The Freshman 15
Congratulations class of 2009! High school is behind you and you are probably proudly wearing a t-shirt this summer that announces the college you are destined for come fall. It's time to start thinking about what you are going to pack. Those dorm room closets are pretty tiny. No doubt you will bring all of your faves -- your skinny jeans, your good butt pants, that skirt that makes heads turn and of course a special event dress for a formal sorority event. Many challenges lie ahead: waking yourself up in the morning for class, finding the discipline to study, learning to live with your roommate, doing your own laundry and avoiding the dreaded Freshman 15.
Tips to avoid Freshman 15:
- Shuttle buses are great, but as long as the weather permits WALK to class! Walking at a moderate pace burns approximately 118 calories (for a 150lb individual) in 30 min . Assuming each class is about 15 minutes from your dorm & you walk to and from 3 classes a day you could burn 354 calories a day giving you the opportunity to lose a pound in 10 days.
- If you are too busy with schoolwork to pay attention to how many steps you are taking a day let a fun device like the Nike ipod sport kit do it for you. This gadget will keep track of distance travelled walking or running and calories burned.
- MIX IT UP- of course you need a little study break now and then, but you also need to get back to the books. Control the amount of time you step away from your studies by making 30 minute music mixes. Play-lists of your favorite songs are a great way to unwind by going for a jog or simply dancing around your room. When the music stops it is time to get back to work but you will be energized & less stressed from your 30 minute activity.
- The best things in life are free-some of the most effective exercises don't require any special equipment or even a lot of space. Push-ups, dips, squats/lunges and crunches can all be done right there in your dorm-room.
- In a study involving 907 students (55%male) students gained an average of 7.8 pounds during the freshman year. More than one-third gained 10 pounds or more, and one-fifth piled on 15 or more
- The problem doesn't seem to solve itself sophomore year: Males were on average 9.5 pounds heavier, and females, 9.2 pounds heavier as sophomores, than when they started college.
- For about every 5 pounds gained you go up approximately 1 dress/pant size
Cathy Lang is an industry leading fitness veteran who has been seen frequently on TV across the country. Based on over 17 years of feedback from her female personal training clients Cathy created a first-to-market brand that customizes workouts according to desired wardrobe…Cathy Lang's Wardrobe Workouts.
For over a decade, Cathy Lang has incorporated these lessons and taught women how to customize their workout for the variety of styles each woman wants to wear. The former trainer of NFL and NBA athletes brought this straightforward, highly individualized and personally relevant fashion-based approach to fitness to the masses in her book, Cathy Lang's Wardrobe Workouts: Bye Bye Bra Fat (Nightengale Press, 2004).
