Did great at home, now time for college life. Help?

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molson55
molson55 Posts: 59 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So over the summer I did really well staying within my calorie limit and eating healthy meals, mostly because my family would sit down for meals and stuff like that. Going back to college in 2 weeks has me nervous though. Any advice on easy meals that I can make in college so that I don't go crazy with calories? Stuff that is easy to pack would be great too since my class schedule is funky and I'll be eating at weird times.

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  • greenaznpanda
    greenaznpanda Posts: 11 Member
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    For me when I'm at home, my parents and relatives are always giving me food and will give me a disappointed look when I refuse (kind of makes me feel obligated to eat everything they give me). At college, I can choose when to eat, what to eat, and how much to eat. I don't have a problem with wrapping up even half a slice of pizza for a later time, whereas my family would insist it be eaten and arnot to bother saving it.

    As for recipes, I eat a lot of bean-based salads or whole grain-based salads. Things that are pretty much staple for me would be greek salad (cucumber, tomato, onion, bell pepper, and feta with chickpeas or quinoa), southwestern (black beans, tomato, onion, corn, cucumber) or roasted vegetable (usually a mix of roasted root vegetables with sweet potato instead of beans/grains, or I like quinoa mixed with whatever roasted veggies I have in the fridge).

    For snacks, I took a lot of carrot sticks and apple slices. One of my pet peeves was people chomping on carrots or celery sticks during lecture, so I limited that to running between classes. I also had rice cakes, and granola bars (yes they were sugar filled but they weren't often fare and I never had a problem). Nuts are great too as snacks, and I also packed dried fruit.
  • Alyssawinter1221
    Alyssawinter1221 Posts: 118
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    ^^ Great advice!

    I actually think I do better at school than at home. Too many summer barbecues and beers at the lake and so many freaking temptations... Although, pulling all nighters at the library with the vending machines has proven so difficult.

    I make a freaking ton of chicken at school. Like, almost every night... Kinda boring but theres a lot you can do with it and its really healthy. For snacks, I get smart fries (65 pieces for 110 cals and they're delicious), air popped popcorn, veggie sticks, grapes and orange slices are generally my go to, and reduced fat wheat thins. I just realized those are pretty much all salty. I love salt. For dessert or a sweet craving you can get smart cookies (they're pretty good and pretty low cal), skinny cow anything is good. Peppermints for class or gum.
  • whyyesitsneke
    whyyesitsneke Posts: 47
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    Salads will always be your friend and there are dozens of healthy versions. Chicken, too, is a godsend.
  • brimichaud
    brimichaud Posts: 22
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    I have the same issue and I'm trying not to repeat mistakes from the last two years at school. I stocked up on healthier snacks, not the best things for you in the world but stuff I would enjoy eating without wiping out my calories for the day. I got triscuts, pretzels, granola bars, nuts, cheerios, avoided buying juice/soda and only got water bottles, etc. This way when I come back at night I'll have food in my room but I won't ruin my whole day. Also hanging out with people who have the same mindset as you helps SO much. It's a lot easier to get grilled chicken or a salad when the person next to you isn't having pizza. Good luck to you, hoping it works for me as well! :)
  • molson55
    molson55 Posts: 59 Member
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    Thank you so much for the great advice everyone! And yeah I'm better at home I think because at school I used to have a meal plan so I was stuck with caf. food and they had lots of mac n' cheese and burgers haha. I know I could have picked better things but...I was weak haha. I don't have a meal plan this year so I'm going to listen to all of your advice and start this school year off right! Thanks everyone!!!

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