No matter how beautiful, thin, or athletic the woman, if you asked her she would probably have something negative to say about her body. That’s the culture that we live in, and, as terrible as it is, it’s engrained in our minds. I have known too many girls (myself included) who have gotten caught up in counting calories, doing weird fad diets, and even developing eating disorders. I once spent an entire summer consuming not much more than juice, and, while I looked hot as ever, anyone around me during that time can attest that I was also the crankiest psycho.
College brings on a whole new level of stress and busyness, and your mom is no longer there to do the grocery shopping or cook your meals or make your bed or do your laundry or keep track of your schedule or tell you you’re pretty (ugh I miss you, mom!). Between the homework, papers, projects, classes, meetings, jobs, trying to go to the gym, and still having time to socialize, it can be hard to find time to focus on having healthy, balanced, meals, and sometimes that giant slice of Todaro’s pizza or Cookout milkshake is calling your name. The drunchies are real, and they’ve been known to turn a relatively mild-mannered girl into a hangry, ravenous beast when she doesn’t get her chicken quesadillas at the end of the night.
Many turn to dieting as a quick fix. Cutting calories, carbs, or sugar is a seemingly easy way to feel better about yourself and your body in a short time span. I am prone to researching weird new super foods and fad diets and scouring health food blogs for recipes that will somehow turn me into a kale enthusiast. But the truth is, unless you have a serious allergy or other health issue, taking certain foods out of your diet is not healthy, and it can also make you uptight and seriously annoying. Depriving yourself of food only leaves you feeling like you’re missing out, and inevitably caving and binge eating and hating yourself.
So let’s be real: Instead of beating yourself up about one (or two, or five…) cheat meals, remember that college is all about balance, eating included. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t try to eat healthy, but it’s important to realize that that isn’t always an option, and that that crunch wrap from Taco Bell is not going to make or break you. Everyone says college is one of the best times of your life. You’re supposed to be finding yourself, trying new things, and being spontaneous, not worrying about how you’ve eaten more calories than your Fitbit says you should have. You may not look ***Flawless like a Victoria’s Secret Angel, but I promise you’ll be much, much happier. And I can personally vouch that in all my years with an extremely average body, I have never had a guy turn me down because of my weight (except for one, and my roommate punched him because obviously he had it coming).
So next time you and your friends are curious about whether McDonalds actually took apple pies off of their menu (which, praise the Lord, they didn’t), and it just so happens to be past midnight, don’t be afraid to go for that late night food run. After all, some of the best memories can be made getting Little C’s after a night downtown, and a little ice cream never hurt anyone.