College Weight Gain

College Weight Gain: A Heavy Burden on The Minds of Teens

The family is all abuzz. Jun will be home this summer, his first summer as a college man. My parents were so excited that they have already forgotten the visit they made to Jun’s dorm a month ago. Well, that’s the way parents are. Anyways, when Jun opened our front door and stepped into the house, everyone was on him almost immediately.

But amidst all those chatter, the smiles, the welcome home remarks, there was one comment that rang through the whole house. It was my niece saying “boy, have you gotten fat.” Jun, fortunately, just brushed it off. However, to some people, college weight gain cannot be brushed off quite easily.

Studies have been undertaken which on the issue of gaining weight during college. Although, the truth of the matter has been confirmed quite a number of times, the actual reason behind the phenomena is not as conclusive as other people might like.

It is said that the first year of one’s stay in college can easily result to a 10 or even a 20-pound increase in body weight. A number of reasons have been cited as the causes of getting a bigger butt while you’re in college. Actually, some of the clues that explain this phenomenon are really quite obvious, when you look at them closely.

One of the possible reasons is that they might over do this concept of being free. Some students or most students see their first year in college as their chance to be free from their parents. Although, some might handle this quite well adapting to the school and his/her peers. They loose control and eat and drink whatever they want and whenever they want.

They don’t concern themselves with their diet. Compared to when their mom’s were in control of what they eat, these first year college folks drown themselves with sodas and fill their bellies with junk foods. The school cafeteria is also an easy place to stuff more fat since the food there is often times “complete.” With appetizers, main course, and most especially desserts, college folks are more likely to overeat there than in any other place in campus.

One interesting thing is that according to recent studies, college males are more likely to gain considerable weight after the first year of their stay in college than their female counterparts. So guys, beware. If you continue on your current lifestyle, you might end up four times or even six times your body weight before you leave college.

Another reason that kept getting the blame for this college fat phenomenon is the fact that most college folks live a more or less sedentary life. If eating the right food is the least of their concern, believe me, exercising is further off their grid. They have homework, study groups, library work, experiments, and not to mention parties to go to, events to crash, and so on.

Speaking of parties, the various gathering you go to in college serve mostly fat laden finger foods, sodas and the like. Imagine the fat you will gain the next day. In the attempt to socialize with their peers, college freshmen are eating more than enough fills of fats, salt, and other junk.

Stopping college weight gain is a conscious effort. College folks need to get their diet in order and need to get their butt off their bunks. This is an action that they themselves need to initiate. Complaining won’t do them any good. They need to fight this with sheer will power and utter determination.

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Gain Weight During Pregnancy

Gain weight during pregnancy is one of the most dreaded scenarios of women who are so figure conscious. And why not worry? Aside from the pains and major intellectual, emotional, physical and financial adjustments pregnant women should go through, they still have to worry how pregnancy would ruin the years they spent to achieve their figure right now.

But, no matter how frightening or alarming that thought of weight gain during pregnancy is, gaining weight is inevitable. These findings are supported not just by researchers in the field of science but also by some pediatricians, obstetricians and other those who know the real pains of pregnancy.

The importance of weight gain during pregnancy

Experts say that weight gain during pregnancy is inevitable because the hormonal change in a woman’s body triggers it. Studies show that when women are conceiving, there are drastic changes in their hormonal levels that increase their appetite.

Aside from hormonal changes, women gain weight during pregnancy because they tend to eat a lot in order to supply the nutrients needed by the growing fetus.

Providing food and nutrients for the baby inside the womb, experts say, is the main advantage of weight gain during pregnancy. Aside from supplying nutrients to the fetus by eating a wide range of nutritious foods, gaining weight during pregnancy will also help the woman to protect her back from the belly that grows heavier by the month.

Weight gain pregnancy is very important during the early stages of conception because it will help the woman to adjust to the major changes in her body.

