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Underclassmen
From fasting to liquid diets.
weight conscious students
resorted to many tactics
as they waged the
Battle of the bul~e
The mysterious "Freshman Fifteen" ...
often referred to in tones of fright
and horror by new and old students
alike. The solution, a four-letter word:
DIET.
Diets range from fasting, to water or
liquid diets, to starting out on Monday
by just eating less and then stopping on
Tuesday when the craving for a Big Mac
hits. And yet students still seem to think
they have a weight problem.
So the mystery continues. Do diets
really work? How many students actually
begin diets and stick to them?
What is the most effective way to lose
those extra pounds? And, of cowse,
there is always the question "WHY
ME?".
A common reason for the weight gain
that hits freshman at the beginning of
the year is a change in their eating
habits.
Loretta Leberknight, an Idaho Falls
senior and a Resident Advisor in one of
the dorms, said "There's a lot of starch in
the cafeteria food served here. The girls'
eating habits change because of
academic pressures and because of the
studying they have to do. So they eat
more. The average weight gain may not
be as high as 15 pounds, but it is
definitely between five and ten."
Although women students seem to talk
about pounds and ounces more, men are
weight conscious also. The men also
gain between five and ten pounds at the
beginning of the year. Andy Hazzard, a
freshma n from Boise and a member of
the Alpha Tau Omega house, said approximately
30-40 percent of the men
care about their weight and actively
diet.
Alcohol would seem to play a big role
in the weight problem, but students are
more likely to give up their veggies than
their Gin and Tonics or their beer. Hazzard
claimed that "hardly any of the
guys try not to drink as much when they
diet- they just don't eat as much."
Exercise among women has increased
lately. One RA in the Tower has been
conducting an Aerobic Dance workout
for the women on her floor every night.
There is also a collection to which every
hall member donates 25 cents which is
given to the woman (or women) who
loses the most weight dwing the week.
Today's more active women are doing
things which used to be done only by
men. Leberknight said that women are
becoming more weight conscious than in
the past. "They're using the swimming
center and racquetball courts more often
now."
With the increased activity and concern,
maybe the "Freshman Fifteen" will
become a myth. But until then, some
students will consider a diet to be an activity
as popular as homework and as
necessary as breathing. 0
The "Weighting Game."
Many dWerent shapes and slaes challenge
scales like th- dally- Junior Cindy House Is
pleased with her progr- as she cmxtously
awaits the scale's Yerdlct. (photo P. Jerome)
60 Underclassmen/ Diets