College Lunch Solutions Needed!

Personally, I'd probably bring a raw potato, a bowl and fork, and a can of chili. Nuke the potato, top with the chili, and I'd have a hearty meal that could keep me going for hours. Since you're there so long, I'd also bring an apple, some kind of protein/granola bar, and maybe a pickle or some olives (probably the olives for me as I tend to find fat satiating.)

For work, I bring an insulated bag with an ice pack (food does not have to stay cold -- just cooler than the outside air) of soup or garbanzo beans or fruit or cheese sandwich.

Amy’s soups have a pull tab so you won’t have to carry a can opener. You could definitely get a better lunch box/freezer pack imo. Nutrient dense purse items protein bars, jerky, peanut butter packs like Justin’s and bring an apple. I think siggi makes yogurt tubes, toss them in your freezer and then you have a tasty, cold, high protein snack several hours later.

I'm a professor, and I also don't eat on campus if I can help it. (Let's face it, no one really wants to eat in the cafeteria if they can help it.) Here is what I do:

- lots of meal planning. I plan not only my dinners but also how many leftover portions each one makes. On weekends or evenings when you aren't on campus, cook your meals and portion them into individual boxes.
- eat a high protein, high fiber breakfast. Bring it with you to campus if you need to. Most professors don't care if you eat in class, as long as you're not making a mess or bothering anyone, but check your sylllabi to see if they have any specific policies.
- bring a reusable water bottle (many campuses have water bottle refilling fountains) and a big reusable mug for my tea (which also gets me discounted tea refills on campus)
- bring dinner leftovers for lunch. I would strongly recommend investing in a better lunch bag if yours doesn't keep stuff cold enough, but no lunch bag is going to keep things as cold as a refrigerator. Still, I haven't had any problems with food poisoning...yet. I also keep a little travel cutlery set in my bag so I won't have to worry about forgetting my fork.
- keep mostly high protein snacks in my bag and desk: low calorie protein bars, jerky, granola bars, little individually wrapped chocolates. If I forget my lunch, I have a protein bar.

No lunch bag is going to keep things cold from 6 am until dinner time, so eat the cold stuff for lunch. For dinner, you need foods that are stable at room temperature: fruit and veggies, canned entrees, etc. With an ice pack or two, you can also probably get away with bringing something frozen for dinner. It will definitely have thawed by the time you eat it, but it should still be cold. Wash the bowl you brought your lunch in and use it for dinner.

Also: if you happen to have a job on campus and someone in that department happens to have a refrigerator, ask if you can use it. And if you have any time or interest in the various evening events that happen on college campuses, there's usually free food to be found...not necessarily the healthiest food, but hey, it's free.