Can I live off of food/microwaveable food for 4 or so years?
entezio
Posts: 33
Food at my college is absolute garbage and I'm wondering if it'll be healthy if I just go out and buy fruits and microwaveable oatmeal or meats or something and eat that for college. Will that be healthy? Is there anything in my diet that I'll be missing out on?
edit: crap I meant fruits not food in the title
edit: crap I meant fruits not food in the title
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Replies
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Sounds like fun. Lemme know how it works for you.0
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I don't know what school you are at but just going from my own memories of what college food was like, I'd say you can eat as healthy or as lousy as you want.
For example, if I wanted turkey sandwiches on whole grain bread and salads with all kinds of veggies, that was available all the time. Grilled fish and pitas and veggie wraps were also on the daily menus, and chicken stir fry with rice at least a couple times a week.
There was also the usual french fries, chips, pizzas, cakes, ice cream, burgers, shakes, and loads of other high-cal stuff.0 -
This is such a vague question that there's really no way to answer. What kind of nutrients do you need? What kind of "microwaveable food" are you eating? Where are you getting your veg? What sources of protein do you rely on?
Staying healthy in college is harder, but it's doable. The problem is that the term "healthy" is really nebulous and can mean pretty much anything. Are you asking if you can stay in a caloric deficit? Yes, of course you can. Are you asking if you can hit all your macros? Trickier, but also doable. Are you asking if you can eat "clean," avoid processed foods and get all the nutrients you need? Much harder.
It really just depends. Do you have a couple of sample meals in mind?0 -
Try putting what you think a day's food would be like in your diary, then do that for a whole week's worth of food.
If you have the Android app has a better report system than the website, which includes a weekly nutritional goals section to see if you are getting what your body needs.0 -
I lived off ramen and easy mac in college. I was skinnier back then too.0
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Fresh fruit and veggies are great for dorm living! Do you have a mini fridge in your dorm? If you do, you can do lots of frozen, microwavable items. Brown rice, veggies, a variety of cereals/granola bars, single microwave meals(make sure they aren't loaded with sodium and crap) with a side of fruit or veggie is a good meal. You can also do peanut or almond butter sandwiches on wheat bread. It may get boring after a while, make sure you try new things regularly!0
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Do you have a mini fridge? I lived off of what I could stuff in my fridge, fruits, canned tuna, and microwave oatmeal. You can also cook chicken in the microwave, so that opens up good protein options.0
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Well I have a mini fridge and I'll be buying stuff like apples, bananas, oranges, pears and a few others for fruits and I'll buy frozen brocoli for the microwave and stuff
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51j2Jj06WWL.01._SR280,280_.jpg
like this thing ^(steamfresh food if you don't trust my link).
I just want to know if I'll have a nice healthy body eating just this stuff. idk where I'll get protein from yet. and sorry idk if I'm still not making this clear enough I really don't know anything about nutrition lol (I want to start body building too)
edit: oh I didn't see the post above me but yea that's what I'm thinking of doing0 -
Well, one of the best inventions for modern man IMHO is bags of frozen vegetables and other foods that you can nuke and eat.
If I have a microwave and a grill, or access to one (in a park maybe?) I'm good. You will spend cash on charcoal though.0 -
Good veggie choice: Green Giant Steamers Green Beans and Almonds - low calorie but very filling
Add a Healthy Choice or Smart Ones Entrée with meat for some protein (or get the mac n cheese and add tuna in water to it)
Then add some fresh fruit
If you eat like that it's better than fast food garbage like greasy cheeseburgers
it's what I've been eating for lunch since April and it has helped a lot...0 -
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For protein I use protein powder and skim milk powder with water. The skim milk powder lasts way longer and won't take up room in your mini fridge, and tastes way better than water and protein powder. It's a good quick backup for other protein sorces and very convenient.
