another ques for college students..

hey. i was also wondering, do u guys have time thru out the day to eat 5 meals, atleast?? and, is it easy to eat meals like protein shakes, or do u guys find yourselves having to pick healthy foods at the cafeteria?

cuz i know i rely so much on my refrigerator and blender to make my pro shakes and keep my fruit and soy milk chilled.

 

thx again. xoxo

truthfully i try to stay out of the dining halls as much as possible. i find the bad food too tempting and tend to overeat when i go. if i do go to the DH i pretty much always get a to-go meal and make a salad to go eat in the quad.

it is hard to do the 5 meals a day thing with all the time commitments. and living off campus makes it that much harder! i usually try to eat a substantial breakfast and bring lots of snacks up to campus for the day and then wrap up with a pretty hefty dinner when i get home.

It really depends on your class schedule and your living situation. I try to arrange my schedule so that I have some time between each class [usually about an hour] in which to make a small snack or make a quick run to the grocery store if I need to. Most dorms have a kitchen, but they're not always very easily accessible, and I certainly wouldn't trust the fridges there enough to leave anything in the kitchen. In general, I eat 2 main meals and a lot [3 or 4] smaller snacks throughout the day, but that schedule works for me.

If you really rely on your fridge that much, then I'd suggest getting a small-ish dorm-sized fridge. If you don't want to buy one, many schools let you rent one from them for a fee, but it's cheaper in the long run just to buy a fridge.

As for the cafeteria, some universities have a wider variety of food selections than others. My school is tiny [2000 students], so it can be difficult to find healthy options; a lot of times I have to forgoe the main food stations and stick to the salad bar [they have a station for grilled chicken and stuff right next to it, so it's not so bad].

I'm guessing you're going to be a freshman, so good luck! It's a ton of fun..

When I was living in the dorms I had a lot more time where I was on my own than I did when I was in high school.  You're expected to study a lot more on your own and you'll have less class time, so you should be able to have enough time to eat.  My cafeteria always had a lot of things you could bring with you too, like fruit, sandwiches, granola bars, etc.

Yeah I live in the dorms too and its super fun- but the cafeteria food can be detrimental to your efforts. There should be a salad bar- your new best friend. Be careful of meats cause even if they are grilled they cook them on the same place they fry them, and the fats usually get on there anyways. A lot of the meals are like restaurants, you dont know the calories and it is usually a lot higher than you think it is.

The biggest killer though, are the late night study sessions, parties, and of course, just living with other people who bring junk food home. Ordering pizza happens a lot as well as fast food binges. It's typical to gain 10 pounds your freshman year....just keep at the gym and you should be ok. I usually gain 5 pounds each semester...and have to take it off when I come home for the break. It's annoying :/

If you're stuck on a meal plan (life gets a lot easier if you're not, because you can buy/pack all your own food choices each day), remember the same tricks you'd use for eating out--and be careful, just like misspriss said.  Late nite definitely can kill you if you're not careful.  What got me more was the bakery (those muffins are soooo good!) and coffee places--what can I say, I have a sweet tooth and I love my caffeine.

However, if you're really busy during the day (like i am--hence the coffee ), buy a bunch of little things that can become one big lunch--that's what I do.  For example, grab some to-go veggies (carrots, celery), a piece of fruit, a yogurt, nuts--things that you can snack on continuously, so your sugar level never drops and you're not going to end up super hungry come dinnertime.  A lot of times, dining halls will have containers of nuts that you can buy and keep in your room--it makes snack-sized portions easy to carry around, that's for sure!

Good luck!

thx for all the great advice. =) i plan on buying a mini fridge. i guess stereotyping college life has made me think im constantly like gonna be in class or studying, thusly, no time to stop at the dorm and make a pro shake or make oatmeal.

 

u guys have made me less nervous about the big step to college. =) thx.

It'll probably depend on your college, schedule and what you consider a 'meal'. Also depends on the meal plan at your college, kitchen facilities and rules and regulations in the dorms themselves and how close your college is to the nearest supermarket (the bus takes 40 minutes to get there because of the genius who designed the route, I suppose. It's also 40 minutes walking, so next year I'm just doing that...). Last year I was really happy to be on the meal plan, I think it takes away a lot of the stress, and the meal plan included points for a-la-carte places, cafes etc that were university run - many of them had 'healthy' options, or at least just coffee or something. Dunno about protein shakes. The salad bars in the dining halls were FANTASTIC, too, and usually there were plenty of lighter options, like soups and steamed veggies and tofu dishes, so I have no trouble keeping weight off/losing weight in college. Usually I have time for three meals, and a snack or two, usually one between dinner and bed sufficed. Because I usually take the max number of credits per semester and skate 3-4 times a week, last semester and this coming semester I have no break on wednesday for any sort of lunch or snack, unless I pack it myself and eat it walking between classes or during class (I went from 9am-4:25pm with no break...). Also, it's a 20+ minute walk from my classes back to my dorm, and down and then up a huge slope everytime I go to the dining hall next year, so I have that to consider - you might have class right next to your dorm, so maybe you'll be able to go in between classes and make yourself your shakes. I don't have that option :/ That was a lot to type to say that it really depends on your own eating habits, college and schedule. No matter what advice I give you, you'll have to wait and see when you get to college to find out what's going to work for you.

Oh yeah a mini fridge is a MUST. I forgot to add that one :) Have a mini fridge and a microwave and you're pretty much set. I have a meal plan as well but as I go to a smaller college there aren't a lot of choices...so it really depends on where you go, and the choices you make. And you set your schedule for classes, so don't do too many back-to-back classes and you should be fine, since dorms tend to be a 5-15 minute walk to classes anyway.

during school I only eat dinner, sometimes lunch. I bring water and protein bars with me to school