There’s no doubt that university is a pretty unique experience, and it changes you in a lot of ways. I’ve met a whole load of incredible new people and I feel like I’ve discovered a lot about myself since starting at Leeds. As cheesy as it sounds, I’ve really grown as a person. And I mean this not only metaphorically, but literally. And this is not only normal, but healthy.
‘The Freshers 15’ is a term coined to describe weight gain in first year uni students. I’ve never weighed myself (my mum calls bathroom scales ‘the sad step’), but I know that I’ve gained a very noticeable amount of weight since coming to Leeds a year ago. And as a young woman living in ‘skinny queen’ culture, I felt very insecure about this for a long time, especially when girls I would meet spoke about skipping meals in preparation for a night out, and the number of times I heard ‘This is the first thing I’ve eaten today!’ at 6pm.
Weight gain during the first year of university is far from rare. Demonised in the press, it has been dubbed ‘The Freshers 15’ or ‘Freshers Flab’ by the Daily Mail. The Conversation even released an article in 2019 advising universities on how to prevent their students from gaining weight, as if it is unnatural or unhealthy. I can’t express how damaging this is to young students, probably already mentally exhausted from moving to a new city, socialising and adjusting to an entirely different way of life. Weight gain is not something to be feared. Measures do not need to be put into place to prevent people from gaining weight because it is not something that should be avoided, but celebrated.
Not only did I gain weight during my first year at uni, I gained independence, happiness, food freedom, memories and life. My body was simply reflecting this. Now, I enjoy my life a lot more. I go out and drink, I eat cheesy chips and gravy outside Crispys, I go out for food with my friends, we cook together, we order takeaways for movie nights, we go to the pub. And I frankly couldn’t care less if you can tell any of this from my appearance. Insecurity and restriction will only limit your first year experience, so enjoy freshers year while it lasts, and wear that Freshers 15 like a badge of honour.
Written by: Erin Latham
Edited by: Annabel Cossins-Smith