College students usually gain some weight their freshman year. Why? Sometimes it’s stress, lack of sleep, or a combination of these two. The solution to both of these are pretty obvious: manage your stress better and get more sleep.

But most people don’t realize that their weight gain has to do with bad habits. These habits start small and are easily excusable, but they soon grow big and unmanageable.

Avoid forming these bad habits:

1. Making excuses: I had a friend in college who would always say “you only freshman once,” which changed year after year to fit our classification. Don’t allow yourself to make excuses for eating (e.g. I had a bad day!). This mentality is really a form of feeling sorry for yourself and easing your conscience. You shouldn’t be eating donuts for breakfast every Saturday or pizza for lunch on every weekday, so don’t try to convince yourself this is ok.
2. Snacking while studying: This is a dangerous pitfall, especially if you frequently study. Because you’re doing something good (studying), you can easily fall into a bad habit simultaneously. “Snacks are my way of motivating or rewarding myself for working hard”—is an easy way to justify your eating. Try to stick to meal times for your food, and if you do snack while studying eat something healthy like carrots sticks or apple slices.
3. Socializing only when food is involved: Saying no to food is hard when your socializing often revolves around eating. You probably have more influence over your friends than you think you do. Ask them if you could do something non-food related, like hiking, instead.
4. Overeating at meals: If you’re on a meal plan at your college, you may be tempted to stuff yourself at every meal to get your money’s worth. Don’t. Eat only one serving’s worth. When you do eat, try to include meats, fruits, and vegetables at most meals. Avoid the desserts and cereals, as tempting as they might be they aren’t good for you.
5. Delaying exercising: You have so many tasks in college that exercising may be the last priority on your to-do list. Bargaining with yourself is easy too, because you’re probably tired or sick. Plan to exercise 10–15 minutes daily. A trick I used often is getting changed into my exercise clothes before I could make up my mind to exercise or not. By the time I got changed, I might as well exercise rather than change back into comfortable clothes.

Avoid the freshman 15 by refusing to form these bad habits. Staying healthy isn’t impossible, but it does take some intentional effort.

For more college freshmen advice, visit my blog — www.seguetocollege.com