After completing my first year of college, I can say that the “freshman 15” had found me. I had been an athlete all my life and I thought that the active lifestyle I had in high school would keep me fit throughout college too, I thought wrong when my life no longer included hours of practice each day, and hard competitions anymore. Getting back into shape has not been easy, but I have thought of some tips to help other freshman avoid the dreaded “15."

1. Limit Your Portion Sizes

One of the most frustrating things I noticed when I went to get food was there was no small portion size at the cafeteria. This is where it is important for you to gain your self-control and limit your portions yourself. Go ahead and eat some fries, but you do not have to eat the whole plate that they give you. Don’t feel bad about throwing away the extra that they give you because that extra food will just turn into extra weight on your body.

2.Walk Everywhere

I mean it. Hopping in your car or taking the bus may be the easier and quicker option, but walking is the healthier one. Unless your class is ten miles away one direction I would suggest walking. The average 20 year old woman (5’4” and 160 pounds) burns about 200 calories walking a mile. Walking no matter how far helps you burn calories which in turn helps you burn unwanted fat.

3.Get Plenty of Sleep

A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that people who lacked sleep often binged on high fat and high carb snacks. Lacking sleep also causes you to be more sluggish and tired the next day, go figure right, but this in turn means you won’t feel up to going to the gym, and will be more likely to just have a lazy day. I know staying up late binge watching Netflix made it extremely hard to wake up the next morning to go workout.

4. Chose Healthy Snacks

It’s always good to have snacks in your dorm room. Just make sure that you have healthy options. Cheese, fruits, nuts, and granola are easy to store and don’t take up much space in your small dorm and they help curb late night cravings. Want something salty? Have a can of salted nuts. Want something sweet? Yogurt and fresh fruit will do the trick. Just remember even healthy snacks can be unhealthy when they are not consumed in reasonable portions.

5. Go to the Gym (it's free)

To maintain or lose weight you must burn more calories that you take in through your diet. There is no definite number for how often and how long someone should work out. It’s up to you to determine how much you should workout to lose or maintain your weight. There are other factors that should be included such as your sex, weight, diet, and activity level. It is recommended that the average adult workout between 60-90 minutes most days of the week to maintain a healthy weight. Keep in mind that one pound of fat is about 3,500 calories, so that is how many calories that you need to cut out of your diet or burn through exercise to lose one pound of fat or working out every day and burning 500 calories per workout will cause you to lose one pound per week as long as you are also eating right.

6.Don't Drink Your Calories

This is not just counting alcoholic drinks, but also soda and energy drinks which are full of empty calories (calories you intake that do not have any nutritional value.) Alcohol also increases your appetite and loosens your inhibitions you may be on a strict diet, but seven tacos from Taco Bell do sound pretty good after a late night and then you’re adding more calories to your diet along with all the calories that you drank that night. The average beer has 150 calories per every 12oz. so let’s say you have a binge night of three beers and seven tacos that’s about 1,700 calories in one night. Over half of your recommended caloric intake! Leave the drinking alone, it will cause you to gain unwanted pounds.

7. Wear Real Pants

Everyone knows that leggings and sweatpants are super cute and comfy, but here’s the thing they also stretch…a lot. Wearing clothing with elastic waistband and lots of spandex does not give you the clue when you’re starting to gain weight. Going a whole month without wearing jeans might be upsetting when you go to pull them on for a night out and realize that they don’t fit over your thighs anymore. Wearing real jeans or khakis will help you realize if you are gaining weight since you most likely won’t notice it in one day.

8. Relieve Stress

Finding ways to relive stress will keep you from gaining weight. Being stressed doesn’t necessarily cause weight gain however it increases the levels of the hormone cortisol in your body which causes cravings for “junk” foods. Which in turn causes you to gain weight.

9. Join Clubs

Joining clubs of any kind will keep you occupied and out of your dorm room. There are plenty of sports clubs in college, but even joining other clubs will help you from gaining weight. Staying busy keeps you from just eating because you are bored. I found the more I was out of my dorm the less likely I was to snack.

10. Give it 20

Waiting 20 minutes between going to get more food helps your body decide if you are really hungry or if you just haven’t had time to process that you just ate. It is better to eat a little bit then wait 20 minutes to digest and then decide if you are really hungry for more food. Just remember don’t eat until you are stuffed. Small portions are key you can always go back for more.

11. Eat Less More Often

Instead of the old “three square meals a day” thing it is found that it is better to eat 5 or 6 small meals a day. Eating less more often helps to keep you from over eating at meals since you won’t be as hungry as you think you are when you wait over three hours between meals. Eating less also means you have less calories to burn at a time instead of eating a huge meal, you will also won’t feel bloated and heavy after eating a small meal like you do when you eat one huge meal late at night.

12. Don't Skip Breakfast

Mom was right when she said to not skip breakfast. I used to skip breakfast and wake up super late to go to class, but as the year went on I realized that I was having a hard time to find energy in the gym and I couldn’t focus in class. Eating breakfast really does help you maintain your weight because you won’t be starving when lunch time rolls around and you won’t be as likely to over eat when it comes time to have another meal.

13. Go Out and Be Social

Being social and meeting more people can help you in a roundabout way keep weight off. If you are like me you went to college not knowing anyone, so you stayed in your dorm most of the time. I learned quickly that it is better to go out and meet all the people that you can. Finding people that also wanted workout partners and making friends that had similar interests in working out and sports helped me stay in shape too.

14. Drink Water and Lots of It

Water has many benefits, but one of the best ones is that it can help you lose weight or keep weight off. Most people confuse thirst with hunger, so when you are thirsty most people eat. Drinking water can also help increase metabolism in healthy men and women. As college students we try to save money and it’s a good thing that water is pretty much free anywhere you go on most college campuses. Getting a refillable water bottle will help you save money instead of getting a case of disposable water bottles.

15. Carry Your Workout Clothes Everywhere

I’m not kidding when I say this, it really works. I don’t know how many times I said I was going to go workout after class then got back to my dorm and decided that it wasn’t worth it to change my clothes and walk back to the gym. Carrying your workout clothes with you helps keep you motivated because there is really no reason why you can’t work out if you already have your stuff with you.