The best way to avoid the Freshman 15 is to stop talking about the Freshman 15.

The dreaded Freshman 15 is something that most college students are familiar with. It refers to the 15 pounds that college freshman are prone to gain within their first weeks or months of college. It is looked at as an overarching, looming force that will quietly creep up on you… if you’re not careful. You must avoid it at all cost.

Right???

How about no! Freshman girls are especially invested in the term, “Freshman 15," and say things along the lines of, “I can’t eat a second slice of pizza because I don’t want to gain the Freshman 15” and “I have to go running every day after class or I’m going to gain the Freshman 15.” I remember making comments about my fear of gaining the Freshman 15 even in high school.

I don’t know how long this term has been around, but unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going anywhere anytime soon.

Coming into college as a freshman is such an exciting experience. You’re suddenly open to so much newness — new opportunities, classes, people, and fun. It’s a stage of life that is exhilarating and free, but also scary and uncertain. The last thing new college students need is to add more stress to their life. Aka stress about food, gaining weight, exercise, and your body composition. I personally don’t think that the term “The Freshman 15” is a positive one. It’s not a healthy way to approach wellness in college.

The term puts a sense of fear into student's heads. It causes you to look down on your body and view your weight negatively.Your mindset during your first year of college should NOT be a mindset of fear or stress about gaining weight! There are so many other things going on that will bring stress. There are so many other things you need to be enjoying!

Of course, it’s important to care about your body, but being confident is already a huge struggle for young people, we don’t need this negative term thrown at us. We don’t need another reason to doubt our self-worth. I am all about healthy living and am not PROMOTING weight gain by saying this. Working out and eating well are two of the things I am most passionate about. I just think that the very idea of the Freshman 15 creates an unhealthy mindset. What would it look like if we viewed our bodies and our health positively and threw the nonsensical idea of the Freshman 15 to the curb? Don’t let college culture add this unnecessary fear of gaining weight to your life. It’s outdated. It promotes diet culture. It makes your weight your enemy.

Yes, there is a lot of newness and responsibility placed on you when you start college but you are NOT destined to gain weight just because of your new responsibility and control. Being a freshman doesn’t cause you to forget everything you know about living in a healthy way. Fifteen pounds are not anxiously awaiting you. Those pounds are not following you around and waiting for you to join them! We need to stop making such a big deal out of this term.