How do university students cope with trying to be healthy?

LemonPoppySeedMuffin

University students are stereotyped by living off cans of baked beans & every bit of pennies they have goes towards booze.
Canned food, noodles, chocolate ect is so much cheaper & convenient compared to healthier alternatives.
Would I have the chance to have my weekly Sunday roast & still have some change left over?

MGleason2010

yeah I was never healthy in college which is how I ended up in the place I am now

The cafeteria definitely didn't help. All you can eat french fries and everything fried. Tuesday Taco Bars...mmmm. And the horrible for you salad bar which has full fat dressing and hardly any lo-cal options.

shovav91

My dorm has an AMAZING salad bar, so that's pretty much all I eat in the dining hall. I come back to my room to eat real food (so I at least know what I'm eating!)

evelyngrice

I am at uni & am living in a very healthy way.
However, I do not live with any other students & am not too short of money because I budget well.


I know that some of my other friends do not live/eat well, and it is shame, because eating well does not have to cost more than eating badly. Buying a macdonalds is more expensive than making a nice salad for lunch.

kmbrooks15

My dorm has an AMAZING salad bar, so that's pretty much all I eat in the dining hall. I come back to my room to eat real food (so I at least know what I'm eating!)

You're lucky! Not many colleges have that. At mine (mind you this was 23 years ago!) the food was so bad that I lived on Captain Crunch cereal for 3 1/2 years!

grrrlface

I was not healthy at all! I'd have one meal a day, either noodles with soy sauce and chillis or pasta with pesto and cheese. Then I'd snack on popcorn in the evening and drink myself silly. I was unhealthy skinny and it wasn't good but couldn't afford anything else (probably could've without the alcohol :P )
It would've been a dream to have a roast dinner! I wish I'd spent my money more wisely!

LemonPoppySeedMuffin

I am at uni & am living in a very healthy way.
However, I do not live with any other students & am not too short of money because I budget well.


I know that some of my other friends do not live/eat well, and it is shame, because eating well does not have to cost more than eating badly. Buying a macdonalds is more expensive than making a nice salad for lunch.

If you don't mind me asking, how much do you spend a week on food?

evelyngrice

I live with one other person, and we do a fortnightly shop from ASDA (online).
We spend between £70-£90
So weekly, per person that is about £20

EDesq

University students are stereotyped by living off cans of baked beans & every bit of pennies they have goes towards booze.
Canned food, noodles, chocolate ect is so much cheaper & convenient compared to healthier alternatives.
Would I have the chance to have my weekly Sunday roast & still have some change left over?

If you eat on or off campus you have CHOICES! When I was at University we were offered an array of foods! ALWAYS Salads were available, and NON-Fried meats and fish, plenty of fruit, juice and milk. You also have the same choices if you choose to live off Campus. It is about the choices YOU make. Example: It costs about 6-8 dollars to eat out at a burger Franchise and MORE at anon-Franchise; it costs about 6 dollars to BUY Salad Fixin's for the WHOLE WEEK! College Students just make BAD Choices around Food. The money is there, what YOU CHOOSE to spend it on is a PERSONAL decision>>>Pizza and Beer/Burgers and Cola... or Salads and Fruit/Peanut Butter/Whole Wheat Bread...

LemonPoppySeedMuffin

I live with one other person, and we do a fortnightly shop from ASDA (online).
We spend between £70-£90
So weekly, per person that is about £20

I guess the university students I know all make bad choices then xD. Do you & your friend order the same thing?

witheverymove

I commute to university now (so my experience probably isn't what you're after lol) and just bring my own food. I don't eat in the food outlets or around the city (my uni is in a different city). it gets hard on days I have to be there more than 7 hours because i only have one meal (lunch) to tide me over. i literally will not buy food there because I don't trust it. Then when I get home I'm usually too tired to have a proper dinner (usually just have some kind of quick carb + lean protein combo) and i have to get up early so there's a long wait between breakfast - lunch and dinner so I don't eat enough but it's an completely differently way. I don't eat junk though. I usually have a ham on wholewheat bread, a handful of cashews and a bottle of water. in my first year i did live on site i had an alloted uni week food allowance included in my overall rent. it really wasn't that much so i only like one meal a day and it was pizza and chips and it was generous portion. and maybe some packets of crisps. the rest of my money (when i spent any i'm stingy) when on a box of crunchy nut cornflakes every week and then KFC on the weekend horrible i know somehow i lost weight that year though. probably had to do with my low but bad calorie intake and having to walk up a ****ing hill and stairs every time i wanted to get back to my dorm room. oh i'm an introvert so i never drank/socialised/went out partying (it's hard for me to make friends) so i didn't have those empty calories to worry about.

evelyngrice

I live with one other person, and we do a fortnightly shop from ASDA (online).
We spend between £70-£90
So weekly, per person that is about £20

I guess the university students I know all make bad choices then xD. Do you & your friend order the same thing?

