It’s 11 p.m. and the typical college student is sitting at her desk in her dorm, writing her 500-word essay that is due the next day. Her dinner? A $3.99 combo from the fast food restaurants downstairs. This might seem extreme, but college students face this struggle almost daily, especially freshmen, who are new to the whole experience. “The Freshman Fifteen” is a real thing, and involves eating habits like cooking Ramen at 2 a.m., eating cereal as a meal, and ordering pizza because there is no time to prepare actual food.

As more students resort to buying fast food, snacking, and easy-to-prepare meals, they forget about one of the most important parts of nutrition: fruits and vegetables. These both provide things such as fiber, minerals, and antioxidants that we can’t get from anything else.

On the other hand, some students make their eating choices based on money or budgets. Because unhealthy food is usually the cheapest and students don’t want to pay more for food than they have to, they turn to this practice. It is proven that the unhealthier a person eats, the more stress and lack of focus they have, among other bad effects. According to WebMD, a study recently demonstrated that almost 25% of college students gain 10 pounds during their first year at school.

As they move to a new lifestyle, students also must get used to the new schedules, and often find it difficult to find time to get to the gym or to go get groceries from off campus. According to Collegian, most students know how they could stay healthy, they just don’t have enough motivation to eat healthy or workout.

Newsome seniors, remember this as you move on to the next chapter, and develop a plan to get your nutrients and develop healthy eating habits.