2008 Woodie Awards
Say Bye-Bye to the Freshmen Fifteen
Jose Ortiz
Issue date: 9/16/04 Section: Sports
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On September 2, over 1,000 freshmen began school at MSU, embarking on a brand new journey. Many of them left their homes for the first time, and when they return they will be bringing a lot of things with them. Hopefully an education, new experiences, friends, and good times will be among these things. Many of these freshmen, however, will bring some unwanted weight back home as well.
In a study released last year of 60 first-semester college students, Cornell University professor David Levitsky and his colleagues found that, on average, the students gained about 4.2 pounds during their first 12 weeks of school.
Montclair State senior, Jessica Mojkowski says that she fell victim to the dreaded freshman 15. "I gained the weight by eating the cafeteria food, anything with flavor." Those of you who live on campus and dine in all- you-can-eat cafeterias like Russ or Blanton might know what she is talking about.
John Barone, a nutritionist, and MSU alumnus says that staying away from the freshmen 15 is quite simple.
The first step is not skipping breakfast. Often, students miss breakfast because they either don't wake up early enough, or they don't have the time or the money. Whatever the reason, skipping the first meal of the day is not smart. This is because your body is constantly burning calories throughout the day, and if you skip breakfast you will be so hungry that you stuff yourself late at night. This will, of course, be followed by going to sleep, and no burning of calories. If you take in more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.
Barone also says that snack foods like chips and cookies will give you what he calls "bad carbohydrates." Bad carbs are in all processed foods or junk food. Good carbs are in fruits veggies, pastas, and rice. So instead of eating a bag of Lays, eat an apple or an orange.
The next step Barone says will help keep the pudge off, is to stay as far away from fast food as possible. Foods that are deep-fried are not good anyway because they retain lots of grease, which contains fat. But fried foods in fast food places are even worse because the oil that they cook with becomes more and more fattening as heat is applied. Since the cooking grease at McDonalds is always hot, it will always be fattening.
In a study released last year of 60 first-semester college students, Cornell University professor David Levitsky and his colleagues found that, on average, the students gained about 4.2 pounds during their first 12 weeks of school.
Montclair State senior, Jessica Mojkowski says that she fell victim to the dreaded freshman 15. "I gained the weight by eating the cafeteria food, anything with flavor." Those of you who live on campus and dine in all- you-can-eat cafeterias like Russ or Blanton might know what she is talking about.
John Barone, a nutritionist, and MSU alumnus says that staying away from the freshmen 15 is quite simple.
The first step is not skipping breakfast. Often, students miss breakfast because they either don't wake up early enough, or they don't have the time or the money. Whatever the reason, skipping the first meal of the day is not smart. This is because your body is constantly burning calories throughout the day, and if you skip breakfast you will be so hungry that you stuff yourself late at night. This will, of course, be followed by going to sleep, and no burning of calories. If you take in more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.
Barone also says that snack foods like chips and cookies will give you what he calls "bad carbohydrates." Bad carbs are in all processed foods or junk food. Good carbs are in fruits veggies, pastas, and rice. So instead of eating a bag of Lays, eat an apple or an orange.
The next step Barone says will help keep the pudge off, is to stay as far away from fast food as possible. Foods that are deep-fried are not good anyway because they retain lots of grease, which contains fat. But fried foods in fast food places are even worse because the oil that they cook with becomes more and more fattening as heat is applied. Since the cooking grease at McDonalds is always hot, it will always be fattening.