Last night definitely got the best of me and after a box of pokey sticks and one too many insomnia cookies, I made the promise to myself to start eating better. The lifestyle I seek is not one of bad eating habits and lack of exercise, so it's definitely time to make a change. Although I have the right mindset and know that I need to be healthy, it seems like it is nearly impossible to actually eat clean in college. There is a constant need to always be eating, and most of the time what we’re eating is junk food. After just a few months in college -- making the hard transition from healthy home cooked meals from mom to meals plans, sorority buffets, and chain restaurants -- I’ve come to realize the challenge that is eating clean in college.
Late night eating.
When the clock strikes 12 a.m., all hell seems to break loose. All of our healthy choices for the day go out the window as soon as our friends team up and make the executive decision to order pizza. Whether it's consuming an unhealthy amount of snacks in the comfort of our own room or eating out with a group of friends, food just always seems to be the most satisfying answer at the end of a long night.
Celebrating.
As if we really need another reason to eat. For some reason, when something good happens in our life or there's reason to celebrate, we turn to food. A birthday? We eat. Passed a test? We eat. It's Friday? We eat. Just happy with how things are going in life? Yeah, we'll probably eat.
Being emotional.
Lets face it, college is an emotional roller coaster and most of the time we turn to food when things get hard to cope with. My diet was totally going well until the guy I had been talking to for months decided to take another girl on his semi-formal to Nola. Before I could even think to unpack my bags, I had finished a tub of Ben & Jerry's Ice cream with absolutely no regrets.
Stressed out.
This is college, and being stressed out is practically second nature to us. I swore to myself I was going to be healthy, but who has time to prepare a good meal when they're living in the library for a week? Also it's almost impossible to even think about eating a well-rounded meal while freaking out about a huge exam the next day. It's always way easier to order a pizza for the whole study room to enjoy, or just grab a pastry from Starbucks.
Independence.
Leaving home for the first time is a very special moment in our lives. We gain a whole new level of independence and how we choose to live our life is completely up to us. So, who can blame us for getting to college and going a little crazy on what we eat. No longer is mom packing us turkey sandwiches for lunch and forcing us to eat chicken casserole for dinner three times a week. If we want to order Chinese take out every night or eat six bags of Cheetos for dinner, no one is stopping us. This is fun for a while, but when the freshman 15 starts creeping up on us, that's when the problem arises.
Boredom.
Most of the time our days our filled with doing a whole lot of nothing, and these are usually the best days. After a week of classes and barely getting enough sleep, sitting on the couch for two days straight is the most favorable move. Yeah, these days are greatly appreciated, but when sitting around the house turns to boredom, that's when we start grabbing snacks for absolutely no reason. Sometimes, we even convince ourselves we are hungry, when in fact, we ate not even 30 minutes ago. Binging out of boredom is a real epidemic in college, and the consequences are broken diets and bad eating habits.
Because food is just amazing.
Lets be real -- in a college town we are constantly surround by so much food, and delicious food I might add. Whether it's food from our sorority meal plan, or just food from the chain restaurant located approximately five feet from where we reside, there's no denying that it's a challenge to resist all the food temptations. It becomes hard to control ourselves when Denny's is open 24 hours and fried Fridays at the house become a ritual, but sometimes we just need to back away and remember how far we've come.
R.I.P to the many diets we've lost due to the struggles of eating healthy mentioned above.
