you will be needing to stay up all night to finish your homeworks, projects, studying for exams and quizzes and it’s going to be very stressful. However, eating junk won’t shoo the stress away but will just add to your body fat. Try to reduce stress by avoiding cramming in order to help both your body and health.
2. Don’t Abuse Fast Food
Every day will feel like a feast as you and your blockmates will want to venture around Taft and eat all fast food restaurants you can. What I mean by this is, McDonalds on Mondays, Jollibee on Tuesdays, KFC on Wednesday, BonChon on Thursdays, and Burger King on Fridays. Oh, don’t forget that you’ll be having Saturday classes too—so that’s another fast food place on another day. While you’re at it, you will also experience eating delicious delicacies throughout the day such as those donuts, one big order of Starbucks’ iced coffee, chocolates and junk food to fill in your hunger in between classes and breaks.
Yes, you can go on an adventure and eat the vast array of choices in Taft, but keep in mind that you have to at least workout or lose the calories gained. You will regret all the fast food you’ve eaten as this will be the main nemesis of your weight gain.
3. Make Time For Fitness
With all the stress eating and fast food binge you’re about to experience as mentioned above, it’s important to also find a hobby that will keep your body motivated and health intact. Don’t let the unhealthy food intake take over you but instead do a fitness activity that you enjoy. If you enjoy biking, jogging and even playing basketball in the village, go find time to do that every week. It doesn’t have to be an everyday thing, even just thrice a week and who knows, this could even be beneficial to your academic performance.
4. Drink Moderately
In College, it’s the time where you will experience going out with your friends from one club to another or to have what is called today as “chillnuman”. Yes, it’s okay to drink alcohol from time to time but make sure you don’t get too addicted that it might just be abused or an everyday thing. This is what will also cause you to gain weight and have side effects in your system. You can drink, but remember to discipline yourself enough to care for your body and find time to squeeze in that fitness activity to burn all the calories you gained.
5. Avoid Junk Food
A Sweets, sugar and junk is not what should be in every part of your meal just because you are young. Yes, it’s College and it’s hard to find healthy places around school, but you have to be responsible enough for your health. An advise here is to bring packed lunch which you can eat instead of fast food (saves you your allowance as well), fruits if you get hungry and water wherever you go. These three will be essentials for you in order to avoid craving for junk that will negatively affect your body.
With all these being said, I don’t mean to stop you from having fun. This is just a reminder for you to avoid gaining unwanted pounds which you will greatly regret in the future. Go enjoy life, and enjoy it wisely by prioritizing and taking good care of your body. Just make sure to discipline yourself and balance the good and bad entering your body. After all, you only have one life to live, so live it right, smart, and healthy.
