College Eating

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jillybean18353
jillybean18353 Posts: 10
in Food and Nutrition
Anyone have good tips for eating healthy during college? My college has a pretty good selection, but at the same time there's always the foods I should be staying away from right in front of me. And the healthy food gets very old, very quickly.

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  • putnam80
    putnam80 Posts: 69 Member
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    eat the yummy stuff, just less of it. i put on a fair number of pounds when i was in school.

    load up on salad first. or do what i never did. exercise regularly. if you burn enough calories, you wont have to worry.

    just try and limit portions :)

    good luck
  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
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    Best part about universities: free gym. If I lived on campus, I would take advantage of that a lot more than I have.
  • Hj723
    Hj723 Posts: 141 Member
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    I acutally bought a cookbook - The Everything Healthy College Cookbook" from the book store. It involves more cooking than what the college provides but it's got everything from breakfast, to desert, to party snacks.
  • aljones33
    aljones33 Posts: 8 Member
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    It is SO hard to not gain weight in college, especially if your only source of food is the dining hall. Salad gets old after a while, but try to avoid burgers and pizza all the time and start with a salad, fill up on veggies and then your other food. Moderation is key! And watch out for alcohol, SO MANY EMPTY calories. I gained about 20 pounds my FIRST SEMESTER!! But half of it quickly came off when I went back home and started eating normally again. Just try to avoid binging and late night eating. Good luck!
  • lallaloolly
    lallaloolly Posts: 228 Member
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    when i didn't like what they were serving in college, i often opted for the cereal bar and some fruit or the salad bar. but you have to think of healthy food as what you want. and, healthy foods stop getting old if you keep eating them. in fact, your body will start to crave them if you stick with it.
  • lguy29
    lguy29 Posts: 131
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    I'm going back in a few weeks for my sophomore year. I found that I came to peer pressure easily. Try to eat with healthy people, or convince them to be healthy with you. Tell them not to let you pig out. I also only have 10 meal plans. This is forcing me to buy food and cook them in my microwave. I have a fridge and a freezer. Stay away from frozen foods tho, because of sodium. Steal fruit from the cafeteria and save it as a snack :) Salad bar does get boring, but sometimes that the way things have to be. If you get used to it, it becomes more of a lifestyle rather than a chore. See if your college provides nutritional info, and overestimate your calories. And yes, take advantage of the gym!!!
  • jillybean18353
    jillybean18353 Posts: 10
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    Thanks for the tips all. Last year was my first year of college and I gained about 15 lbs and would really not see a repeat when I go back. Keeping these tips in mind will definitely help.
  • barbiex3
    barbiex3 Posts: 1,036 Member
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    get a salad with every meal, and eat it before you eat anything else. I did this & only made this change, and I lost over 10 pounds the first semester.
  • ManicMelody
    ManicMelody Posts: 85
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    I like what some of the others said. I mostly agree to still eating the yummy stuff, but less. You must let yourself live sometimes, or the diet becomes more of a punishment. I am in college, and if I feel like I want pizza, I get pizza, but I make sure to take only a little pizza and take some veggies with it. There is a balance to be had. A salad before pizza is a GREAT idea. I am not much on salad or lettuce, so sometimes I'll eat raw broccoli or carrots first and then have a little pizza to satisfy that craving. I gained 30 pounds in my first year of college. The handful of things I have completely ruled out completely are cookies, ice cream, and pastries, as well as sodas. That helps me TONS when eating in a college cafeteria setting. If I must sweeten something, I usually go for Splenda. I know some people have a thing with artificial sweeteners, but that's just me. I love Splenda. Hope this helps! Good luck!
  • kacarter1017
    kacarter1017 Posts: 651 Member
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    Not having control over what you have available to eat can be really tough. Try to be as creative as you can with what is available. If the healthy options are limited and seem to repeat way too often, why not speak up and ask if there is something else that can be offered? Another thing to do is have good, healthy, different snacks available in your room. Maybe your meals will need to be a bit boring at times, but having "fun" snacks might help. As for the not so healthy option in the cafeteria, work a few in a week. Pick up the exercise, plan the rest of your day to allow for a bit of ice cream, a special entree.

    Hope these ideas help!
  • maadee91
    maadee91 Posts: 28
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    Also, I have a super-healthy friend who likes to bring her own salad toppings to the dining commons.. she'll eat a normal salad, but add some pecans or a new dressing and it changes things up for her. She gets excited about trying new things =) I live off-campus and (thankfully) don't have to worry about it, but that seems to work really well for her.
  • fiberartist219
    fiberartist219 Posts: 1,865 Member
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    I had to move off campus to find better food when I was in college. I didn't have any issues with weight, but my stomach was dissolving from the spicy, greasy, acidic food I was eating, and all the pop I was drinking.

    When I moved off campus, I started going grocery shopping, and suddenly there was a plethora of healthy food, and it was quite affordable. In the dorms, the healthy food was limited and pricey.
  • melibea
    melibea Posts: 228
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    I commute to school and what I do is I pack enough food for the day. When I get my groceries I plan what my snacks and my lunch is going to be for the week. Then I plan and pack enough food to get me through the day. For me, it works way better than guessing how much calories there is on campus-prepared food or having lunch from fast food restaurants. Also, having a bottle of water always available help me a lot with cravings and prevented me from getting sugary drinks.

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