the freshman *fifty*

ucsd_ucla_dad
Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:43:59 +0000

I just don’t know what to do now. I didn’t realize what a problem i was having until spring semester was over and finally things slowed down and my friends were going home.

Don’t be silly, of course you know what to do. Just read back over your post and you’ll see you basically wrote what to do. It really boils down to what ‘not’ to do. You need to work your way back to the healthy lifestyle you had before that you can thank your parents for.

From your post it also sounds like you allow yourself to be highly influenced by your peers. It’s time to think for yourself and take care of yourself.


Think for yourself. Don’t allow your peers to influence your behavior so much. Do what’s best for you. There are people at your college who are compatible with this although you may be hanging out with different people.
Quit the smoking entirely. It has so many negative effects it’s ridiculous to ever start.
Quit the alcohol. Alcohol has a lot of calories in it and when consumed in too large of quantities has other detrimental effects including the consumer being in a state where they make poor decisions, can be taken advantage of, emotions aren’t working the same as when not consuming large quantities, other risks if one drives after having alcohol, and potential legal and school issues if caught drinking underage. If you’re drinking ‘to be sociable’ - quit it. If you can’t participate with a group of people without drinking like they are then find better friends. You may find a lot of people, even if they’re drinking somewhat, don’t actually care if you don’t drink. Some of this is related to maturity though so some college students aren’t in this category. If someday you decide to drink, drink very moderately so the alcohol doesn’t influence you and so you don’t pack on too many calories. Make sure you know how many calories are in a beer, glass of wine, and a mixed drink.
Sorry, very few people can get away with eating pizza and burgers for every meal (and probaly lots of chips, cookies, etc. outside of that) without gaining weight. You simply need to make healthier choices and it might entail saying ‘no’ sometimes when you’re with other people and will require some self control at the cafeteria so you don’t go hog wild just because you can. There’s no ‘free lunch’ when it comes to the calories.
Make sure you have some physical activities as part of your daily regimen. This can be using the gym on campus, walking, running, swimming, etc.
Listen to your parents on this subject - they obviously knew what they were talking about.


Look up the definition of morbidly obese. You might be closer to it than you realize.

The weight gain and all of its ramifications are likely depressing to someone like you who gained it so quickly. Once you turn it around you’ll likely feel better about yourself.

You can likely turn this around pretty quickly if you want to. You already know how to do it by reverting to your health lifestyle before you started making your own decisions with an attitude of abandon. You’re in a better situation than a lot of people who’ve had an unhealthy lifestyle most of their lives and have been overweight most of their lives.

Take a look in the mirror - you’re the one who needs to decide to make a change, you’re the only one who controls what you put in your mouth, you need to take charge of yourself and quit letting others influence you so negatively.