The Freshman Fifteen

When I attended accepted student’s day, almost every upperclassman I spoke with mentioned the Macaulay negative fifteen. What? How!? They raved that due to walking so much everyday, the pounds slipped off effortlessly. Effortlessly? Not only was I going to save money and get an awesome education, but I was going to look killer doing it too? Sign me up.

So by time December rolled around, I stepped on the scale and almost passed out. I had gained twenty pounds. TWENTY. The first semester wasn’t even over and I had surpassed the freshman fifteen. How was this even possible? My eating habits hadn’t changed that much, and I was walking. What did I do wrong? Then it hit me. Walking.

Everybody’s bodies and habits are different, and it just so happens that when I started college the amount of daily exercise I was doing had decreased drastically. I went from being a four-sport varsity athlete, running every day of the week, to walking fifteen minutes everyday to the subway. I love sports, but Hunter does not have my one true love, lacrosse. They do have a bunch of other varsity teams, but I found out there are plenty of ways to stay in shape. There is hope!

First of all, Hunter does have a gym, as well as recreation hours for some sports and group fitness classes, all of which are free! You just need to pick up a physical activity card before hand, which takes two seconds. All of the info can be found online.

There are also various locations across the city that offer free or suggested donation weekly exercise classes, ranging from dance cardio to yoga. Whatever you’re into you can probably find some variation of it for free, or for very, very cheap. 

Also, with the weather getting nice out, going for a run or heading to the park with a frisbee isn’t so bad. Some friends and I are planning on buying a badminton set to fool around with in the park as a fun way to spend time together and get some sort of physical activity. 

Unfortunately, Macaulay doesn’t really offer athletic options besides for club quidditch. I tried it, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Some of my friends have joined gyms, but there are plenty of ways to stay in shape for cheap. And don’t worry about eating healthy. Between a ton of supermarkets, like Trader Joe’s, and the fruit stand guys, fruits and veggies are easy to access and won’t totally break your budget. 

It does take a little bit of effort and will power, especially with all of the temptations the city has to offer, but the Freshman Fifteen is something you can avoid. Or lose, if you're like me.