Today I want to touch on a topic that hits really close to home for me: college weight gain, and the stigma around talking about it.

Well, we’re talking about it today, so buckle in.  

Before high school graduates even set foot on a college campus, they’re bombarded with warnings about the “freshman 15.”

Think about that. 

Before I ever registered for a college course, I was worried about gaining weight in college. 

So, already, fear of food and weight gain gnawed in the back of my mind when I started at Roanoke College (lo those many years ago). 

And I did gain weight. 

When I started at Roanoke, I was a fresh ex-athlete, having played basketball pretty much year-round in high school. That doesn’t mean I was free from high school body insecurities, but it meant that the actual GAINING of weight was far from my mind.

Until freshman year began.

Between the start of freshman year and the end of sophomore year, I had gained about 30 pounds. 

When junior year hit, I didn’t have the healthiest mindset when it came to food, and for better or for worse, I lost some weight.

Senior year, I gained it all back, and then some. 

When I graduated in May 2019, I was about 45 pounds heavier than I was when I started.

The reason I’m telling you this is not so you can have a blow-by-blow of my body changes while I attended college.

It’s because I am not the only person in the world who has ever gained weight in college, even though I felt like I was. 

And I think it’s important to talk about it. 

I don’t want to give any before-and-after pairs, but my body changed in college. That’s all. And I wasn’t alone in it, even though I felt like I was, and I wasn’t the only one primed to think that “gaining weight” was the worst thing to befall a college student.

I had a wonderful college experience: I met friends for life, I had a ton of fun, and I learned so much about myself and the world around me. I got as much as I could from my 4 years at school.

There was one thing that was missing during my college career, though, and that was that no one ever had a conversation with me about how it was okay for my body to change. 

Weight gain is just that: a body change.

Your body isn’t the same now as it was 10 years ago, nor should it be. Your body is probably not the same as it was 5 years ago.

And now, with the pandemic throwing a wrench into everyone’s 2020 and 2021, your body is probably not the same as it was 2 years ago. 

And that’s okay.

I know I’m going to sound preachy, so buckle in even tighter.

It’s October. People have been in college for a month or two now.

They shouldn’t be scared to eat.

I had my own issues with food when I was at school, but I saw more people than just me struggle to figure out balance when it came to what food they put into their bodies.

I saw unhealthy dieting practices. I saw compulsive exercising. 

I saw people who were like me, gaining weight and hating themselves for it, because in a lot of ways, it was framed as one of the worst things that happens to people in college.

I think it’s easy to laugh and say “watch out for the freshman 15!” but the truth is, this imposed fear on college students before they ever even get through Move-In Day is extremely unhealthy. 

Chances are, your body changed in college. 

Chances are, it’s still changing. Because that’s what bodies do. Bodies grow. They shrink. They age. They get us through college. They get us through childbirth. They get us through illness. They’re getting us through a pandemic.

Your body goes through a lot. Give it a break. 

I still deal a lot with food fear. Certain things that I’ve relegated to the “nope, can’t eat that” category. And the reason for it is ALWAYS fear. 

I’m working on it, and I’m working on accepting and appreciating my body for all it does for me. I never did that in college, even when my body got me through late nights in the library, even later nights in a frat house basement, holiday parades in downtown Roanoke, and so much more. 

I never took any time to be appreciative of my body because I was so busy being terrified, watching it change.

Bodies grow. They shrink. They age. They get us through college. They get us through childbirth…your body goes through a lot. Give it a break.

It’s Raining EM

So, now that I’m reaching the end of my winding diatribe about college weight gain, here are a few Truths that I wish I had internalized before I set foot on my college campus on Day 1:

• Being skinny does not make you better than anyone else. It does not make you a better person, it does not make you a better daughter, friend, student or tutor. It simply doesn’t. 
• Being afraid of food (or certain types of food) will lead to feelings of being “out of control” around that food. This is something that I struggle with now, and it’s not easy, but if you get to this point, you’re not alone. 
• Probably 99 percent of people will see their bodies change before they graduate from college. You will not be the only one, no matter how alone in it you feel. 
• You’re allowed to eat ALL types of food. You don’t “have” to skip dessert. Drinking a sweet tea with dinner won’t kill you. If you don’t want to have just a salad for dinner, then eat something else. It’s as simple as that. 
• Exercise should never be used as a punishment for what you ate that day. Eat food to nourish your body, and move your body in a way that makes you happy. If that’s Zumba, do Zumba. If that’s weightlifting, then pump some iron. If it’s swimming, swim. There are lots of options, so forcing yourself to run on a treadmill for an hour after you eat because it was Sundae Sunday in the dining hall is not the answer.

College is an amazing experience. It can be fun, challenging, exciting, stressful, and emotional, all rolled into 4 (or so) years. There is already so much to worry about without preemptively focusing on gaining the “freshman 15.”

Your body will change. And that is okay. 

And, spoiler alert, it’ll keep changing, even after college.

And it keeps being okay.