You've heard the term before. You know you have. What term, you ask? Why, the freshman fifteen, of course. I vaguely remember hearing that it was the freshman ten, but hey - you've gotta count for inflation, right? ;-) (bad pun, I know.)

Apparently, a lot of people gain some weight after they go away to college - but wait, what's that you say? You're commuting? That's no excuse! You are just as capable of gaining that 15 as any ol' dorm resident. Allow me to share my secrets:

First of all, you have to decide how much money you're willing to spend. There's budget junk food for your average "starving college student," and then there's top-of-the-line junk food for the still-mooching-off-the-'rents crowd.

You also should deposit money into your BruinCard account; you must deposit at least $20.00 when you activate the account, and after that you can deposit in increments of $5.00. You don't even have to burn more than a few calories to do this; all you need is internet access and a credit card, preferably not your own. Parents are good for this purpose.

Now that you have money with which to fund your expedition, you need to decide what to eat. If you're like me, you arrive on campus at about nine and have an hour to kill before your first class. Head on over to floor 1 of Ackerman Union (the Terrace food court) and get yourself a blended coffee drink for $2.75 - there are TONS of flavors, but I'm sure the peanut butter one is the most fattening. They're all yummy. (Just follow the sound of the blender! You'll find it!) The coffee drinks are quite filling, but if you think you can handle more, get a danish ($1.35) or a doughnut (under $1.00, I think). If you can't handle this amount of junk-food right away, you can cheat and sneak across the food court to La Cucina, where you can get a fruit salad for around $2.00. If you want to take baby-steps, try the fruit and frozen yogurt combo at Columbo's frozen yogurt. I'm not sure what it's called, but it's under $3.00.

Now go to class! After class, take the campus-express - don't walk - to LuValle Commons. I generally alternate between LuValle and Ackerman, so they're all I can really talk about. Buy yourself a Subway-style sandwich for about $3.75, and don't forget the cookies. If you can spare $.05 more per cookie, slip into Jimmy's Coffee House and get a chocolate rugala or three. They are absolutely delicious! :-) If you're not a lunch person, get another blended coffee; there are three different places that I know of in which you can get these lovely caffeine-filled beverages: floor 1 of Ackerman Union, the coffee shop in LuValle Commons, and the Kerckhoff Coffee House.

If your near-lunchtime class is closer to south campus, head for the Bombshelter (don't know much about it) and find something there. You can probably find something nice and unhealthy for under $4.00... If you want to be frugal, make your way to the bottom of Bruin Walk, where you'll find a Taco Bell and a little sandwich shop. If it's really hot outside, go back to Ackerman and get another frozen yogurt ($1.50 for a small cup). Whatever you do, don't go to Panda Express for lunch - the lines are SOOOOO long! Save it for dinner...

If you need a between-meals snack, there are about a dozen sets of vending machines around campus. In these, you can get anything from a bottled frappuccino and a sandwich to a banana, a soda, or an ice cream bar. In the machines near the math-science building and in one or two others, you can swipe your BruinCard in lieu of paying in cash. Convenient, isn't it? :-)

If you're even more like me and are stuck on campus until dinnertime, then you are lucky, because here's where you get the best food. You should note that by dinnertime I mean around 6:00; I'm not sure what time they close but I was stuck on campus late last night (til about 9:30) and everything was closed when I left... Also, anything I mention for dinner may be consumed as a lunch (or breakfast!) meal instead. These are just my suggestions.

If you like tacos and stuff, you can either go back to Taco Bell or head over to Rubio's Baja Grill. I don't get food from Rubio's often so I can't say much, but I'm not too fond of the $2.00 bean and cheese burrito.

If you like Chinese food, now's your chance to get your meal from Panda Express; the lines at dinnertime are MUCH shorter than they are at lunchtime. The best deal is the Panda bowl; it's about $3.70 and you get rice (or chow mein) and some sort of meat dish. Since I don't eat red meat I usually opt for the very-yummy orange chicken, which is probably the most popular, considering that they have more of that than of anything else there...

Like Italian food? Eat at La Cucina (by Sbarro). For under two bucks you can get a filling slice of pizza, and for under three you can try the EXTREMELY delicious spinach-and-broccoli stuffed pizza. It's a little on the spicy side (I think it's got little peppers in it or something), but it is excellent! If you're more of a pasta person, go for the baked ziti (about $3.50); it's very good and comes with a garlic roll. If you still have room, get carrot cake, cheesecake, or chocolate cake for dessert; it's almost as much as the meal at $2.50 a slice, but if your budget will allow it, it's worth it!

Other places worth mentioning: Wetzel's Pretzels, which has great specialty pretzels like the "Cinna-Yum," a Cinnabon-inspired creation that costs about $2.50 and comes with sugary icing and has cinnamon baked into it. Baskin Robbins - YES! THERE IS ICE CREAM! - is adjacent to the Kerckhoff Coffee House (free coffee after nine p.m. during finals week!), where you can find pastries, coffee, and sandwiches. The little candy store across from Columbo's is kind of like the Sweet Shoppe; you fill little bags with a variety of candies and pay based on the weight of the bag. The Cooperage has pizza (though La Cucina's pizza is better), chicken, and a salad bar (and a TV or 2...). When all else fails, head to the little market on the B-level of Ackerman and get something from one of the food aisles.

I'm sure I'm leaving some places out, but this should be enough to get you started on your way to gaining the freshman fifteen! If so, congratulations! Who says commuters can't be just like the dorm-people??? If not, well, you must be working out too often... ;-)

Disclaimer: Well, I think it's obvious. I don't really want you to deliberately gain weight. That would be unhealthy...

:-)



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