Secrets to Losing Weight in College: How I Reversed the Freshman 15 & Dropped 120 Pounds in One Year

By Bennett Gavrish

Bennett Gavrish has delivered a powerful and engaging guide for college students struggling with their weight. Learn the diet strategy, exercise routine, and mental approach that Gavrish used to lose 120 pounds in 12 months.

Gavrish provides helpful tips for every part of the college experience, with plenty of laughs along the way. Discover healthy ways to tackle dining halls, grocery stores, restaurants, and parties. “Secrets to Losing Weight in College” also includes a number of nutritious suggestions for each meal of the day.

Whether you are a freshman or an alumnus, don’t wait any longer to start taking care of your body. With Gavrish’s guidance and motivation, you can do more than just reverse the Freshman 15. A happier and healthier life is within your reach.

(23,000 words)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bennett Gavrish
• Release date: Sep 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301406241

Bennett Gavrish

Bennett Gavrish is a software developer and part-time novelist from New Hampshire. He graduated from Boston University in 2010 with a degree in journalism. Train Wreck is his first novel. For more information, visit www.bennettgavrish.com or follow Bennett at twitter.com/bennettgavrish.

Book preview

Secrets to

Losing Weight

in College

How I Reversed the Freshman 15

& Lost 120 Pounds in One Year

Bennett Gavrish

Secrets to Losing Weight in College: How I Reversed the Freshman 15 and Dropped 120 Pounds in One Year

Bennett Gavrish

Smashwords Edition

This book is intended to supplement, not replace, the advice of a trained health professional. If you know or suspect you have a health problem, you should consult a physician. The author specifically disclaims liability and risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

Any and all product names referenced within this book are the trademarks of their respective owners. None of these owners have sponsored, authorized, endorsed, or approved this book. The statements made in this book have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

Copyright © 2012 by Bennett Gavrish

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work, in whole or in part, in any form.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Also by Bennett Gavrish

Fiction

Train Wreck: A Novel

Chapter 1

Orientation

Look, I know you’re picking up this book because you want to lose weight, not because you want to read my autobiography. So I’ll keep my story short and then get right to the important stuff.

As far back as I can remember into the tumultuous era known as my childhood, I was always chubby. Although the men on my father’s side of the family are all hefty, I could never blame my obesity on genetics alone. I’ve successfully blocked out most of my memories from middle school, but I can recall plenty of after-school snacks that included two hot dogs, a sleeve of buttery crackers, half a canister of spray cheese, and a couple cans of orange soda. (For the record, I hold films like Good Burger and A Goofy Movie responsible for those horrible eating habits.)

By the time I graduated high school (yes, they managed to find a gown that fit my oversized frame), I weighed a whopping 260 pounds.

Two years later, I was a junior in college and had ballooned to the 300-pound mark.

Today, as I look back on those first semesters of college, I have a better understanding of the factors that contributed to my weight gain. Going to college is a shock to the human body on multiple levels – both physical and mental. There are so many new things to worry about and so much new freedom to explore. And don’t forget about all the crappy food you can charge directly to your parents’ bank account. The truth is, it’s incredibly easy to ignore your health and fall into bad eating habits at college. During freshman year, controlling my weight was far from a priority for me – not when there were classes, roommates, friends, homework, and girls to focus on.

So remember, you are not the only college student facing this struggle. Obesity is a problem in schools across the United States. Everyone is familiar with the term Freshman 15. It describes the extra pounds that many college students put on when they first move away from home and start eating at university dining halls and experimenting with booze. For most people, it’s not something to be taken too seriously. Here’s how it usually plays out: Joey goes home for winter break. Joey’s friends say something like, Yo dude, you got a lil’ beer belly going on! Joey takes note of the aforementioned beer belly and either hits the gym more often or cuts down from three plates of french fries per meal to two. And then a few months later, Joey’s Freshman 15 is gone, never to be heard from again.

For me, gaining weight in college was neither as simple nor as trivial as it was for Joey in that little tale. As I mentioned before, my Freshman 15 was more like a Freshman 40 – and it left me with the frightening reality of being a 20-year-old who weighed 300 pounds, wore XXXL t-shirts, and struggled to fit into 42-inch pants.

Then everything changed. Or more accurately – I changed everything. You can call it a diet, but it was really more of a total life transformation. Either way, 12 months later I was a 21-year-old who weighed 180 pounds, wore medium-sized t-shirts, and needed a belt to hold up his 34-inch pants.

12 months. 120 pounds lost. And this book will tell you how I did it.

In case you’re wondering, I’ve kept that weight off for three years and counting. I stay within the 180-190 pound range these days and can confidently say I am leading a happier and more fulfilling life than I ever did during my heavy days.

When I tell people about all the weight I lost, the thing that surprises them the most is that I did not follow any of today’s popular diets or subscribe to a weight loss service that tells you exactly what to eat and delivers special food to your door. Heck, I didn’t even have an awesome book like this to walk me through the process.

My weight problems were not due to a lack of information or instructions. I recognized my bad habits and knew what I had to do to get healthy. The struggle was actually getting myself to do the right things and break those bad habits.

My hope is that this book will provide you with the motivation and guidance needed to overcome your own struggles and get yourself on the path to a happier, healthier life. (I swear the rest of this book will not be so cheesy.)

From what I can tell, the majority of diet books and weight loss manuals are written by doctors or old people. I’m sure those folks know what they’re talking about, but it’s also valuable to hear from a different perspective. Within this book, I’ll share experiences from before, during, and after my weight loss, and along the way you’ll be exposed to the different tactics that comprise my strategy for dropping pounds.

One thing I will not do is waste time talking about the obesity epidemic or condemning Americans for letting themselves get so fat. You don’t need to hear another lecture on that. It won’t help to fix anything in your life.

Now obviously this book is aimed