Tips for Eating Healthy in College?

Gloricelly

So I will be starting college August 25, 2013. I am going to a freshman undergrad and I keep constantly thinking about how can I avoid the freshman 15? I really don't want to gain those pounds after working so hard to lose them, which I still unfortunately haven't even lost any weight and it's almost the end of the first week. So just wondering if there are any ideas on how to kind of avoid it. Any healthy snacks out there please let me know.

In the residence hall I'm staying at will have a kitchen that the whole floor shares I believe, though I am unsure if its only for upperclass residence halls or not. For meals there is a commons place there are vegetarian options, salad bar, a deli kind of section, a chef cooks on weekdays on a different section, the college has a starbucks on campus, a pizza, hot dogs, kind of place which is like a different cafeteria, but I think this is available for upperclass not entirely sure. That's a about most of it.

Some equipment available to me:
-fridge
-microwave
-stove
-oven
stuff normally found in a kitchen.

katy_trail

you need to tell us what kind of equipment you'll have to work with. dorm? microwave only?
a whole apt with stove and everything? just the lunch room?

AshatanViz

Okay I know something about this one. I gained about 8 pounds my freshman year of college and couldn't figure it out. I thought I had the kind of body type that would just never put on weight no matter what. Well, obviously that's not true.

College kids gain weight for one main reason: Lifestyle change. They tend to move less (especially if you're not on a sports team), and eat more. My greatest challenge was the dining hall. Here are some tips, in order of importance (more or less).

1) Limit yourself to one trip to the buffet/kitchen/serving station per meal. Have a medium-sized portion, not a heaping plateful.
2) Stay away from the desserts. If you get in the habit of avoiding the whole dessert station, it will get really easy to just not pay attention to it! The opposite is also true. If you get a dessert every day, it becomes a habit to peruse the options, and far too easy to overeat that way.
3) Choose more vegetables. They fill you up and take up space on that plate.
4) Take fruit for snacks. A couple apples a day will keep you full up between meals.
5) Try to get to the gym in the morning before class, if possible. Either that, or take your gym clothes with you to class and go right from there. If you're already out with all your equipment with you, you'll be much more likely to head to the gym from class.
6) When it comes to drinking, stick to light beer or hard stuff. Be careful with the hard stuff, and try not to binge drink. I know it seems like everyone's doing it, but generally things are more fun anyway when you're not yet past the point of tipsiness.
7) Don't go to restaurants/ the snack bar when you're drunk. You make bad decisions that way.
8) Stay hydrated.

Hope this helps. I'm full of college wisdom, so message me if you have other questions!