But, too much weight during pregnancy—especially at the latter stages—can also be a disadvantage because it may lead to diabetes mellitus, a condition wherein there is too much sugar in the blood caused by large amounts of starches and other sources of sugar from foods.

For you to know the how weight gain during pregnancy can be beneficial to you, make sure that you visit your ob-gene right away.

Today, studies say that women should go to ob-gyves even before they conceive to ensure that proper monitoring will be done. If you visit the doctor as early as possible, there is a bigger possibility of a healthier pregnancy because you get the right amount of information and guidance that you need.



During you ob-gyne visit, she or he can tell you how much weight you should gain during your pregnancy, how will it affect your body and you overall health, as well as of your baby, what kind of foods you should and shouldn’t be eating, how can gaining weight help your pregnancy to be easier and less stressful or painful, and how can you get rid of the weight you have gained during this stage.



Ideally, the weight a woman should gain during pregnancy should depend on her height and current weight or the total body mass index of her body. Once this has been determined, proper calculation will be done to ensure that you would gain just the right amount of weight during pregnancy.

Ideally, women who are slightly overweight should still gain at least 10 to 15 pounds while women who are underweight should gain more weight, at least 20 to 40 pounds to ensure that her body can supply enough nutrients for the child inside.

Weight gain during pregnancy should also depend on the type of pregnancy that the woman has.

For single pregnancy, the mentioned weight gain standards should apply. But for those who are having double, triple, or quadruple pregnancies, more weight gain is needed to ensure that that babies will get the same amount of nutrients just like the others.

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Menopause and Weight Gain

Menopause and weight gain are closely associated with each other. Women undergoing menopause seem to suffer the unwelcome results of weight gain. Nearly every woman struggles through it during Peri menopause and menopause. A woman gaining from 10 to 15 pounds during this stage in her life is not unusual. What makes it even worse is that various studies also show that weight gain before and during menopause can actually increase the risk of breast cancer in women.

There are many factors involved that allows women to gain weight during menopause. One of them is hormonal changes with age. During menopause, women begin to experience having lower levels of estrogen in the body. Estrogen has been linked to weight gain in menopausal women along with the decreasing levels of testosterone.

Another factor that has a role in weight gain among menopausal women is the development of insulin resistance. This can occur during the menopausal years when the body becomes inefficient in metabolizing every calorie taken in, eventually converting it into fat. Eating mostly processed and refined foods can make the body resistant to insulin that is being produced in the blood stream over time. This is being cited as one of the causes of weight gain in women after the age of 40.

Another probable reason for weight gain in women during menopause is stress. Stress is a major factor involved in weight gain during menopause. When stress hormones are produced in the body, they signal it to go into storage mode, making weight loss even more difficult. The stress hormones enable the body to undergo what is also known as the "famine effect". In this stage, the stress hormones lead the body into thinking that it won't be getting food again for a long time so that it shifts to storing every calorie it takes in, thus causing weight gain.

It can be very difficult for women to undergo weight loss during menopause. What most women can do is to learn how to accept weight gain during menopause as a natural thing. Weight gain during this period of a woman's life is not entirely bad. Weight gain may even provide some good. A little weight gained may help in lessening anxiety as well as hot flashes that are also the usual symptoms that is associated with menopause. Weight gain during menopause is also a means of the body to prepare itself from osteoporosis or other types of illnesses.

There is a way that women may be able to do in trying to keep weight gain during menopause in check. Eating a balanced diet may help make weight gain during menopause a benefit instead of a burden. Women should avoid the consumption of refined sugars as well as processed foods and instead fill up their daily diet with fruits and vegetables.

Women undergoing menopause and weight gain should also try to avoid crash diets. It will only makes things even worse as starving the body will only cause one's metabolism to slow down and cause even more weight to be gained in the process. In the same way women during this stage in their lives should avoid losing large amounts of weight.

Drastic weight loss or becoming very thin during menopause can result in increased risks of developing osteoporosis later on. Remaining active may help in increasing metabolism and burn some of the fats in the body during or after menopause.

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