For Americans, fat is targeting our bellies specifically. Thunder thighs and cankles may be a thing of the past if a new fat trend continues. The “Journal of the American Medical Association” recently published a new study on the growth of American waistlines in the past decade, concluding that the average waistline has increased by at least one inch from 1999 to 2012.

The most interesting thing is that while obesity levels have stabilized, waistlines are still growing. We aren’t technically getting any fatter than we already were, but we’re loosening our belts and jumping up to the next pant size. It is speculated by researchers and health & nutrition experts that stress, hormone imbalances, environmental pollutants, sleeping issues, and medications have been helping to pack on the abdominal weight specifically.

Stress and sleeping issues especially sound very familiar to the average college student. We already know that eating too much at the dining center can lead to gaining the “freshman 15,” and that we need to make time to go to the gym. The reality is that while we know the right thing to do, it is still hard to actually go out and do it.

We’ve put together a small list of free health & nutrition apps that will help you combat not only the freshman 15, but the widening waistline as well.

1. HabitRPG

We’ve all succombed to an addictive game at least once in our lives, whether it’s Farmville, Skyrim, Runescape, or anything else. Why should you be excited about reaching level 99 in an online game but not reaching level 99 in real life? Turn your life into a role-playing game with this helpful app. Not only does it track your eating and exercise habits, but it reinforces more positive habits as well. You can level up to earn gear for your avatar, randomized items, and other rewards.

2. MyFitnessPal

If you’re into something purely for tracking purposes, this app is the best for you. It features an enormous user-generated database of foods and their nutritional content. You can track your calories, exercises, set daily goals, save recipes, and much more! When you create or save a recipe, it even portions it out and tells you the calorie amounts per serving, based on the ingredients.

3. Runtastic

This is an exercise-only app, featuring GPS tracking to record your biking, running, walking, and more! Very similar to apps such as MapMyRun. You get your workout history as well as the ability to share with all your friends to let them know that you’re better than them.

4. Sleep Time

This sleep activity tracking app is perfect to establish a routine and look back on your sleeping habits. It rather creepily tells you when you sleep lightly, achieve REM sleep, or are awake in the middle of the night without remembering it. With gentle noises to fall asleep to and a built-in alarm clock that soothingly wakes you up in the most ideal spot in your sleep cycle, this is ideal for college students. The free version only keeps five nights worth of history and only allows you to listen to “gentle waves” as you fall asleep, but you can try it out and upgrade if you’d rather have your choice of the rainforest or a thunderstorm.

BONUS: Zombies, Run!

While this app costs $3.99 on the app store, it was worth a mention. Again, it takes the idea of fitness in real life and translates it into a fun game. The story and gameplay comes through your headphones as soon as you plug in and start running! It’s a zombie apocalypse and you have to run to complete missions and build up your base. If the sound of zombies breathing down your neck is something that will motivate you rather than keep you up at night, this might be worth the try.