Watching Calories at a College Cafeteria

ohmyshysamantha
ohmyshysamantha Posts: 138 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm trying to keep my calorie intake down but I am a college student with $50 a week to eat on and currently no money for outside food. We have a Jamba Juice, Seattles Best, Starbucks, Einstiens Bagels, Baja Fresh, and World of Wings on campus as well as a Cafeteria, because the food at the first 6 places is so expensive I generally just eat at the cafeteria. But I am a vegitarian and most of the foods there that are not meat are greasy cheesy or creamy so I'm sure they are loaded with more calories. How can I keep my calorie count down with eating in the cafe?

Replies

  • nebulinda
    nebulinda Posts: 120 Member
    I'm assuming you live in a dorm. Are you allowed to have a hot plate, microwave, mini fridge, rice cooker, or slow cooker? You can stock up on cheap non-perishables and make your own food, spending you campus cash on healthy treats. If your cafeteria has a salad bar, you can do salads, but I'm sure that will get boring. Maybe if you order pasta ask them to go light on the sauce. When I lived in the dorm I ate a lot of the more "boring" cereals, like cheerios and bran. Can you be more specific about what your cafeteria has?

    Also, is that $50 part of a meal plan that you can only spend on campus food? If not, $50 a week will go a long way in groceries.
  • avafrisbee
    avafrisbee Posts: 234 Member
    Is that $50 a week part of a meal plan that you have to use on campus? Even so, when I was in college I went to the cafeteria, they had a fruit basket with over-priced oranges, bananas, apples, etc. I bought those. You could also get bagels and low-fat cream cheese at the cafeteria. My favorite was 2 scrambled eggs (you could choose real eggs or the substitute stuff if a carton) with onions, tomatoes and cheese. There was also cereals and milk, but usually it was sugary 6-year-old cereal. I wondered if anyone over the age of 8 actually ate frosted lucky charms.

    Something I did when I was in college, when I applied for my loans every year I asked for an extra $700 more than I needed I put that in my savings account and allowed myself $100 a month. Then you could use that to go to the grocery store and buy healthy options. This isn't a good option for everyone but it worked for me. I am paying it back now, but considering how much debt I was in when I graduated, an extra $2100 was really nothing.
  • ohmyshysamantha
    ohmyshysamantha Posts: 138 Member
    Its 50 dollars that we can only spend on campus. Its 4.50 to go to the cafe and then its all you can eat buffet style. and a meal outside of the cafe averages about 10 dollars.
  • ohmyshysamantha
    ohmyshysamantha Posts: 138 Member
    My roommate and I have a microwave, mini fridge and george foreman.
    And our cafeteria has a salad bar. some type of soup. pepperoni, cheese, and some other type of pizza, a grill that serves burgers veggies burgers and grilled cheese, and then theres normally pasta of some sort and then something random. Its run by Sodexo
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