You’re in college and it’s way more fun than you imagined!  College is a time of intense work and extreme play. Suddenly you’re in charge of making decisions that you parents have been making for you up until now; and some of the consequences can be hard on a body. Your body.  What can you do to ensure your freshman year doesn’t leave you fat, unhappy, and sleep deprived? 


The Freshman 15 is a running joke (no pun intended) but sometimes it’s more like the Freshman 40. If you find yourself packing on some weight, don’t take it for granted that it’s inevitable and don’t fear it’s some other terrible malady. Google unexplained weight gain and you’ll see why thousands of parents are telling funny Freshman stories about their child calling home to say goodbye because of suspected thyroid malfunction, diabetes, or brain tumors. Don’t be that Freshman. Realize you’ve most likely made some lifestyle changes and a little research, coupled with self-discipline, can help get you back to your original weight and into your favorite jeans. 

The 5 lifestyle choices attributed to causing weight gain in college are:

1. Change in Diet – College cafeterias offer high carb foods because they’re cheap and easy (like that betch who stole your boyfriend). You might have to go on the defense and make a concerted effort to pick up (and eat) more vegetables than meat or pasta. Mom isn’t there to ensure you have adequate nutrition anymore so you need to do it. Ask her for some help if you skipped that nutrition class. Internalize that voice that says, “Don’t drink soda with every meal” and “Eat your vegetables.”  Scope out your friends and eat with those that make healthier choices – rumor has it that you'll start eating what your peers eat and it’s often a race to the bottom.  And remember to drink 8 cups of water every day.
2. Alcohol – Speaking of drinking, if you’re drinking you are taking many more calories than your body needs. And you’re drinking them so they go down fast ( like that betch who stole your boyfriend)! And a night of drinking often leads to a midnight raid at the local burger joint – more unnecessary calories. All of these calories are consumed at night. Studies indicate your body metabolizes calories differently at night than they do in the daytime so all of this partying adds up fast. (No, this is not building a case for day drinking).  In fact, this builds a good case against college drinking: but if you choose to drink and still need to lose your new-found weight, consider drinking 2 glasses of water for every alcoholic drink or drinking less often. A lot of girls change to Skinny Girl brand alcohol – but they usually don’t report weight loss.
3. Sleep Deprivation – Between study, work, play, and scamming on your new crush there isn’t a lot of time left for sleep. If bedtime is typically at 2 a.m. you aren’t getting adequate sleep; even if you sleep in every day. Sleep deprivation is one of the most serious problems you can have in college. It can  lower your grades, render you helpless in the face of all those diseases you will encounter, stress you out, and make you fat.  If you don’t change anything else, change this. People who go to bed after midnight on a regular basis gain weight. Go to bed.
   
4. Distress – Stress can actually be a healthy motivator for you; it’s distress that creates all the havoc. You’re adjusting to a lot: you’re living away from home, having to juggle work and play, eating differently, trying to find friends, mad about your stolen boyfriend, and buried in homework. It takes time to learn to manage all of this so take heart and know you will prevail.  In the meantime, you’re suffering. When you’re distressed, your body increases production of the hormone,Cortisol.  Cortisol encourages your body to store more fat as it prepares you for the hard time ahead. A lot of distressed people also eat high fat or sugar laden foods for comfort - more calories.  You need to find ways to decrease your distress as well as learning how to manage it minus the stress eating. This is no easy task but can be done. Talk to your parents or your Health Center for tips and suggestions. Go to the campus gym and work it, enroll in a yoga class, get some sleep, schedule in some fun time, and get some support. Everyone wants you to succeed.
   
5. Depression – If you’re truly overwhelmed or feel paralyzed with sadness, you may be experiencing Situational Depression. The bad news is it sucks and alcohol can make it worse. The good news is a lot of students experience situational depression of some type – homesickness, anxiety, the blues, stressed and sad – those are a few and overcome it when they learn to adjust. Depressed people tend to get fat.  Only you can take that first step to overcoming depression – talk to someone. We suggest the person who you have historically (hysterically?) turned to when you had problems in the past. Whether that’s a parent, a friend, or an old teacher reach out and talk about how you’re feeling. If you don’t feel you have anyone, head to the Health Center and talk to the nice people there.  Yes, it’s true that you have a lot on your plate and no one can really fix that, but talking about it will help you sort it all out and allows your support person to look for ways to make life better for you. Some additional helps could be St. John’s Wort (sounds silly but try it before you judge), targeted help like a tutor or the writing lab, extra weekends home where you can be pampered and cared for, or happy surprises. Given a chance, your support person will try to make your life easier or at least lend some support.  But no one can help until you take that first step of reaching out.

Enjoy your Freshman year and don’t be the next Fatty, Fatty Two By Four.  Now go steal your boyfriend back. 

College is great!  You’re having a lot of fun but you might be having a few unexpected visitors. Your body issues range from eczema to itching and burning in awkward places you’d rather not talk about. What can be done? Knowing a little bit about that stuff now might save you some future worry, pain, or anxiety and help you avoid some awkward moments.

Skin Conditions: Whether you’re moving across town or across the nation, your dorm may feel like foreign territory. The cooling/heating system may dry out your skin, leaving you with eczema or mild acne.  If either of these happens to you, head to your college’s Health Services Center and they can help you out. Also consider how the water may be affecting your body. Water can be very different from state to state. It’s all safe to drink but it might throw your body off kilter while you get used to different chemicals, ph levels, the degree of hardness, etc.  If you suspect the water is messing with your skin or digestive system, consider getting a jug of Spring water from the local grocery store and see if that helps.

