college students: how to deal with an unhealthy roommate?!

Im not in college but I do have a boyfriend who doesn't participate at all in my healthy lifestyle.

I simply cook my own meals, and he eats pre packaged crap I buy from costco for him. I enjoy working out alone because I get time alone and when I get home hes always there to give me a hug and sometimes he helps me wash my sweaty body LOL

Hes a super picky eater and wont touch anything with "healthy" things in it but im ok with it because it lets me be more experimental with my cooking without worrying about feeding him something that tastes god awful lol

As for the unhealthy food in the room, I think you just need to be strong, I have a pantry full of crappy food always but I just tell myself how badly I want to be healthy and happy and Its not such a big deal. Oh and I always have an unhealthy snack at the same time every night which gives me something to look forward to

I hear you, sister! I actually lived in a suite of 4 girls (myself included) who ate awfully! I luckily got to move into a townhouse with 7 of my good friends who for the most part shared the same healthy habits as myself. We had a juicer, a cabinet full of vitamins and supplements, another with complex carbs, and of course a booze cabinet. However, one of my roommates LOVED candy, whole milk, sandwiches, white pasta, fatty cheeses, and beer! As I was trying to avoid all cravings he would always offer me an omelet made with pork sausage, cheddar cheese, hot sauce, gummy worms... you name it. My stomach would grumble every time I declined. When I'd go into the fridge for a late night snack, I totally wanted to take his sour watermelon gummies or left over sub and call it a day...

What we all agreed on was labeling our things. We even wrote on the fridge things like "grab only what you intended to grab!" and "one item per visit" or "step away, fatty!" as jokes to keep us from peeking on others' shelves and getting "inspired" to eat something we didn't initially plan to (whole milk for cereal or pancake syrup for waffles). Ultimately, I simply told everyone that I was very focused on bettering myself and would only be eating food that I specifically buy. As for constantly being tempted, I just fought it, looked at the picture I taped to the fridge of my goal body, and it reminded me that it'll all be worth it in the end!

I dont have room mates per-se but i am in the exact same boat as tsikkz, as i live with my boyfriend. I buy healthy food as often as i can because we are low on cash. I also have a cabinet full of mac and cheese and chips and what not. I am not as strong willed as i would like to be but i have been ok the past week. I keep pictures of my past self and other pictures of what id like to look like on my computer and i take pictures out of magazines and keep them on the fridge. but like another person said just tell yourself its not your food- you didnt pay for it. I end up making multiple dishes one for him because he is so picky whenever i mention healthy food haha, but it gives me the chance to experiment with all the healthy recipes i find on the internet. ( i am also addicted to watching exercise videos and reading healthy articles that i save save save and don't always use) He is such a bad influence! but i have learn to choose the right choices, and i think that is one of the biggest steps everyone here is challenged with. my biggest strategy is always having a healthy snack that i can just grab if i am dying to eat something i shouldn't. my favorite are granola bars (esp in my purse) and humus with carrots or cucumbers. find something you like. I hope some of this rambling helped and god luck!

Im not in college but I do have a boyfriend who doesn't participate at all in my healthy lifestyle.

I simply cook my own meals, and he eats pre packaged crap I buy from costco for him. I enjoy working out alone because I get time alone and when I get home hes always there to give me a hug and sometimes he helps me wash my sweaty body LOL

Hes a super picky eater and wont touch anything with "healthy" things in it but im ok with it because it lets me be more experimental with my cooking without worrying about feeding him something that tastes god awful lol

As for the unhealthy food in the room, I think you just need to be strong, I have a pantry full of crappy food always but I just tell myself how badly I want to be healthy and happy and Its not such a big deal. Oh and I always have an unhealthy snack at the same time every night which gives me something to look forward to

this sounds kind of sad - you're working towards a long life of good health, and he's eating himself to death. (to be blunt, sorry but it's just how I read it) edit: and you support it. Maybe stop making the crap so convenient? His tastes will improve and he will have better energy, temper, libido, everything!

As the former unhealthy roommate who lived with a health nut... you do nothing. You say "no thank you" and move on. If it's not your food, you don't eat it. I loved my crunchy granola roommate but I would have been ticked off if she ate my food when I wasn't around. The way I see a problem is if you split food costs. I was living with someone when I started getting healthy and we shared food/bills equally. She eventually started to eat better because I didn't want to buy junk all the time.

And sushi's not so bad... unless its gas station sushi

Thank you. The rice (the actual sushi) is calorie dense, but just don't eat a ton of it. The fish (the sashimi) is usually very healthy. Sushi can be pretty good for you, but a few things can make it bad. Don't get tempura rolls, be careful with overdoing soy sauce and ungai sauce, and don't get spicy rolls because the spicy sauce is mayonnaise based.

I hear people saying sushi is bad here all the time, but at it's core it's fish and rice. It's only as bad as you make it.

i'm not in college, but my flatmate is shocking. he is perfectly capable of having mcdonalds twice a day, icecream every night, drinks coke like i gulp water.... luckily for me he's extremely overweight because it's a visual reminder of what that food can do!

you just have to be firm with yourself, and beg her not to 'be nice by offering to share'. You can't stop her eating what she wants but she needs to respect your decisions too.

Im not in college but I do have a boyfriend who doesn't participate at all in my healthy lifestyle.

I simply cook my own meals, and he eats pre packaged crap I buy from costco for him. I enjoy working out alone because I get time alone and when I get home hes always there to give me a hug and sometimes he helps me wash my sweaty body LOL

Hes a super picky eater and wont touch anything with "healthy" things in it but im ok with it because it lets me be more experimental with my cooking without worrying about feeding him something that tastes god awful lol

As for the unhealthy food in the room, I think you just need to be strong, I have a pantry full of crappy food always but I just tell myself how badly I want to be healthy and happy and Its not such a big deal. Oh and I always have an unhealthy snack at the same time every night which gives me something to look forward to

this sounds kind of sad - you're working towards a long life of good health, and he's eating himself to death. (to be blunt, sorry but it's just how I read it) edit: and you support it. Maybe stop making the crap so convenient? His tastes will improve and he will have better energy, temper, libido, everything!

Yeah its fine, everything you said is true.. He doesn't have a weight problem, I didn't mean we eat separately all the time just when he can't modify what I'm cooking he'll have something easy and pre packaged. We do very rarely eat the same thing though. for example if we have taco mince I'll have a salad and he will make a burrito. I think the prepackaged stuff he eats is disgusting and don't really have any trouble staying away from it

Self control, sadly.

But since it sounds like she's a nice girl, why not try asking if she'll keep her delicious food out of sight when she isn't in the room? She may be willing to oblige.

I dealt with this for over a year and it is bloody hard!!!! As they say willpower is a muscle, if you overuse it it will give in eventually.

What i did is i told myself their food was out of bounds, if i didn't buy it i didn't eat it and if i took any i considered it stealing.

Fill your shelf or cupboard and part of the fridge with gorgeous healthy food and even stick a motivational picture of your fridge or pantry door to remind you what you are trying to achieve.

Also working out around the time they eat the most junk (for me it used to evenings) and with the workout fresh in your mind you won't want to touch any bad stuff!