It really depends on what you like to eat, but with some planning you can come up with some good solutions.0 -
Oh good so I guess those frozen vegies are healthy. god bless who ever invented them lmfao
and I completely forgot about almonds. my friend always buys bags of them and eats them everyday. thank you for the reminding me about them man
edit: oh yea I forgot I could live in an apartment after freshman year lol.... well that makes me feel much better. so basically I just need quick easy food for one year then0 -
I think the colleges my daughter looked at required a meal plan for all students living in the dormitories. If that's the case for you, can you get a lower number of meals, rather than the 'full plan'? Can you take items 'to go' such as a whole brick of almond milk, besides a lot of fruit? I think the 'to go' option is why her meal plan was so expensive. Once my daughter got the per meal $ from me (over $14), she felt more confident about taking items back to her dorm.
It's not just the healthy items that are carried out because she saw one girl put a dozen ice cream sandwiches in her purse.
Once my daughter moved off campus, meal plans were not required. That might also be the case if your school has on-campus apartments that include a kitchen.
Part of her decision process to pick a school was the food - she's vegetarian and would like something more than pizza for lunch and dinner.0 -
eh I never tried powdered stuff... I'll ask my mom about it and try it out but I've never had them
and what do you mean by 'to go'. you mean take food from the food place? we weren't allowed to bring water bottles in and I'm assuming it was because they don't want us filling it with one of their beverages and taking it out so i don't think we're allowed to take food out0 -
You know what guys I think I'll just stick to microwaveable vegies/oatmeal and fruits and almond stuff and very few other things for this year. thank you for the help, I think I'll manage with this, I just need a way to pay for all of this then I'll be set.
Seeing what some of you guys dieted on I think I should be fine haha, thank you0 -
I lived off ramen and easy mac in college. I was skinnier back then too.
I was going to say- most college kids live off ramen and easy mac- I know I had mess hall food- and ramen- and popcorn.
we are all fine.
Eat out once a week and you'll be fine- you'll get bored of your microwavables but you can make do.0 -
that sounds so unhealthy, my jaw dropped a little when i read that lol. how can you guys live off of that. i mean aren't there nutritional needs you're missing just eating that?I lived off ramen and easy mac in college. I was skinnier back then too.
I was going to say- most college kids live off ramen and easy mac- I know I had mess hall food- and ramen- and popcorn.
we are all fine.
Eat out once a week and you'll be fine- you'll get bored of your microwavables but you can make do.0 -
You know what guys I think I'll just stick to microwaveable vegies/oatmeal and fruits and almond stuff and very few other things for this year. thank you for the help, I think I'll manage with this, I just need a way to pay for all of this then I'll be set.
Seeing what some of you guys dieted on I think I should be fine haha, thank you
Stay in college until you're fully cooked, k?0 -
You know what guys I think I'll just stick to microwaveable vegies/oatmeal and fruits and almond stuff and very few other things for this year. thank you for the help, I think I'll manage with this, I just need a way to pay for all of this then I'll be set.
Seeing what some of you guys dieted on I think I should be fine haha, thank you
Stay in college until you're fully cooked, k?
not sure if i got what you meant by that but ok lol0 -
that sounds so unhealthy, my jaw dropped a little when i read that lol. how can you guys live off of that. i mean aren't there nutritional needs you're missing just eating that?I lived off ramen and easy mac in college. I was skinnier back then too.
I was going to say- most college kids live off ramen and easy mac- I know I had mess hall food- and ramen- and popcorn.
we are all fine.
Eat out once a week and you'll be fine- you'll get bored of your microwavables but you can make do.
I got the rest of my nutritional needs from vodka. I turned out fine.0 -
that sounds so unhealthy, my jaw dropped a little when i read that lol. how can you guys live off of that. i mean aren't there nutritional needs you're missing just eating that?I lived off ramen and easy mac in college. I was skinnier back then too.
I was going to say- most college kids live off ramen and easy mac- I know I had mess hall food- and ramen- and popcorn.
we are all fine.
Eat out once a week and you'll be fine- you'll get bored of your microwavables but you can make do.
I got the rest of my nutritional needs from vodka. I turned out fine.
lmao wth
your body must be rearranging every molecule you eat into something healthy
i can' event think properly without eating fruit man i'm jealous0 -
that sounds so unhealthy, my jaw dropped a little when i read that lol. how can you guys live off of that. i mean aren't there nutritional needs you're missing just eating that?I lived off ramen and easy mac in college. I was skinnier back then too.