Fire In Australia: Another environmental change is your toilet paper. It may sound silly but it won’t leave you laughing for long if you find yourself with a nasty rash from the toilet paper. A lot of recycled toilet paper (which colleges love to use because it’s economical and makes them sound oh so green) is allowed to contain treated paper (for example, that heat sensitive paper that cash registers often use) to which you might have a sensitivity.  If it’s not your heart that’s on fire – you might need to consider purchasing your own toilet paper. This is actually pretty common. Don’t let it freak you out. Common complaints are severe burning, itching, or feeling like you have a million paper cuts.  Everyone tells you that any trouble down there in, umm, Australia is most likely a Sexually Transmitted Disease. If you check it out on the internet you’ll find tons of girls confused because they fear they’ve contracted an STD even though they’ve never had sex (or have been careful).  Calm down and remember to think about the toilet paper first. These rashes can be horrible and may last as long as 2-3 months so switch up your toilet paper the minute things seem to be going south...down south.  Scrubbing and shaving may actually agitate the condition so don’t go overboard.  Try some diaper ointment (seriously) for instant relief from the itchiness, an ice bag for pain and swelling (awkward but such a relief if you have some privacy somewhere), and some Neosporin to kill bacteria. Of course, if you are sexually active you might need to visit the Health Services Center just to rule out any real STD problems.

Urinary Tract Infections (UTI):  If you've ever gone to the bathroom and felt some burning or finished urinating but felt like you had to sit around and wait for more, you probably have a urinary tract infection. Females are more likely to get these because we have shorter urethras than males. Drinking cranberry juice will often clear this up in a day or two, so give it a try. If it doesn't do the trick, head to the Health Services Center for some medicine.

Yeast Infections and such:  Some females never get a yeast infection, ever. Others get them all the time. And a few start getting them in college. Yeast infections seem to be a fact of life if you’re prone to them. Symptoms are typically reported to be severe itchiness and thick white to yellow discharge.  (If you have a yellow-to-green discharge that is smelly, you can't treat this on your own; it's most likely gardnerella.) Your local pharmacy is stocked with Monistat (and other antifungal creams) over-the-counter to help you get rid of yeast infections. The Monistat link will take you to a coupon that will save you money! You may get relief by eating yogurt with activate cultures. The Health Services Center can again be your friend if you have gardnerella or recurring yeast infections.

Brazilians and Other Configurations: Cosmo says you’re supposed to shave or wax down there. If you buy into that sort of thing, be aware that ingrown hairs and zits are likely inevitable.  Ingrown hairs have sent many a coed screaming to the Health Center fearing she is infected with Herpes when it was just her body complaining about that wax.  

You’ve all heard about them. You don’t want one. You don’t wish one on anyone (well, maybe on that one person you really hate – but not a bad one).  A Sexually Transmitted Disease is not a sign that you’re a ho.  But if you get one and anybody finds out – you’ll feel like one.  An STD can be ever-lasting (like genital warts), silent and sinister (like chlamydia), or just plain nasty (like gonorrhea). They are humiliating, time consuming, sometimes painful, and never ever any fun. And if you get one, you have to tell the people you may have spread it to – so your little black book may get even littler. College is a time when you are at higher risk for getting an STD because, let’s face it, if you stuff a lot of young adults into dorms and classrooms, they might have sex. 

Contrary to popular belief, getting an STD doesn’t mean you are sexually overactive. Lots of people who have several partners a year (or month) never get an STD. It’s not like God’s punishment for you having sex - no matter what your Sunday School teacher told you. You can get an STD with your first encounter just as easily as if it your 101st encounter. The two factors that impact the probability of you being The One are; 1) whether your sexual partner has an STD, and 2) whether you used a condom. These are the only two variables that factor into it. The condom makers at Trojan partnered up with Sperling's Best Places to create a ranking colleges in terms of sexual health for 2013. And the report is out!

Schools With The Best Sexual Health:

1. Princeton University

2. Columbia University

3. University of Arizona

4. University of Iowa (Top 20 Party School)

5. Brown University

6. University of Illinois (Top 20 Party School)

7. Rutgers University  (Top 20 Party School)

8. The University of Texas At Austin

9. University of Denver

10. University of Wisconsin  (Top 20 Party School)

Schools with the Worst Sexual Health:

1.   Brigham Young University*

2.   Chicago State University

3.   Providence College*

4.   Troy State College

5.   University of New Orleans

6.   Louisiana Tech

7.   Savannah State University

8.    Seton Hall University*

9.    St. John’s University – New York*

10.  University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Schools with an asterisk (*) by their name indicate the school has a religious affiliation that may affect their place in this ranking. How? Schools with religious affiliations may not make contraceptives available to students and/or may not provide information or support for sexual health.

Before you get too excited upon seeing your favorite university on the bad list, remember that Sexual Health is graded, for the purpose of this ranking, on 11 variables including Student Health Center availability, sexual health information and resources available to students on websites, availability/cost of contraceptives – including condoms, cost and availability of STD testing for students (including HIV testing), sexual assault practices and services, lectures and outreach groups for sexual health education.  

Did you notice that none of the top schools for partying (as determined by the Daily Beast) appear on the Worst list and none of the colleges with religious affiliations appear on the Best list?  Draw your own conclusions about the study.