Campus dining

claudiakreileman
claudiakreileman Posts: 9 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I was wondering if there are any students on here who eat in the dining centers of their campus? I am having a hard time selecting proper nutrition while eating on an American university campus

What do you usually eat or what types food do you try to avoid?

Replies

  • projectsix
    projectsix Posts: 5,088 Member
    claudiakreileman wrote: »
    I was wondering if there are any students on here who eat in the dining centers of their campus? I am having a hard time selecting proper nutrition while eating on an American university campus

    What do you usually eat or what types food do you try to avoid?

    Oh hi young Julia Roberts.

    Yes, I do! It's certainly difficult. I'm in Canada and our cafeteria's are similar in that they don't have a ton of low cal quality options. That said, we do have a "buffet" where you get to order a certain plate where sometimes you'll get a beef, rice, veggies dish or chicken, rice, veggies with a sauce. There's also a salad (and soup) bar where they always put out huge dishes of pre-made salad's and then you just pay by weight. I'm assuming you don't have these options. A lot of the time, I just grab a cup of non-cream/chowder soups (like chicken rice, thai chicken, beef and barley, etc.) Any of the soups that don't have a cream base are lower cal options.

    I always avoid the greasy and bread based dishes like Panini sandwiches and stuff, they're usually like 1k+ loaded with greasy sauces, cheese, etc.

    Wraps as well! There's a cooler with premade turkey wraps that are only around 400 cals. Not sure if that helps. :)
  • claudiakreileman
    claudiakreileman Posts: 9 Member
    The images show what they offered today in the dining centers. I almost eat salads or wraps everyday but its starting to get a little boring eating the same every day.


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  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    Does your school’s website list nutrition info, or just the foods available that day? Many universities have nutrition info for the cafeterias available online.

    Regardless, you’ll eat fewer calories by picking lean proteins, vegetables, and foods not cooked in lots of fat. Rice, pasta, and other carbs are relatively high in calories, so you will probably want to eat those in moderation. Fruit can be a great choice, but some fruits are quite high calories.

    I see several baked or grilled meats on the menus you posted, plus veggies. Are “Savories” and “Cucina” stations in your cafeteria? They both appear to have reasonable options, but without nutrition info, it’s hard to be sure.

    Are you able to do any of your own cooking, or do you have to eat in the cafeteria?
  • Pastaprincess1978
    Pastaprincess1978 Posts: 371 Member
    I feel your pain. I work at a school and lunch is provided in the cafeteria. Of course I could bring my own but when someone is willing to cook for you - you don't say no! Less shopping etc. Hard to do here in China.

    Anyway, there is a salad bar, so what I do is pick whatever meat I can from any of the buffets and add a whole lot of cucumber, tomato and lettuce and top it off with mustard and soy sauce.

    Works for me - hopefully you can find something like that too.

    I avoid the pasta, rice and curries here like the plague - so full of oil and really awful oil!
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  • claudiakreileman
    claudiakreileman Posts: 9 Member
    There is nutrition info on the website, but there is no opportunity to weight the portion. You have to scoop it yourself on a plate without a scale or any.
    nlfdnorpxvje.png

    I can’t cook at all myself as there are no kitchens in the campus building where I’m living at. Our dining contracts are an all you can eat service and you can eat as many (times) as you want to. We pay a monthly predetermined contract fee so not per dish or per meal.

    Savories and cucina are indeed stations in the halls meant for people with an allergies.

    I indeed eat stir fry sometimes but you can’t control the amount of sauce they put on your plate, which is a lot. They don’t use oil but water instead, so that kinda compensates the excessive use of sauce.

    Thanks guys for all the ideas.
  • ap1972
    ap1972 Posts: 214 Member
    claudiakreileman wrote: »
    There is nutrition info on the website, but there is no opportunity to weight the portion. You have to scoop it yourself on a plate without a scale or any.
    nlfdnorpxvje.png

    I can’t cook at all myself as there are no kitchens in the campus building where I’m living at. Our dining contracts are an all you can eat service and you can eat as many (times) as you want to. We pay a monthly predetermined contract fee so not per dish or per meal.

