Anti-Diet Dietitian Talks About Weight Gain During the College Years
Experts call the radical changes brought on by college, periods of transition, and warn the chances of developing an eating disorder are much higher.
The infamous phrase “freshman 15” is often used within college to describe the weight gain that many students experience within their first year. Many people believe that dieting is the only way to shed those extra pounds, and as much as this period can be challenging, one dietitian begs to differ.
“Dieting is the number one cause of eating disorders.”
Anti-diet dietitian, Kayla Bell, sheds light on diet culture within college through her own experiences. After graduating from the University of Washington with a Masters in Public Health, Bell uses evidence based practice to prove that thin is not the ideal. She too gained the freshman 15 and explains why she believes it is not a scary thing at all.
Bell offers several other recommendations to college students. You can view them here.
Q: The freshman 15 is something that is thrown around a lot, especially towards young women. What’s your thoughts on the freshman 15? Did you experience anything with the freshman 15 when you were in college?
A: The freshman 15 is a colloquial term for college freshman gaining weight and it is shrouded in shame around weight gain. When we talk about freshman 15, we have to start with this lens of “it is not okay to gain that weight.” So, if that is what everybody thinks, then what do you do to get that freshman 15 off? You diet. That is where the real problem comes in, because dieting is the number one cause of eating disorders. That freshman year of college is a risky time for people to develop an eating disorder because it is a period of transition. These times are where people are most vulnerable and at a high risk.
What do you do to get that freshman 15 off? You diet. That is where the real problem comes in, because dieting is the number one cause of eating disorders. That freshman year of college is a risky time for people to develop an eating disorder because it is a period of transition. These times are where people are most vulnerable and at a high risk.
You ask about my own freshman 15 experience and I would absolutely tell you that I gained the freshman 15. Let’s look at what I did about the freshman 15. I decided that in October of freshman year I was going to go without sugar for the whole month. For those 30 days, I was obsessed with sugar. I think I annoyed my lunch friend to death by counting down the days till I could have sugar again and talking about all the things I couldn’t have. It was annoying! Then on day 31, I had not one, but two pints of ice cream. This is why diets aren’t effective because the research is very clear around eating behavior that when we restrict a food, that becomes the food that we binge or overeat. You can’t say to yourself “I’m never going to eat this thing again,” because that actually impacts your psychology.
Q: Why do you think students experience this sudden weight gain when they go to college?
A: There’s all this freedom and exploration and, perhaps, a knowledge deficit. A bunch of people haven’t really tried a whole bunch of diets yet, so they don’t really know that diets are B.S. What people see as a really negative thing [the freshman 15], I see as a really normal adjustment to life. Kids now have access to the dining center. They have access to all this yummy food all the time. Beyond it also being always available, your parents also aren’t around, so you can do whatever you want. You’re figuring out what your appetite is like. You’re going to drink. You’re going to go out and eat an entire pizza, sometimes. You’re going to sleep in and not go to the gym because you’re hungover, and all that stuff is all good! The problem is that the weight you gain makes you feel like you’re not worthy. That is very problematic.
The problem is that the weight you gain makes you feel like you’re not worthy. That is very problematic.
Q: For college students that are thinking about losing weight, thinking about changing their eating habits, what do you want to say to them? What do you want to recommend to them as well?
A: The first thing I want to say is that there is nothing wrong with being healthy, but we need to be a lot clearer on what health is. So, it’s cool to want to change your diet so you authentically feel better in your body, and I don’t mean in a weight loss sense. I say don’t cut out any food specifically, do things that we know are linked to better health outcomes over time, like figuring out ways of moving your body joyfully. Also, finding ways to incorporate fruits and vegetables in a fun way, not as a punishment. The thing about cutting out foods to lower your weight is that it’s going to fail. It’s not you failing, but we have science that says that 95% of dieters will lose the weight short term and then gain all the weight back and plus some within three to five years.
I say don’t cut out any food specifically, do things that we know are linked to better health outcomes over time, like figuring out ways of moving your body joyfully. Also, finding ways to incorporate fruits and vegetables in a fun way, not as a punishment.
Instead of cutting out foods, what I would lead you to is something called “intuitive eating.” It is brand new to most people and it’s actually very complicated. In its simplest sense it is about responding to your body’s cues and honoring those cues to be able to feed yourself enough. It is never about how low you can go in terms of food and still feel okay with intuitive eating. It’s about knowing that food is actually helping your body. You need food!
