What about dining hall food?

g06m1281

I stay in a university residence and eat from the dining hall. I have no idea how the food is prepared because sometimes their "health option" food is drenched in oil. How do I monitor my calorie intake and how do I measure my portions? (I have also opted to cutting out lunch and having 3 provitas and a cup of packet soup instead because the dining hall meals are just too heavy)

g06m1281

I stay in a university residence and eat from the dining hall. I have no idea how the food is prepared because sometimes their "health option" food is drenched in oil. How do I monitor my calorie intake and how do I measure my portions? (I have also opted to cutting out lunch and having 3 provitas and a cup of packet soup instead because the dining hall meals are just too heavy)

Razboo

Stop eating in the dining hall and make your own is the only way to be sure. Unless they can provide nutritional stats. Have you asked for them?

Otherwise, maybe try this site http://www.calorieking.com/ , search the foods and make your best guesses on content and quantity. I sometimes use that after eating at a restaurant. It's inaccurate (not the site, I mean this 'guessing' method), but better than nothing.

chelc8807

I eat on campus too but, my school's dining website has nutritional info. The food here isn't all that healthy but, I just add fruits and a salad to my meals, especially on the days where everything looks greasy.

rethun01

I used to try and avoid the main line except for my meat. And I would only eat the meat that obviously wasn't fried or deep fried in something. Then I would go to the salad bar, which had an okay selection. I know that in my 3rd and 4th years of undergrad they were starting to do on-site stir fry and other things like that. I could always order a veggie burger to be grilled too.

Dining halls are the devil! LOL Our school finally did an investigation on the dining hall and student health after 10 kids had to have their gall bladders removed in 1 semester. Turns out that the stuff they were serving us was worse than going to McDonalds every day.

kjllose

Every college is different but does your college do a point system as well as meals in the dining room? And do they have little stores on campus? My daughter used her points to buy salads at the little store for lunch or yogurt or soups. I used to pay into her point system to give her more points so she could eat healthy. She finally went into an apartment style dorm room so she could cook her own meals. Boy was it ever funny when she called me and complained how expensive groceries were:bigsmile: like mom had never bought any lol. The apartment option is fairly expensive even with living with 4 other girls. The other one would n't be as expensive. Needless to say we cut the meal plan right back to as little as possible. It is ridiculous what they make for food at colleges these days. It's also ridiculous that if you go in and just get a bagel and a coffee they call it a meal. For the price they charge you for a meal plan you think they could offer a little healthy food. Do you have a fridge in your room? Are you able to get to a grocery store? It might mean a little more $ support from mom and dad or if you are on your own maybe that won't help. If you do grocery shop at all see if the store has a place where you could find leftover coupons to help defray the cost. Hope some of this helps.

g06m1281

Thanks for the reply but...I am kind of stuck with the meal options in the dining hall because I do not get any financial support at the moment. It would really be great to go into digs so that I have total control over what I eat but I guess I will have to scrutinize the meals that I am served in the dining hall and go with the grilled or unfried options.