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You can blame bad genes, your dorm-mate shrinking your jeans or a whole host of reasons why college made you fat. If you keep whining about your weight and making up excuses for it, however, all you’ll do is change being fat into being fat and cranky. Talk about a party pooper! And we already know the physical reason behind the extra weight. You gain weight when, quite simply, you consume more calories than you burn off. Period. It doesn’t really matter if the 4,000 calories came from a nutrient-packed smoothie or a gooey chocolate cake. Unless you get moving and burn off those 4,000 big ones, you are going to gain weight . So that takes care of the physical reason. Now let’s look at the mental stuff. College is a new, exciting , stressful, and foreign thing. No matter how much fun you may be having, there may still be moments of insecurity, confusion or downright fear. Your old friends may be somewhere else and there’s all these new people hopping...

Summer classes don't begin until next week, but for the past ten days I've been getting a crash course in football hotness. My roommate is from a lemon sunshine and poplar treed region of southern France. She tells me her backyard looks like a Monet painting . Having never done the backpacking and Euro Rail thing, how can I argue this point?   Oui . A petite brunette who knows more about the art of   terroir   and Sauvignon Blanc than American pop culture and $1 drafts of PBR at the local pub, she's engaged in a rigorous study abroad program, studying, and what else could it be really: Literature in the 21st Century. While most American   femmes   are glued to American Idol , Gossip Girls or the ongoing exploits of the Kardashian clan, my roommate is a soccer (excuse me) football junkie, and since Euro 2012 started on June 8th, she seems more like a jilted lover than a D.H. Lawrence style woman in love. What do I mean? She doesn't brush her Isabelle Hubbert hai...

First, no, your mother did not write this. Perhaps, consider me a concerned third-party, a fellow American, and a writer who does care about your success.   Tough times still - for us - for you, so basics are a must to run at our very best, learn and develop, find our roles in the resolution, and sustain ourselves in the future, accountably.   Smart and healthy are synonymous. Dictionary - The Reference Book Dictionary: noun 1. A reference book containing an explanatory alphabetical list of words with definitions, pronunciations, and often other information, such as synonym lists ( similar words ). While the World Wide Web now provides you with more tools than you will have time to utilize during your 4 years in college, a good dictionary is an absolute must, and the one book you will invest in that appreciates in value over time. Understanding the definition of words, what they mean “literally” is not just important it is part of the very f...

After the initial thrill of leaving home for the first time, meeting your new roommate (who may turn out to be your BFF for the next four years or your mortal enemy), attending your first day of classes and eating in a dining hall that is uncomfortably reminiscent of what you experienced in high school, right down to the cliques, the Heathers and the mound of mash potatoes that look like stage props from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a certain dazed and confused paralysis may set it. Do not worry: It happens to all college freshman. After that first blissful week, you might find yourself wandering the college dorms, quads and classrooms like a new millennium zombie, as one foot is still firmly locked somewhere in high school and the other is tentatively shuffling you through the bizarre universe of college life. You might feel as if you are trapped in one of the circles of hell from Dante's Inferno ; however, chances are you will not know it yet, as that type ...

Just because you're living in a dorm room doesn't mean your bed has to look ordinary or cheap. You can easily create an luxurious look by adding a few pieces to your bedding. These additions are generally inexpensive and will make your entire room look fantastic. Decide on a Color Scheme Before you go out and get the items you will need to create an elegant looking bed, decide on the color scheme you want to use. Try and combine three colors that complement each other in order to create a more visually appealing look. Consider using a blend of patterns including florals, plaids, stripes and animal prints. Add Lots of Layers When you look at magazines or visit hotels, you will notice that the common element of luxury bedding is a lot of layers of soft, elegant linens and pillows. To create the most luxurious effect be sure to include the following bedding products: a bed skirt, a mattress topper and pad, a fitted and flat sheet, a down duvet, two euro pillows with covers and cas...

A soft, thick duvet wrapped in a silky cover is sure to bring you a good sleep. These bedding pieces add combine of luxury and comfort to provide you with a restful sleeping experience. In order to maintain the quality of these bed linens, it is is important to care for them properly. A duvet is much like a bed comforter however it offers higher quality fabric and filling. Duvets are made with feather, polyfil, wool and silk filling. The outer layer of the duvet is typically made of a white cotton fabric with a high thread count. The cover on a duvet acts much like a pillow case does for a pillow. The duvet is slipped inside the cover and fits snugly inside the fabric. The end of the cover is then closed with buttons, velcro or a zipper. Duvet covers come in a variety of colors, patterns and fabrics. In order to maintain the quality of a duvet and cover, they must be carefully maintained. When you get out of bed in the morning, fluff up the duvet to maintain the thickness and distr...

Bed linens come in lots of colors, designs, fabrics, thread counts and prices. This range of product effects the care needed to wash bed linens. It's important to wash linens properly in order to maintain the color and quality of the fabric. When you purchase the linens for your dorm room, be sure to check the washing instructions before you clean them. Most manufacturers will provide you with specific instructions for washing and drying your bed linens. When you get your new linens back to your dorm room, take the washing instructions out of the package and put them in a safe place. If the instructions are on the linen tags, remove the tags and save them for later use. You might want to keep the instructions with all of your other washing products. If you accidentally misplace your instructions, the following tips will help you when it comes time to launder your bed linens. Wash your sheets and pillowcases on a cool or warm water temperature. Set the washing machine to a gentle cy...

Bed pillows that are filled with feathers offer a soft place to rest your head. For this reason, many people prefer to sleep on feather pillows. In order to keep these pillows soft, it is necessary to wash them properly. It is possible to wash your feather pillows in your washing machine. Remove the case from the pillows and check for any small tears in the pillow fabric. If you detect any rips, be sure to mend the holes before you place the pillow into the washing machine. This will prevent the loss of feathers from the pillow during the washing cycle. You can use either a needle and thread, or fabric tape to mend any holes you might find. Washing machines can become unbalanced if a load becomes heavy on one side of the drum. An unbalanced machine will not wash your items properly and can potentially damage your washer. It's important to place your feather pillows properly into your machine. Put one pillow on either side of the drum. If you have a few towels that also need to be w...

If your living off campus, you understand the high cost of keeping your place warm. Heating costs have risen drastically over the past few years, making the costs of utilities much more expensive. You can reduce some of your heating costs by investing in heated blankets and bed covers. By using heating blankets at night, you can reduce your utility costs between ten and fifteen percent. There are many different heated blankets available in a variety of fabrics, designs, sizes and colors. Some of these blankets are designed with sensors that detect a change in your body temperature and reflect the change in the heat emitted. The wiring inside these blankets are barely noticeable and do not affect the comfort and texture of the fabric. You can also use a heated mattress pad. These products are fitted over your mattress and below your flat sheet. They provide a consistent level of heat and are also available in a varying prices. Most heated mattress pads also have twin controls that allow...

The topic of bed bugs is a common headline in news articles and reports. These irritating pests are spreading more and more, infesting many beds around the world. They have been found not only in hotels, but in homes and dorm rooms as well. There is no valid connection between bed bugs and dirty rooms. Rather than dirt, bed bugs look for human blood as their food source. Any areas that provide bed bugs with access to human blood are potential locations for a bed bug infestation. In order to infest a dorm room, bed bugs have to be carried on a person or their belongings. Once feeding is over, these insects will not remain on their food sources. They might however, stay on a piece of clothing and be carried from one place to another. This enables these insects to infest offices and theaters on coats and in purses. Bed bugs are also know to travel in suitcases and pieces of luggage. When bed bugs reach a dorm room they can easily hide in wall trim and furniture fabric. Once hidden, th...