I was going to say- most college kids live off ramen and easy mac- I know I had mess hall food- and ramen- and popcorn.
we are all fine.
Eat out once a week and you'll be fine- you'll get bored of your microwavables but you can make do.
I got the rest of my nutritional needs from vodka. I turned out fine.
HELL.
YES.0 -
Whatever you can afford after buying booze... or was that just me?0
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When I was in the military as well as college, the mess haul had a variety of options...pretty much you could eat as healthfully or crappily as your little heart desired.
That said, in addition to your microwave you might want to look into a hot plate to broaden your options.
When i was in the military and college I pretty much lived off of pizza, fast food hamburger joints, kegs of beer, and bottles of Jim Beam. Ironically, I didn't gain weight until I was older and preparing more nutritious foods from scratch ingredients at home...but I guess more money to buy more food plus less moving around...well, that'll do it.0 -
... bags of frozen vegetables and other foods that you can nuke and eat. ...
Great idea, plus you can buy bulk frozen chicken breasts that you can microwave as needed. Yogurt, low fat cheese sticks, and canned Tuna provide protein as well. I buy a lot of frozen veggies and fruit. I find these more cost efficient than fresh ones since less wastage.0 -
well surely you were excersize alot when you were eating all that junk food so i guess it's fine but isn't there a disease you could of got if you ate all that fat and stuff?
oh yea yogurt too...... bags of frozen vegetables and other foods that you can nuke and eat. ...
Great idea, plus you can buy bulk frozen chicken breasts that you can microwave as needed. Yogurt, low fat cheese sticks, and canned Tuna provide protein as well. I buy a lot of frozen veggies and fruit. I find these more cost efficient than fresh ones since less wastage.
man eating healthy is so much easier than i thought ._.
i seriously wish i made a thread like this when i started highschool or something0 -
OP: some food for thought...
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/
Now, that said, I want to encourage you to eat healthy as you can while at school.
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When I was in the military as well as college, the mess haul had a variety of options...pretty much you could eat as healthfully or crappily as your little heart desired.
That said, in addition to your microwave you might want to look into a hot plate to broaden your options.
When i was in the military and college I pretty much lived off of pizza, fast food hamburger joints, kegs of beer, and bottles of Jim Beam. Ironically, I didn't gain weight until I was older and preparing more nutritious foods from scratch ingredients at home...but I guess more money to buy more food plus less moving around...well, that'll do it.
Yes! Why don't you get a hot plate? It's small, cheap and will allow you to cook almost anything (that doesn't need an oven). Assuming that you know how to cook...
I ate a lot of side dishes in college and learned that two to three side dishes (veggies, potatoes etc.) plus a dessert (yogurt) make a full meal for me :-)0 -
I sympathize with your icky campus cafeteria food dilemma. I had to live on campus and have a meal plan freshman year, and only had a microfridge in my dorm. Hot plates and other appliances weren't allowed. Not much fit in that tiny fridge, either, and the "freezer" space was laughable.
Stuff I often ate from the cafeteria:
- Cereal
- Sandwiches (sometimes grilled)
Other things I ate:
- granola bars or pop-tarts for breakfast on the go
- slim-fast, instant breakfast, or other breakfast meal replacement shake
- instant oatmeal
- easy mac or easy hamburger helper
- chili from Wendy's, with cheese I kept in my fridge, and either chips or salad greens with it (I did this a lot!)
- cereal, small carton of milk kept in the fridge
- PB&J
- sandwiches w/deli meat
- can of soup
- frozen personal pizzas
Something I often do for lunch at work now is a bag of vegetable steamers with a handful of Tyson grilled and ready chicken strips (they come pre-cooked and frozen). You get mostly veggies with some protein to round out the meal, it's all microwaveable, and it's low calorie. Those steamers are bulky, though, and if your minifridge is anything like mine was, you won't have room for much.
If it makes you feel any better, I lost 15lbs my freshman year because I didn't eat as much and I was walking all over campus.0
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