Son Gaining weight in College

[Anonymous]

I honestly do not know how to handle this situation, but I am unable to ignore it. For some background, my son, who just completed his freshman year of college at JMU, has put on a good amount of weight while being at college and does not seem to even be aware of it/care at all.

My son was always thin growing up, and he was very active/involved in sports. He played football at Madison HS in Vienna all four years of high school and played baseball in the spring all four years as well. Growing up we always made sure to have plenty of nutritious meals available and our family is very active and places a high importance on staying in shape.

In August, when our son moved into JMU, he was lean and in great shape, now he is noticeably bigger. He was roughly 175lbs in August and he now weighs about 200lbs. While he does go to the gym, I don't think he does any sort of cardio workout which does not help. I believe the lack of structured sports practices/games he has had for many years, joining a fraternity, plus unlimited dining hall food has caused him to gain weight.

He is 6'2", and was very lean at 175, so it's not like I expected him to stay that way forever, I understand that people fill out as they get older. Since he is somewhat taller and worked out a lot in high school, he can carry the extra weight he's put on somewhat well. The thing that concerns me is that he put on 25lbs between August-May, and he does not seem to notice/care. I want to help him out with this because I am concerned he will keep these bad habits he's picked up at school and continue to gain weight.

How do I talk to him about this? I love him dearly and he is an amazing kid. He earned amazing grades his first year at college and has a great social life. He also found a summer job right away and is very respectful, responsible, etc. He is doing amazing in all facets of life, but I would hate to see him become unhealthy due to developing bad eating habits. What would you all do in this situation?

[Anonymous]

Nothing. Leave him alone

[Anonymous]

He’s drinking a lot of beer. If he seems happy overall and is doing well in school, I’d do nothing.

[Anonymous]

I feel like this post is so high on details that, if true, make your son easily identifiable.

[Anonymous]

It’s called the freshman 15 for a reason. You will do way more lifelong damage by “helping” him than by ignoring him.

He knows he is heavier. I promise. He may not care, but I guarantee he knows.

[Anonymous]

God, I love the Adult Children forum.

[Anonymous]

my god

[Anonymous]

At 6'2" and 200 pounds, he probably still needs to put on more weight.

[Anonymous]

I kinda feel for the OP. 25lbs in one year at college is a lot. I will say this, your son is very aware of the fact he is bigger, most likely he has outgrown most of clothes and his guy friends have definitely pointed it out to him (guys at that age can be so cruel LOL).

Leave him alone for now, if he continues to gain weight and is genuinely becoming unhealthy/negatively impacting his quality of life, I would say something then.

For now, leave him alone. 200lbs at 6'2" is nothing crazy. I would start getting worried if he goes above 225 or something.

Sounds like you have a well-adjusted kid, don't take it for granted!

[Anonymous]

Dude, it is very obvious who this person is. Suggest deleting this post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like this post is so high on details that, if true, make your son easily identifiable.

Right? How many 6’2” football/baseball players could that one high school have sent to JMU?

Mom, he’s drinking beer and gained some weight freshman year. There’s nothing you can do about it.

[Anonymous]

You might as well post before and after pics at this point. Jesus. You’ve done everything to identify him but say his name. The poor kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like this post is so high on details that, if true, make your son easily identifiable.

100%. It's easy to pull the team rosters from that school and crosscheck which guys played football and baseball.

How sad.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't matter how identifiable OP's DS is because this happens to so many college freshman - who cares if you can google his name (which is a creepy thing to do, btw).

OP, there isn't anything you can do. The Freshman 15 is really the Freshman 30. He'll come around in time.

My parents gently approached me about my weight gain in college after I did a study abroad. To be honest, I don't think I realized how much weight I had gained because I had never gained weight before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like this post is so high on details that, if true, make your son easily identifiable.

Yes. Please edit out his high school and college!