Tufts Blogs

If you’re an incoming international student, you may not be familiar with the term “Freshman fifteen.” This term has become a sort of urban legend among university campuses. I had no idea what it meant when I was in Brazil. Only after arriving at Tufts that I found out it refers to the fifteen pounds (approximately seven kilograms) that students usually gain during their first year at college.

Your diet will change a lot when you start college. You won’t get to choose what’s on the menu and you may not like the typical food options in the U.S. like hamburgers and fries. But the most important thing to know is that you won’t have to go through all of this alone. Tufts offers comprehensive meal plans, great dining halls with quality food, and a big gym for you to work out.

At Tufts, first-years are required to purchase unlimited meal plans that include breakfast, lunch, and dinner, every day of the week. With this system, we can get food from any location that accepts meal swipes as payment: options include Dewick, Carmichael, The Commons Marketplace, and Hodgdon. We also have a few other dining halls and restaurants that accept Jumbo Cash, our school’s money, including Tower Cafe located in the Tisch Library.

My two favorite spots to eat on campus are Hodge (short of Hodgdon) and The Commons Marketplace. They're food-on-the-run alternatives in case you don't have time to sit in a dining hall and enjoy lunch with your friends, or if you don’t want to miss your lunch break or an important class. The menus have many food options for all kinds of taste, from vegan to fat foods. For those who decide to come to Tufts for college, food certainly won’t be a problem.

I didn't gain fifteen pounds in my first year thanks to having to do so much at school and so little time to do it all. Sometimes, I’d only have a single meal a day (obviously not healthy), but it helped me control my weight gains. Yes, unfortunately if I were to rely on my eagerness to go to the gym, I would’ve gained so much more than just fifteen pounds. I also relied on cooking my own food and using the kitchen in my dorm. Most Tufts dorms have kitchens available for students to share and use whenever they want.

As a tip, I would advise you to do better than I did. Make sure you use all of Tufts' sports facilities and the gym, go for a run around the campus, join a sports team... There’s a lot of possibilities for you to stay healthy. Oh and look out for healthy food options, whether you’re shopping and preparing your own food, eating at a local restaurant or at one of Tufts’ dining halls.