Staying healthy while away at school isn't the easiest thing in the world, especially when most of your meals come from your school's large cafeteria. The issue with mass-production of food is that there's a lot of use of frozen foods, high salt contents, fat content higher than what you probably buy at home...the list of reasons go on and on. Here are a few pro tips on how to stay healthy despite the challenges!
1. First and foremost, walk past all the baked desserts.
They don't even taste that great and they are the satan of calories and trans fat.
2. The salad bar is your best friend.
Take your basic salad, add a protein (personally I like tofu! But chicken is just as good!) Also, black/kidney/garbanzo beans are amazing, because they'll keep you full. I like to add quinoa or brown rice to add some healthy carbs!
3. Don't have soup more than a few times per week, the salt content is outrageous!
Unless your school has low-sodium soups; you're winning the dining hall game!
4. When it comes to bread, always multigrain, whole wheat, pumpernickel, oat, or pumpernickel. Unless you're gluten-free that is.
5. Check out the vegan/vegetarian station; I swear by it!
6. If it tastes processed, it's probably very processed. Yay preservatives!
7. Wash your fruits that are in the baskets.
8. On the topic of fruit, grab fruit on the way out of the dining hall or buy some fruit to keep in the dorm.
Opt for fresh, natural late night eats, rather than candy bars for brain food.
9. Nuts (almonds, pecans, peanuts, cashews...you name it!) are great to keep in your dorm or bag for quick snacking. Unless you're allergic...
10. Hydrate! Drink lots of water; it'll help you focus better.
11. Watch your portions.
At my school when you get pasta, they put enough on your plate for a family of four. Whenever I get pasta, I ask for only a tiny bit.
12. Treat yoself now and then to some off campus eats!!!!
Good luck trying to survive on college food! Remember, you are what you eat!