I do the shopping for both of us, makes it easier.
We eat the same thing for dinner each night, so I suppose that makes it a little easier & cheaper

I am the only student that I know who actually does a weekly/fortnightly shop, the rest of my friends just buy food when they need it & I think that is where they trip up, because you end up buying treats that are on offer.

catcrazy

4 stores own chicken breasts £4

Bag of fresh frozen broccoli and cauliflower £1.50

5lb bag of potatoes £1.25

1lb of fresh carrots £1

packet of stuffing mix £0.50p

Gravy powder £1

thats 4 good sized meals for just over £9...

...ok I know it doesnt compare price wise to 16p noodles but less on empty calorie booze more on decent food will leave you feeling better and probably studying better too. BOGOF's and the freezer are a students best friend if they want to eat well. Buy your veggies fresh frozen, cheaper and you only take out what you need, buy other veg like carrots and potatoes at a green grocers to save money, butchers are cheaper for meat that a supermarket. Most stores own label stuff is excellent value for money and the quality is fine most of the time (tesco value is the worst IMO) but asda and sainsburys are brilliant...just irregular sizing half of the time.

LemonPoppySeedMuffin

4 stores own chicken breasts £4

Bag of fresh frozen broccoli and cauliflower £1.50

5lb bag of potatoes £1.25

1lb of fresh carrots £1

packet of stuffing mix £0.50p

Gravy powder £1

thats 4 good sized meals for just over £9...

...ok I know it doesnt compare price wise to 16p noodles but less on empty calorie booze more on decent food will leave you feeling better and probably studying better too. BOGOF's and the freezer are a students best friend if they want to eat well. Buy your veggies fresh frozen, cheaper and you only take out what you need, buy other veg like carrots and potatoes at a green grocers to save money, butchers are cheaper for meat that a supermarket. Most stores own label stuff is excellent value for money and the quality is fine most of the time (tesco value is the worst IMO) but asda and sainsburys are brilliant...just irregular sizing half of the time.

I would have thought butchers would be more expensive as they wouldn't be able to afford as much to cut down like big supermarkets, I've learnt something today!
I agree Asda own brand is pretty good. I love Chosen By You, it's all we got in our house.
The only thing though I can't go own brand on is spaghetti hoops, Heinz stands out in taste, other brands are way too sweet!

Floobaloob

For the last 6 weeks I have found it very hard. This due to the fact that I had issues with my loan and my summer job didn't last quite as long as I had hoped (unexpected expenses). My budget was £5 a week for food.
Yes you can feed yourself for £5 a week, but it does end up very high in carbs. I was baking my own wholemeal bread and tortilla wraps, lots of beans, chickpeas, pasta, rice and noodles. Luckily I have a large stock of herbs and spices so at least the food tasted good. Fruit and veg wise mainly carrots, onions, and apples.

Now I am budgeting £15 a week for food (loan came in) and it is so much easier. I still have to shop around for offers to get some protein in, but I manage. For example today I bought 750g of salmon for £3, sliced it into 10 portions and froze 9 of them for later Next week I am anticipating unwanted pumpkin sales after halloween so will make a vat of pumpkin soup and lots of roasted pumpkin seeds.

catcrazy

Butchers can be cheaper but not always, prepackaged at the supermarket is generally a lot more expensive than the butchers, butcher counters at the supermarket can work out cheaper tho. The very best way to buy is either thru a meat market (if you have one in your town) or on special offers at the supermarket.

Asda chosen by you is not their cheapest, work out the things you can get away with in their smartprice range...for me bread, rice and pasta are a no no, can definitely taste the difference, meat and fish tho seem no different, you just get irregular cuts and sizes. If you go into sainsburys (and probably asda etc) just before closing on a Sunday you can save an absolute fortune, you will need freezer space tho. I once bought 3 fresh chickens for 50p each...they had to go! Trouble is I also came away with 24 doughnuts for £1.50...shop wisely and with a list!!!

Floobaloob

If you go into sainsburys (and probably asda etc) just before closing on a Sunday you can save an absolute fortune, you will need freezer space tho. I once bought 3 fresh chickens for 50p each...they had to go! Trouble is I also came away with 24 doughnuts for £1.50...shop wisely and with a list!!!

You need to work out the best time to go depending on the supermarket. At my local tesco (24hr) going on a sunday evening gets you useless reduced sections whereas monday evening is much better! Also despite it being a 24hr supermarket they do the final reductions at about 10pm and then you have to be quick!

I find ASDA tends to be the best for reduced food - they go down to 1p on their food. Great for bread and often meat as well.

catcrazy

I find ASDA tends to be the best for reduced food - they go down to 1p on their food. Great for bread and often meat as well.

now you've upset me...I dont have an asda on my doorstep only a sainsburys! If I want asda I have to order online

calliope_music

when i was in college, we actually had some pretty healthy options. salad bar at every meal, fresh fruits, veggie/vegan meals, sandwich bars, etc. of course, this will depend on the school i think.

of course we also had the unhealthy crap, but alas.