It's a fairly accepted 'fact' among college age women that they will gain weight their first year away from home. It's so well accepted, in fact, that nearly anyone will know immediately what you mean when you refer to 'Freshman 15'. The research doesn't quite bear it out, though. One study conducted 15 years ago found that incoming freshman did gain weight at higher rates than their peers who did not attend college, but average weight gain for stressful freshman year was 7 pounds, less than half mythical 15 pounds they'd been told to expect.

Even more encouraging is that a more recent study of college weight gain monitored weight and body fat of freshman women. More than half students put on weight, but for most it was less than five pounds. One third of students lost weight. Interestingly, those students who most worried about gaining weight believed that they had gained weight even when scales showed that they hadn't.

If you're concerned about gaining weight in that first year away from home, here are some concrete suggestions that can help you avoid dreaded Freshman 15.

Adopt a Healthy Attitude Toward Food.

Researchers place part of blame for Freshman 15 on tendency to turn to food for comfort. In an unfamiliar setting, with new stresses and new worries, students may turn to familiar foods that make them feel good to help them get through. Train yourself to eat when hungry - and deal with stress through other means.

De-stress.

Spring is here and swimsuit weather is just around corner. If you’re like many of us, you start panicking about all weight you need to lose to fit into your favorite swimwear. Some need to lose 5 to 10 pounds of extra fat while others require 20 to 30 pounds, or more. Most of us know that to stay trim all year round would require an improvement in lifestyle. Easier said than done. “Yes but what do I do now?” you ask. Do you diet, exercise or both? Keep in mind that although weight loss through various diet methods may improve your appearance, it may not have a positive effect on your health. According to studies, repeated periods of weight loss followed by weight gain can be harmful to health. (1)

This is why it is very important to maintain a stable weight with proper eating and exercise habits year round. “Yes but I want to lose this weight now”, you say. Well, first of all you need to realize how you gained that extra weight. Unless you have a medical condition, you probably put it on by eating too much, not exercising enough or a combination of both. The bottom line is that you have been eating more calories than your body could burn over a period of time. This surplus of calories was stored in your body as fat.

What’s best way to tackle this problem? You could hit gym for some cardiovascular training, or work out right at home. Exercises that use large muscle groups such as jogging, cycling or aerobics are best for achieving quick weight loss. These high impact exercises, however, are more efficient for rapid weight loss in younger people, for a couple of reasons (there are always some exceptions). Let me explain. These exercises could help melt away pounds in a short time period for someone who is 25 years of age for example.

Once you surpass age of forty, for example, you have to rely more on diet to complement exercise, for quicker weight loss. This is because a person’s metabolism slows down with age. A forty five year old performing same exercise would actually burn fewer calories than someone 20 years younger. Furthermore, a person over forty (there are exceptions) could not train at a high intensity level for long durations as could a twenty five year old.

It doesn’t mean, however, that older people shouldn’t use high intensity exercise methods. If your doctor gives you green light, then by all means go for it.

Older individuals need to rely more on calorie restriction than younger individuals. That’s not to say that younger people need only to rely on exercise for weight loss. Exercise for them ranks higher on weight loss efficiency scale. They could often get away without reducing their caloric intake during periods of exercise and still lose weight quite easily. The older generation, however, must rely on a combination of adequate exercise participation and proper diet.

Unless you are extremely over weight you should eat ten times your weight in calories to maintain a particular weight. In other words to maintain a body weight of 140 pounds you would have to eat 1400 calories daily.

So, where do you start? Let’s begin with diet. The first thing you have to do is to cut back on your daily food intake. Then you need to replace bad foods with good. Use good carbohydrates at expense of bad. Good carbohydrates (carbs) are high in fiber and low in calorie contents. These include fruits, vegetables and whole grain products. Bad carbs are processed carbohydrates with most of essential fiber stripped away and often replaced with fat. These include white bread, products made with white flour, processed fruits and vegetables and products containing sugar such as cakes, candy bars, etc. These foods along with fried foods are high in calorie and fat content and should be avoided or extremely reduced. Although good carbs are wiser food choices they should still be used in moderation, because calories still do count.