Nicki Bartel made a promise to herself this summer that she was going to make a change. She was going to start eating healthy and respect what is best for her body. However, as she entered the cafeteria on her first day of college she realized this promise was going to be hard to keep.

So, when she received an email about Freshmen Five, a program sponsored by Campus Recreation geared toward freshmen women wanting to learn how to stay healthy while in college, she decided to give it a shot.

“When I think back when I was a freshman, I didn’t know what the Rec Center was,” Kacey Barr, founder and director of Freshmen Five, said.

“I wanted to target freshmen because sometimes they don’t know what or where the Rec Center is.”

Barr, a recent graduate of Kansas State University, has a degree in kinesiology and is working for the Fitness and Wellness sector of the Heskett Center while she works toward her graduate degree in exercise science at Wichita State.

Studies show that students on average gain 3 to 10 pounds during their first 2 years of college. Most of this weight gain occurs during the first semester of their freshman year, said kidshealth.org (reviewed by Larissa Hirsch, MD).

Freshmen Five is a five-week program designed to teach girls the resources available in the Heskett Center, how to eat healthy and stay fit.

“We sent out letters to every freshman woman in Brennan and Fairmount, asking them to email me if they were interested at the beginning of the year,” Barr said. “We decided to limit the first program to 20 girls so the girls could have one-on-one attention with the trainers.”

Barr added: “The idea is to combat freshman 15. We get them as soon as they get into college, before they have had experiences.”

The first meeting was August 21, and since then they have been meeting twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., and during the off-days they have a Wellness Challenge. So far they have had a nutrition, cardio, circuit, weight room, and self-defense class.

“At first I thought this is kind of intimidating,” Bartel said. “I wanted to learn about the Heskett and things on my own—I didn’t want to get the freshman 15.”

“We want them to know they can feel comfortable, too, in the weight room,” Barr said.

Researchers found that students who exercised at least 3 days a week were more likely to report better physical health, as well as greater happiness, than those who did not exercise. They were also more likely to report using their time productively, kidshealth.org said.

At the end and beginning of the program they have to take an assessment to measure how well they have progressed.

Barr received a $1300 grant for the program that she used to buy T-shirts, a self-defense class, incentives when students do well, trainers, and prizes that everyone receives when they finish the 5-week challenge.

Barr is considering doing the same program for men next fall.

“I can usually avoid the unhealthy choices in the cafeteria,” Bartel said. “The program has really helped me feel more comfortable working out on my own.”