So says Anna, my niece from Asheville who four years ago this month was an entering freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill. I wrote then about her plan for avoiding the dreaded "freshman 15."

So how did she do?

She did great. She did it by working regular exercise into her daily routines, and by being mindful of her eating habits.

"It's all about the lifestyle you lead," Anna told me.

For instance, when other students took the bus to get across campus, Anna walked. "I never started riding the bus, so it didn't become a habit," she said. "So when it rained, I walked. I wouldn't have even known which bus to take."

With the benefit of four years of experience adjusting to life away from home, what other advice does Anna have for students struggling to keep their weight under control at school?

Plenty. She says there are several keys:

• Get more physical activity than you got at home. Freshman year, Anna increased her level of activity by walking everywhere she went. "If I wanted to get frozen yogurt with my friends, we walked to Franklin Street and back," Anna said.

She used the time walking to class to catch up on phone calls. "It saved time, and it was easier, since I didn't have my own space when I was a freshman," she said.

Another bonus to walking instead of driving: It was easier than having to hunt for parking spaces on campus. Often it was just as fast, too.

• Immunize yourself against overeating. "A lot of people gained a lot of weight, because they ate late night food, especially Chinese and pizza," said Anna. "They did it on top of everything else. It's like a whole extra meal each day."

Anna didn't eat late at night and only ordered pizza a handful of times during her entire college career. She kept a limited amount of snack food in her room, mostly fresh fruit.

She also resisted the temptation to gorge on the food available in the dining hall. "You don't need all that food," she said.

"If you're overwhelmed by all the food that's there in the dining hall, remember that it'll be there tomorrow," she said.

• Cap the alcohol. In addition to extra food, a lot of students gained weight from liquid calories. "Even if you only drink two or three times a week, it can add up to a tremendous number of calories," she said.

Like fat, alcohol contains a concentrated number of calories. Sweet mixers add even more. And beverages go down so easily that you might not even be conscious of how much you are consuming.

• Socialize strategically. In her senior year, Anna and her friends used walking as a social event. "We'd walk and talk," she said. Or she and a friend would go out for an easy run and gab.

They also took advantage of the free pool and gym memberships at school. "We jumped rope and swam at the gym to mix it up," she said. "I made it a social thing."

It's advice that worked for Anna.

It's lifestyle advice that could work for the rest of us, too. Find ways to be more physically active more often. Condition yourself to avoid excess calories from snacks and drinks. Socialize on your feet instead of sitting at a table.

Take a lesson from a college undergrad and you, too, may avoid an extra 15 pounds.

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