Surviving The Everyday Stuff - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Careers and Colleges, March, 2000 by Janet Farrar Worthington

The coauthor of The Ultimate College Survival Guide tells you how to cope with weight gain, illness, and dirty laundry when you're living on your own.

Drop the chalupa. No, really, put it down. Now look in the mirror, and consider the dreaded "Freshman 15." Imagine yourself stuffed like a sausage into those retro-Lenny Kravitz hip-huggers that looked so good when you bought them. Look out--the zipper's feeling the strain, and if that waistband button pops off, some poor bystander could lose an eye. The "Freshman 15," an almost universal college phenomenon, happens when people who have been used to fairly sensible, balanced diets suddenly have too much freedom--to snarf late-night pizza, fries with every meal, and daily ice cream from the "build your own sundae bar" in the dining hall. The result: Until they figure out how to eat right, they blimp up into chunky little Pillsbury dough people.

Actually, if your worst problem as a freshman is a hefty tummy, you're problems are pretty small. But sometimes it's the "small" everyday things that can get you down. Here's a troubleshooting guide to help you survive some of the everyday stuff--eating right, keeping clean clothes, and maintaining your health.

THE "FRESHMAN IS"

Let's face it: Ordering a Diet Coke with the Meat-Lover's Pizza special from the place that delivers until 2 a.m. isn't going to "cancel out" the extra sausage. When your mom told you to eat your vegetables, she probably didn't mean French fries and onion rings. And fried mozzarella sticks aren't the ideal source of daily calcium.

But how do you stay trim when temptation is everywhere--especially in the dining hall, with its "Wednesday Burrito Night?" Is it hard for freshmen to eat a balanced diet?

"Oh, my God, yes," says Charisse Lyons, now a senior at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. "I don't know if I gained the Freshman 15, but I definitely gained. I always ate on campus. I think I ate a hamburger every day my freshman year." Although "healthy food" was available, "it's not as good as the junk," she adds, and having a comprehensive meal plan--with Pizza Hut and Taco Bell outposts in campus eateries--actually made things worse.

"Eating junk food does catch up with you," says Lyons, who has shed the extra pounds now that she lives in a campus apartment and cooks her own meals. "You'll go home for the holidays, and everybody's like, 'What happened to you? You've been eating!' I think the best thing to do is get a small meal plan, buy your own fruits and vegetables, drink water, and take advantage of the gym."

Eating "healthy" just requires some common sense. If you're buying food in a grocery store, shop for a balanced meal--including proteins, fruits, vegetables, etc. Take a few seconds to check out the labels. You can do a lot just by consistently selecting low-flit, or better yet, fat-free versions of fatty favorites, such as mayonnaise, cookies, salad dressing, tortilla chips, and cheese. (Note: Beware of sneaky wording. The phrase, "light yogurt," for example, may just mean it's made with Nutrasweet instead of sugar; even though it has fewer calories, it may have just as much fat as regular yogurt.)

Advice for Vegetarians

College dining can be especially tricky for vegetarians. Shelly Habbersett ran into trouble during her sophomore year at Westchester University in Pennsylvania. "Because I wasn't eating meat, I didn't know exactly where to get my protein," she says, "so I ate a lot of carbs." And gained weight. "I actually went to a nutritionist to see what was going on. I was worried because I was getting tired; I didn't know what was wrong with me." Good advice from the nutritionist--to eat more fruits and veggies, plus protein-rich foods like peanut butter and beans--put her back on track.

LESSONS IN LAUNDRY

Malik Husser, now a senior and president of the student body at the University of South Carolina, had relatively few problems adjusting to college--even though he came to the 26,000-student campus from the tiny town of Goose Creek, South Carolina. But one thing really ticked him off his freshman year--rudeness in the laundry room.

"When I first got here, I hated it," he says. "People would leave their clothes in there forever when I really needed the dryer or washer, so I'd be sitting around waiting," his own clothes held hostage by someone else's timetable.

Because he wanted to be nice, Husser says he didn't feel right taking other people's clothes out of the washer or dryer. On the other hand, when it was his clothes in there, his fellow launderers weren't always so tactful.

"I had to get used to people taking my stuff out of the washing machine and putting it on the side," he says. "I had to really adjust to that."

Now, his strategy is precision timing--knowing exactly how long he can stay away for the washer and dryer cycles, and returning the instant his clothes are done.

Unless you babysit your clothes in the laundry room, or watch the clock like a hawk, ready to swoop down on your loads and whisk them on to the next phase of the process, you may find yourself in the same boat. Rude launderers also strike loads of clothes that are still in the dryer. Sometimes they take our still-damp laundry just to make use of the dryer rime somebody else-you--just paid for. Sometimes, if they like a particular garment, they have even been known to help themselves to it.