College Kid with Questions
rmorey1791
Posts: 2
Good Morning,
I am new to Primal/Paleo and the group. I have a few questions on how I can modify Paleo to fit my life at school. I cut out soda several months ago. I am slowly but steadily trying to eat Paleo anytime I can. But my school offers very little when it comes to foods that aren't french fries or chicken nuggets. I am able to access a stove in my dorm building so do you suggest that I have a cooking day in which I plan and cook all of my meals for the week? I can only cut back on my meal plan so much, so it is hard to figure out what to do. I would love any suggestions that anyone has.
Thank You!
I am new to Primal/Paleo and the group. I have a few questions on how I can modify Paleo to fit my life at school. I cut out soda several months ago. I am slowly but steadily trying to eat Paleo anytime I can. But my school offers very little when it comes to foods that aren't french fries or chicken nuggets. I am able to access a stove in my dorm building so do you suggest that I have a cooking day in which I plan and cook all of my meals for the week? I can only cut back on my meal plan so much, so it is hard to figure out what to do. I would love any suggestions that anyone has.
Thank You!
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Replies
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I went to college more than 15 years ago and some of my memory is foggy, but I was already in the military and constantly had to worry about my weight. I ate a lot of salad from teh salad bar. I made sure to eat breakfast as often as possible because they had eggs and other healthier options at breakfast compared to other meals. Lunch, while not hte best option, but still better than nuggets, I would get lunch meat and no bread with whatever veggie was being served. There was always some type of hot vegetable available. I skipped "chili macaroni" days. Now, being more paleo I would probably eat much the same way. You're not going to be able to avoid all the crap, like in sauces and such, but can still make decent choices as long as you avoid grains (unless you tolerate rice, then go for it on occasion) and legumes as much as possible you'll be okay.
How much space do you have for storing meals if you cook ahead? I only had a tiny dorm fridge, so that wasn't an option. You can also purchase things like sardines and such and eat those with bagged salads. It makes a good "tuna" mixed with avocado.0 -
A cook up is an excellent option, assuming that you have access to a refrigerator. Even if you cooked up a variety of meats, boiled some eggs and bought some packaged salads, added cucumber, tomato, avocado, oils, its doable. Keep some raw nuts, avocado, canned meat (like salmon) etc on hand.
I find most restaurants to be just like your school. Everything is breaded and deep fried and all the food is of such a low quality that it wasn't worth the money. Gag. Since I live in an isolated Arctic community I tend to really look forward to going out to restaurants when I go on holiday. However, after once or twice I am usually so disappointed that I wonder what all the fuss was about. I cook a much better steak on a fire than I've ever had in a restaurant.
I totally come from the camp that it's harder to be sick and fat than live a Paleo lifestyle. It's all about choices. Do the best you can and find a way that works for you and that is sustainable for the long term. Cutting out soda was an excellent step to take.0 -
You get lot's of credit for being thoughtful enough to plan ahead. As mentioned before, precooking is a great idea if you have a fridge to store in. Being the Mom of a college kid, your parents would probably like to keep to the meal plan as much as possible if they are paying for it. Again, breakfast is a great time to fill up on eggs, bacon, etc. They may have hardboiled eggs as well. You can put a few of those in a baggie and stash them in your backpack to put in your dorm fridge for snacks. Same thing with some celery or carrot sticks from the salad bar to dip in peanut butter (I know not paleo) or almond butter later. I would think that even dorm cafeterias might have grilled chicken options. Anytime you run into burgers, ditch the bun and load up on veggie condiments and mayo. You can probably store lunch meat and cheese slices (being primal will save your life since you can have cheese), in your dorm fridge. Being mindful of eating whole foods as much as possible with help so much. You can't worry about the times there just aren't paleo options available. You will see positive changes if you try the best you can to limit carbs from a box and eat whole foods when possible. Good luck!0
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I find most restaurants to be just like your school. Everything is breaded and deep fried and all the food is of such a low quality that it wasn't worth the money. Gag. Since I live in an isolated Arctic community I tend to really look forward to going out to restaurants when I go on holiday. However, after once or twice I am usually so disappointed that I wonder what all the fuss was about. I cook a much better steak on a fire than I've ever had in a restaurant.
Coming not too long from teh arctic myself, I was soooooo excited to get away from all the same tired restuarants in Fairbanks (we were not as isolated as you are since it was only a 30 minute drive to "town") But, now that we are back in full civilization, I fins if we do go out to eat it is for the same types of foods, Asian of some sort. Why? Because it is easier to eat pho out than to get all the ingredients and make the broth at home. Steaks and stuff? So not worth spending restaurant prices to eat something that I'll be sad they overcooked it anyway.0 -
Thank you for the replies!
I have a small dorm fridge with a freezer but I also have access to a normal sized fridge in our lobby. I know that it is going to be harder to live the Paleo lifestyle at school and I really appreciate the suggestions about taking like hard-boiled eggs from the cafe and storing them for later. I always eat the breakfast from the cafe but I never really thought about like taking a Tupperware container in and taking things for later.0 -
You've gotten plenty of great advice, so I won't add to it much other than to say: do the best you can with what you have, and don't sweat the rest.
Most of the benefit of a diet like this comes from only a few principles, so knowing your trade-offs will yield the best results. For example, avoiding grains, legumes and sugar provides much more health benefits than grass-fed beef vs corn-fed does (or organic vs conventional). So, if the lunch options were organic mac 'n' cheese or KFC fried chicken - I'd take the fried chicken (even though it was grain-fed, breaded and cooked in canola oil) and peel the batter off. You know enough to avoid sugar unless there's a plant wrapped around it, so keep fresh fruit around and ignore that green jello. And so on.
Being 70% paleo is much healthier than 0% paleo, so do the best that you can with what you have, and then be more 'kosher' when you have the opportunity to be.
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