    Savories and cucina are indeed stations in the halls meant for people with an allergies.

    I indeed eat stir fry sometimes but you can’t control the amount of sauce they put on your plate, which is a lot. They don’t use oil but water instead, so that kinda compensates the excessive use of sauce.

    Thanks guys for all the ideas.
    claudiakreileman wrote: »
    There is nutrition info on the website, but there is no opportunity to weight the portion. You have to scoop it yourself on a plate without a scale or any.
    nlfdnorpxvje.png

    I can’t cook at all myself as there are no kitchens in the campus building where I’m living at. Our dining contracts are an all you can eat service and you can eat as many (times) as you want to. We pay a monthly predetermined contract fee so not per dish or per meal.

    Savories and cucina are indeed stations in the halls meant for people with an allergies.

    I indeed eat stir fry sometimes but you can’t control the amount of sauce they put on your plate, which is a lot. They don’t use oil but water instead, so that kinda compensates the excessive use of sauce.

    Thanks guys for all the ideas.
    claudiakreileman wrote: »
    There is nutrition info on the website, but there is no opportunity to weight the portion. You have to scoop it yourself on a plate without a scale or any.
    nlfdnorpxvje.png

    I can’t cook at all myself as there are no kitchens in the campus building where I’m living at. Our dining contracts are an all you can eat service and you can eat as many (times) as you want to. We pay a monthly predetermined contract fee so not per dish or per meal.

    Savories and cucina are indeed stations in the halls meant for people with an allergies.

    I indeed eat stir fry sometimes but you can’t control the amount of sauce they put on your plate, which is a lot. They don’t use oil but water instead, so that kinda compensates the excessive use of sauce.

    Thanks guys for all the ideas.

    Could you ask for no sauce and carry a bottle of Soy sauce to add yourself on the plate?
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    ap1972 wrote: »
    Could you ask for no sauce and carry a bottle of Soy sauce to add yourself on the plate?

    This, or ask for the sauce on the side. You *could* carry a scale to the cafeteria with you and weigh what's on your plate, but you also might feel a little silly doing that. Measuring cups aren't as exact as a scale, but they're better than nothing. You could even get a cheap set of measuring cups and practice "eyeballing" measurements...again, not something I'd normally recommend to people who have the ability to weigh and measure food, but it's better than nothing. If you can, get your food to go, take it back to your dorm, and see how much it weighs or measures out to be. If you do that a few times, you'll get a better sense of how big the portions are.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Someone at the school or the company has nutritional information. Keep asking until you get an appropriate answer. Look at baked, broiled, or roasted chicken or fish or small pork chop. Lots of veggies (without sauce) are usually low calorie. Sometimes, breakfast is the easiest meal to figure out for calories: 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon, some fruit.
  • ap1972
    ap1972 Posts: 214 Member
    apullum wrote: »
    ap1972 wrote: »
    Could you ask for no sauce and carry a bottle of Soy sauce to add yourself on the plate?

    This, or ask for the sauce on the side. You *could* carry a scale to the cafeteria with you and weigh what's on your plate, but you also might feel a little silly doing that. Measuring cups aren't as exact as a scale, but they're better than nothing. You could even get a cheap set of measuring cups and practice "eyeballing" measurements...again, not something I'd normally recommend to people who have the ability to weigh and measure food, but it's better than nothing. If you can, get your food to go, take it back to your dorm, and see how much it weighs or measures out to be. If you do that a few times, you'll get a better sense of how big the portions are.

    With practice it is possible to get fairly accurate at judging portion sizes and how many calories they contain I've tested myself often and am pretty good at judging how many calories I have on a plate. Problems come with sauces and when cooked in oil though as they are impossible to know without proper nutritional info.

  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    For me personally, it's easier to estimate the portion of something that comes in pieces rather than in scoops or spoonfuls or piles. First, it's easier to compare the size. Second, it's easier to see ingredients. It's much harder to hide sauces/creams/cheese/whatever in a baked potato than it is in mashed potatoes. Does that make any sense?

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