Dining Hall Tips/Hacks

summithawks

I am a college freshman in the middle of my first semester- If you have any tasty dining hall hacks or any tips for eating healthily on a dining plan, share away!!

laur357

The school I work for uses Sodexo as their food distributor. http://www.sodexousa.com/home/media/news-releases/newsListArea/news-releases/sodexo-and-myfitnesspal-partner-.html
You can find many calorie counts in MFP, or use them to make decent estimates. Same with Eurest, another common dining hall food provider.

The 80/20 rule (everything in moderation) will also help in dining halls, 80% lower calorie, nutritious food, 20% indulgent food. Frequent salad bars, brothy or veggie-based soups, grilled lean meats, whole grain pastas or breads, eggs, baked fish, load half your plate with veggies. And for a few meals throughout the week, you can fit in some pizza, burgers, fried food, and sweets without going overboard from feeling deprived. Our school has some pretty nice stir-fry and pasta stations too, where you can control what ingredients are going into your food and can ask the chefs to go light on oil, etc.

Consistency - maybe for either breakfast or lunch, you can try eating the same thing every day? Yogurt and hard boiled eggs, or oatmeal, an omelette, turkey sandwich, protein bar - whatever you like. But you'll already know the calories and the routine can help you avoid overwhelming options or the temptation to grab pop-tarts from a vending machine or a croissant the size of your head on the way to class.

Keep some snacks in your dorm or apartment so you aren't starving when you get to the dining hall. Popcorn, apples, cheese sticks.

Learn to love black coffee and tea - keep a sugary, giant latte as a treat, and get your caffeine from lower calorie options. (It does make me happy when students in pajama pants stumble out of Starbucks at 7:30 am with a Venti mocha frappucino and a giant cookie though. Grabbing life by the horns!)