College Food.

Some things that you could keep in your fridge and are easy to make without cooking could be:
lean lunch meat
greek yougurt
skim milk
low sugar cereal
fruit
veggies
low sugar oatmeal
whole wheat tortillas

just some ideas that might help you keep it more healthy hope that helps

I am in college too, however I have options for food, and I like to make things myself, since I get into trouble eating out.

First learn to cook and pack your lunch.
No I am not kidding, yes you will need a lunch kit, however, you will save money in the long run and some weight too.

If you have access to a fridge, try simple thing, like hummus and veggies for snack or lunch.
Find decent squirly bread, and make health sandwhichs.
Use dinner left overs.

If you do eat out, share with a friend, or save half for lunch the next day.
My personal favorite is take a bowl of cerel for lunch.
It tends to cheer me up too! Especially if I have blown my mid-term.
Fruits and Veg are the easiest to pack, so learn to love them.

Good luck,

T

I'm in college, but luckily I'm not limited like I used to be! Do you have a trader joes in your area? If not maybe you can find similar products:

Cuban Black Bean/Smart Dog Chili:
1/2 cup Cuban Black Beans
1/4 cup canned corn
2 smartdogs
cayenne pepper and chili powder to taste
(250 cal meal that fills me up!)

Greek Yogurt and Blueberry Flax Seeds
1/2 cup Fage Greek Yogurt
1 tbs Blueberry and Flax Seeds
1 packet of splenda
(protein, fiber, and only 105 calories, though you can double)

Cottage cheese and pineapple!
Spicy hummus and red bell pepper
Raisins for candy cravings (careful)
Sesame Honey Almonds (or regular if these are too tempting!)
Gardenburgers (name brand) and Morningstar Farm's mushroom patties
Microwavable brown rice...it's at trader joes
Tuna w/ low fat mayonnaise on double fibre bread
Black beans (I buy in bulk, because they provide good protein and are so easy!)
Plain oatmeal
If you're allowed to have a magic bullet, then that would open the world of protein shakes...

These are most of the things I still live on because they are fast and cheap for the most part.

I just graduated from college and am ashamed of eating unhealthy since we did actually have lots of options.

I don't know how your school's cafeteria is, but at my college we had various stations, a salad bar, they have a station for vegetarians and vegans etc, so with all the choices, you can come up with something catered to your dietary needs.

I know that you feel like there is nothing in the cafeteria, but if you have a meal plan, you will save A LOT of money by simply choosing the healthiest things from what they do offer: vegetable dishes, lean meat dishes, fruits, etc.

And if you can take food out (or sneak food hehe) you can take some of the healthy stuff in larger quantities to your room to use as other meals or snacks. I'd also go grocery shopping for healthy snacks: protein bars, protein shakes, granola, fruit (you can get from the cafeteria too hopefully) and bring snacks around with you to class. You can also, as others have suggested, by those Lean Cuisine, Lean Pocket type of microwaveable meals. Or you can perhaps google microwave recipes...there are probably tons of recipes out there catered to microwave cooking or cooking when you only have a microwave.

I think late night "studying" or just staying up for no reason is what contributes to college wait gain, where you just keep snacking all night and when around friends food always comes up as the social thing to do. That in my mind is the hardest. Bringing your own snacks with you that are healthy can help with not ordering out with friends and also telling your friends your plans so they are supportive. Have healthy study snacks on hand and for the most part I would say: it is better IMO to watch your portions, share with a friend and try to cut down significantly, on what you would normally do even if you can't be completely strict and restrictive. I imagine for example that eating pizza or some type of cafeteria meal that isn't healthy, once a week versus 7 days a week etc would be helpful in your weightloss. There is SO much going on in college already, so I'd say not to stress yourself out and do as much as you can and make the healthy choices when available but don't kill yourself or obsess about cheating.

So yea..your best bet is to get what you can from the cafeteria if you have a meal plan, so that you will save money on groceries and what you can't get from them you purchase, just look at your eating choices and cut them down or modify to a point that is comfortable without it being so much stress that you can't focus on your work. Be inventive and creative!