Dear The Dreaded Freshman 15,

People warned me about you. Some said it wasn't a real thing and not to worry about it. Some said it's actually the freshmen 30, so say goodbye to your size small shirts and crop tops. It is different for everyone but it is quite the struggle to exit college after nine months and not have gained at least a few pounds. It is not necessarily a bad thing though. The sooner you accept your fate, the better off you will be.

Summer is the time to get back into shape. You probably have a little more spare time around than you do at school. Not to mention you aren't having a sleepover with all of your sorority sisters every night. Nor is any food place in your non college town open past ten or eleven. And let me tell you, that fourth meal that taco bell is always talking about, is what sprouts that freshman 15.

So you are home for three months and have a chance to not be persuaded to go to the late night dining hall on your campus and get a grilled cheese filled with mozzarella sticks (that is a real thing, no joke, and it is delicious; really it gets better the later in the night that you eat it). But you do have a full kitchen at your easy access. That could be great for your summer diet, or the opposite. Either you are pumped that you can cook your own healthy food or you are happy to finally be able to make cookies at any hour. That is why this whole dieting thing is hard. Why do foods that are bad for you have to taste the best?

I try to be healthy. I wake up and tell myself I will eat no chocolate today but then my mom made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and who can say no to pancakes. Not me. Or I make a workout schedule and follow it for about a week but sometimes life gets in the way and it is hard to make things into habit. And sometimes a nap on a raft in a pool sounds a lot better than running in 85 degree weather.

But I am here to tell you, it is possible. I few tips I learned that help me stay half way motivated are as follows. Get a workout partner. Someone who is going to push you to finish that lap and maybe do one more. Don't cut out cookies completely, just eat a little less than you have been. Make a kickass playlist. Because it is a lot harder to run when you don't have your favorite pump up song on repeat. Make some attainable goals that you can realistically meet. Like do a certain number of sit ups every day because that is something you can make time for in a busy schedule.

Just remember that you are not alone in this freshman 15 stuff. It is just something that happens.