In college and cant win

Hey! If you have access to a grocery store, you could keep bananas and/apples and such fruits in the dorm and take them with you for snacks. If you're able to walk everywhere, that'll be helpful too. I know I have class at 8am almost every day, but I don't mind staying up one hour later at night to get to the gym before I go to bed!

RodaRose wrote: »

Ask the dean of students/ head of the dorms/ student government to get you the nutritional information of the foods in the cafeteria.

I guarantee they tell her to go kick rocks and/or pound sand lol. Most dorm cafeterias have a grilled chicken option that you can get at every meal, I'd ask about that, make that a staple of your diet, and eat that with small portions of whatever else is on the menu.

Everything on campus? No grilled chicken? No salads? Really?

elilly96 wrote: »

I am a sophomore in college and I find that everything here on campus is a ridiculous amount of calories, sugars, sodium, etc. I'm trying to get to the gym as much as possible, but with all of the stuff I'm involved in, it makes it hard to get healthy and lose weight. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can become healthier while living a at college?

Get friends to be healthy with you

When I was a freshman in college, I lived in a dorm with a dining hall inside. I also had no money and an unlimited meal plan. So yea, I ate in the dining hall for every meal. For breakfast, I had rice crispies with bananas. For lunch and dinner most days, a salad. I bought a bottle of my favorite dressing, so I'd just take it up to my room and add the dressing. Sometimes I'd get a panini at the sandwich station. Occasionally, I'd get stir fry. I lost probably 20 pounds (that I didn't need to lose - I ended up underweight with only about 15% body fat).

But really, it doesn't have to be hard. Even if they don't have a salad bar, just get smaller portions. Save some for later. See if they have fruit available. Walk to your classes. Every little bit counts.

rankinsect wrote: »

Get a small fridge for your dorm, eat smaller portions, and refrigerate the rest for later. Depending on your calorie goals, a half portion might be better suited to your energy needs.

On a note, I work for a Halls of Residence and where we are (and most uni's I know) this is against the regulations so you may want to check that out first!

I lost 3 dress sizes whilst I was at uni, so it can be done! Ditch the cafeteria, buy your own food and cook your own meals, take them with you to lectures, etc. If you have to eat on campus, avoid fried foods, try and go for protein, pre-plan your meals. Good luck!

In college I found it a little bit easier to lose weight. Salad bar was there for every lunch/dinner and occasionally there was baked chicken (I'd remove the skin and pat it down to remove grease - I was kind of anal), or steamed vegetables. I also often ate those tiny bowls with pasta and mixed it 50:50 with veggies from the salad bar - they had pasta and marinara at every lunch and dinner as well.

If I missed my chance to eat, I kept a bunch of low sodium canned soup in my room as well as baked tortilla chips and salsa.

The best thing about college was having a group of 5 of us who would go to the gym everyday together after our classes, but before dinner. It was the guys on the floor above me and me. Occasionally one of their girlfriends would join us, but it was usually just us.

The hardest part was that we drank a lot and people always ended up ordering food. The smells were unreal, but I promised myself not to indulge and I didn't.