Campus foods

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thop83
thop83 Posts: 47 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm currently in college and living on campus. Because of that, I have to get a meal plan which allows me to eat in the schools dining hall. Not all foods are listed and there are a few foods that I don't know exactly what to call them. I know nothing about the ingredients and asking the workers only leads to conflict and holding up progress. Is logging the foods for the duration of school useless since I am doing a recomp and need to be meeting macros daily? Any advice would help.

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  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Check with the dietitian at the school. I'll bet they could get you numbers on the food in the caf.

    If not, all you can do is your best. It's really hard to use logging when you don't know the calories. Nylon might be better off just focusing on eating normal amounts of healthy food and exercising. If you notice you aren't losing, eat a little less until you do.
  • lalepepper
    lalepepper Posts: 447 Member
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    It's definitely going to be tough. If you want to move forward with logging now, you'll have to give it your sbest estimates. You can still work on getting in to the habit of recognizing portion sizes and getting active like Kalikel mentioned. I also found that having some of the more simple options made it easier to log - getting things from the salad bar or other more "plain" foods and estimating portions was a lot easier to estimate than prepared dishes like pasta and sauce.

    If recomp is your goal you can still learn more about nutritional content of food by looking up estimates of nutrition content (will help guide your choices to fulfill macros), sticking to portion sizes, and becoming familiar with your hunger signals. Not sure if your plan is unlimited or equivalent to $ like mine was - if you can, logging at the beginning of the year to get an estimate of the nutritional content of your options/what you like to eat there can help you determine where you might want to supplement. You might like to have things like fruits that store well, peanut butter, tuna, chicken, beans, grains, wraps, bread, etc. to help boost your macros.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    thop83 wrote: »
    I'm currently in college and living on campus. Because of that, I have to get a meal plan which allows me to eat in the schools dining hall. Not all foods are listed and there are a few foods that I don't know exactly what to call them. I know nothing about the ingredients and asking the workers only leads to conflict and holding up progress. Is logging the foods for the duration of school useless since I am doing a recomp and need to be meeting macros daily? Any advice would help.
    The workers in the cafeteria do not have the nutritional information.
    I can guarantee that the information exists and is available on campus if you keep asking the right people.
    The people who do have that information / or who can track it down and get it for you include: manager of the cafeteria, dean of students, whomever is over students in the dorms, and student government.

  • Jozzmenia
    Jozzmenia Posts: 252 Member
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    It's hard, but you can still estimate and log without it, just dont eat premade things like casseroles, burritos, etc. Load up a salad and measure out a vinegrette (sp?). Scrambled eggs, a turkey sausage link, measure the pasta, a medium sized hamburger, no mayo, etc. Try to get the more quantifiable options if you can. Drinks can be measured, etc.
  • jokoh92
    jokoh92 Posts: 112 Member
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    thop83 wrote: »
    I'm currently in college and living on campus. Because of that, I have to get a meal plan which allows me to eat in the schools dining hall. Not all foods are listed and there are a few foods that I don't know exactly what to call them. I know nothing about the ingredients and asking the workers only leads to conflict and holding up progress. Is logging the foods for the duration of school useless since I am doing a recomp and need to be meeting macros daily? Any advice would help.

    I have tried eating campus food many times throughout my college career while losing weight and each time gained a significant amount of weight from it. I would stay away from it as much as possible especially foods you have no idea what's in it.

    The best thing to do is, if you can, purchase as much fruit and veggies as you can. And when you're in the cafe, avoid anything that isn't whole foods.

    Stick to mostly fruit, veggies, whole grain, whole wheat, and unprocessed foods.

    Make up a dish if you can. In my dining hall, they have a place where you can make your own stir fry. I used brown rice and cut up vegetables and sometimes I would put a dash of olive oil and shredded cheese in it. It was really good and I spent many nights just eating that because I knew what was in it and lost a significant amount too when I prepared my own food in the dining hall vs letting them prepare my food.

    I know its hard but its your best bet in losing the weight. I have tried on numerous occasions on eating the cafe food and working out to sustain it but in the end, it doesn't work. You can't outrun a bad diet.
  • yungibear
    yungibear Posts: 138 Member
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    I avoided the "freshman 15" when I was required to dine with a meal plan during my first year on campus. On one hand, you have access to a good variety of fresh produce in the salad section. On the other, you also have the choice to eat the prepared meals in the warm food area.

    I won't say that you should not eat any of the prepared foods, but it's important to watch your portions. I definitely ate what I felt like eating, but I didn't have every offering at the cafeteria all in one sitting. If it was steak fries day ( I LOVE me some thick-cut potatoes), I wouldn't pair it with pizza and mac and cheese. Instead, I'd seek out some grilled chicken and some sauteed vegetables and have them with my fries. My cafeteria used to have a huge pot of vegetarian marinara sauce out at all times and I used it for everything!

    It takes a little creativity, but it can be manageable and you are not doomed to pack on the pounds like many of the students around you!
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
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    I lost a lot of weight in college - I utilized the salad bar a lot, and went for the baked chicken or fish options. If they had skin or sauce, I'd do my best at removing it. Steamed vegetables (if they had them - almost never lol) or tiny amounts of pasta mixed with hot or salad bar veggies and mixed with marinara.
    What was awesome was finding other people in my dorm (I had a group of 4 guys) who would go to the gym with me everyday at the same time.

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