It’s hard to believe that over 10 years ago I headed off to Ann Arbor to begin my freshman year at the University of Michigan!

I’m sure like many people, reflecting back on it, college was for me a mix of fun/positive times and (many!) hard/stressful times.

Thankfully, I was mostly fully recovered from my eating disorder which had started/mostly been a thing in high school. I was doing well mentally and emotionally in regard to food, but was still working on some physical healing (hormones, GI, etc.).

I say “thankfully” because I know from my experience in college (via observing others, talking to friends, etc.) and from talking to clients/students still in college, how hard it can be to grow in having a healthy relationship with food, exercise, and body image during these pivotal years.

It seems to me that most people tend to experience more disorder and dysfunction on these fronts throughout college. There can be so much pressure to exercise a certain a way (queue the endless elliptical usage at the gym…), look a certain way, and eat certain foods and quantities deemed “healthy” or intended to lead to the “ideal body size.”

Given the pressures and challenges of the typical college environment, it can take some intentionality to grow positively in your relationship with food (and exercise + body image) during this time. Note: this intentionality is also true of “regular” life beyond or before college!!

As we (as a culture/society) enter the back-to-school season, I wanted to provide some thoughts and reflections on ways you might consider going about improving your relationship with food/exercise/body image during the school year in particular.

Hopefully you will find the following thoughts especially helpful/relevant if you are a college student, and, for everyone else, also helpful for everyday living in our diet/body size-obsessed culture!

Thoughts on Improving Your Relationship with Food, Exercise, & Body Image While in College (or beyond for that matter!): 

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