President and founder of Dallas Sports University and Dallas Athletes Tom Ryan is going to present his “Fight the Freshman 15” lecture for students at 7 p.m.tonight in the Memorial Union Ball Room.

“Basically he is going to talk about how to be healthy during college life,” said Katie Moldenhaver, adviser of Union Activities Council and graduate student.

Ryan is a triathlon athlete. He is also a body builder who is familiar with body shape fitness.

“It gives people a good idea about how to be in a college lifestyle and yet stay healthy, especially for students who live in the dorms and eat in the cafeteria, this speech definitely helps everyone stay fit in their busy school life,” Moldenhaver said.

Moldenhaver said college students found themselves gaining 15 pounds on average during the first year of college.

“I’ve gained 31 pounds since I came to college. College life is so busy, it makes me addicted to high calories junk food, especially pizzas. Moreover, because I grew up in another country before entering college here, the diet difference makes my situation even worse,”said Songshan Bai, sophomore psychology major.

According to his website, Ryan’s information comes from a combination of personal experience and extensive hands-on training.

“Tom Ryan is a motivational speaker. I think he can definitely provide useful nutrition information to students and help them avoid gaining weight,” said Karie Nicholson, sophomore accounting major and chair of UAC Talks & Topics committee.

Ryan has spoken at over 200 colleges regarding health, fitness and nutrition, offering students “how to” programs for successfully fighting the “Freshman 15” and staying fit with a hectic college lifestyle, according to his website speech introduction.

“I definitely gained the ‘freshman 15’ during my first year. Luckily I have lost that weight, but I still remember I was so upset at that time,”said Alli Jordan, senior secondary English education major and vice chair of UAC Talks & Topics committee.

Jordan can relate her own experience to the themes of Ryan’s speech.

“We are so excited to bring this presentation to ESU students,” Jordan said.

Alison Li/The Bulletin

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