Photo Courtesy / Jessica Lee

Have you heard the rumors, but remain a doubter?  The “freshman 15”, that is, the 15 lbs you will almost surely take on in your very first university year, is very real.  Want to keep the GPA up and the waistline down?  The Underground is here to help you Froshies stay fit.

TIP 1: STAY FRESH

Processed, once frozen, and downright greasy fast food is an obvious aid to the “freshman 15”, but it is something almost every university student seems to succumb to upon entering school.  According to a 2004 study by professor David Levitsky of Cornell University, freshmen in his trial gained an average of 0.3 lbs.  Roughly speaking, that equates to almost five lbs by your first midterm.  Keep to fresh foods from local grocers, including plenty of greens.  Additionally, avoid the late night drive-thru runs that plague intense study sessions—eating at regular intervals well before bedtime is difficult, but beneficial in the long run.

AT  UTSC: Farmer’s market every Monday between 3 and 7:30 p.m. in the student parking lot offers fresh solutions to the fast food restaurants (and the bursting seams) down the road.

TIP 2: STAY TIGHT

High school gym class was your worst nightmare, but by the time you are finding it difficult to climb lecture hall stairs, you will yearn for the days you were forced to get fit.  Freshman students are the worst at managing time, but once you aren’t being pushed up that rope by a burly gym teacher at 9 a.m., you will see your exercise time, and your chin, fade away.  The key is picking a time, possibly between classes, when you will already find yourself on campus.  Spending an hour sweating it out after a lecture is a good way to rejuvenate your mind before tackling your lab report back at home.

AT UTSC: The cardio theatre at The Key is a great way to get into the art of exercise, before finding the weight rooms downstairs.  Or, get down to the valley for a nature hike or a game of tennis, in a comforting woodsy environment.

TIP 3: STAY SATISFIED

Possibly the most instantly gratifying of any of our solutions, is the one we suggest take place in the dorm room.  The benefits to sex are usually obvious, but its remuneration paid to your health and fitness is often overlooked by drooling Froshies.  According to ehow.com, 15 minutes of foreplay followed by 45 minutes of intercourse will slim you 320 calories.  Triple that each week and you will have had an equivalent exercise to running from UTSC to University of Guelph—and when was the last time you were caught dead at Guelph?  For those whose partner isn’t giving the green light to your newfound “favourite exercise”, just kissing during a bad movie a couple times a week will at least burn off a milkshake or two.

AT UTSC: Men, get yourself to poetry lectures with professor Andrew Dubois if you’re looking for a true plethora of attractive femmes.  Women, the first varsity baseball home game is down in the valley on September 12.