Anyone having trouble actually eating enough in college?

I was all worried about the freshman 15 once I got here. Like I thought I wouldn't be able to continue dieting.

Well it's to the point where the food they offer at my school is horrible and I just can't bring myself to eat very much. I know I'm not eating properly but I can't really change it without feeling sick by eating the food they offer. 

I'm having rapid weight loss. I've been here six days and I've lost 10 pounds. I know it's not healthy and I'm not even feeling healthy but I'm kind of stuck on what to do. I've bought food but it honestly only can do so much. I haven't had a real meal since I got here.

Anyone else with the same problem? I really need an alternative or a way to get around the food in the cafeteria so I can survive. 

You're going to have to do some serious adopting, but I think making meals yourself is the only way to go.  When I was in school I ate almost solely out of my toaster oven (the school didn't allow toaster ovens, but it also never bothered to look inside the box I hid it under).  Even without a full sized oven you can make a lot of meals for yourself with a few small appliances.  The toaster oven can do fish or chicken breasts or toast, stuff you want to cook with dry heat.  Lots of other stuff you can make in a rice cooker: steam veggies, rice (obviously), oatmeal, soup, pretty much anything that uses wet heat instead of dry (just make sure you get one with a steamer rack so you don't have to boil your veggies).

Honestly, with just a toaster oven and a rice cooker you can make TONS of meals and probably save more money than with a meal plan.

Meal plans are required on campus. And they all cost the same amount they just put more money towards a cafe if you have less meals.

My dorm is old and I can't bring that stuff. It would definitely burn something down.

OK, I can see not having the toaster oven.  But you really should be able to have a rice cooker, it's only as likely to cause a fire as your computer, and I doubt they ban those.  Like I said before there are tons of things you can make with a rice cooker and tons of sites online for unconventional recipes (like orange szechuan chicken). 

You're going to have to either take charge of your own meals by cooking them yourself and just taking a loss on the meal plan, or learn to do the best with what they give you.  They must have a salad bar or sandwich or stir fry station or SOMETHING. You're just not going to get fabulous home cooked meals on campus.

I wish I had that issue. I gained 20 lbs freshman year. :O

Yeah I understand that.

My problem is all I've eaten is salad. Salad can't be a meal. I can't have that every day. Eating 350 calories a day is not healthy and I honestly don't want to get stuck with that.

Thanks for your help.

Get pouches/cans of tuna to top your salad with. Look into different types of cans of beans (chick peas are my favorite). Granola bars, pumpkin/ sunflower seeds.

Do you have a refrigerator? You could pick up lunch meat and make sandwiches, or even do peanut butter and jelly. There's carrots, celery, broccoli, and dip.

There are ways to keep your calories up, even if they aren't necessarily conventional meals. You could always fill in with the few eatable foods available on your campus?

Woa you are an EXACT mirror image of me one year ago. Last fall I moved away to college to start my freshman year. As a vegan and an all around generally healthy eater...I really...couldn't find anything to eat. Even the salads had this weird taste to them.. Well anyway, I went from having a heatlhy 5"8 140lb athletic 19 year old dancer's body to wasting away to my lowest of 111 as of early May and losing my period(but like you, I dropped the bulk of my weight within the first two months of being away). 

I relied mainly on things I could keep in my dorm...but they weren't really enough. It drove me nuts not being able to have a kitchen or anything to cook in. Now looking back, I'm honestly appalled at the lack of consideration they used in forming the daily meal plans on campus. They essentially provided no well-balanced meals that were vegan...even all the veggies were cooked with butter, etc. 

Honestly, you're going to have to either: a. learn how to suck it up and just shove down whatever you find most manageable 

or

b. Take action and go to food services. Point out (in a polite and well thought out way) the ways in which their food is lacking and show your concern between the direct correlation between their food and your rapid weight loss.

In the meantime...I would just try to stock up on calorie dense items, such as peanut butter, nuts, whole grains, protein bars, etc in your room but PLEASE do bring this to someone's attention...it's something I wish I would have done. Mabye if I would have then I wouldn't be struggling to gain back the weight as well as my period that I lost a year ago. Best of luck.

thanks for all the suggestions, I'm going to go out and buy those things like peanut butter and jelly so I can stay stocked on food.

I really, really appreciate it.

My freshman year, a bunch of veg students lobbied the student government/food services and got more healthy options added to the dining hall.  Maybe get a group of friends together?

Another thing you might want to consider: sometimes you can get out of a mandatory meal plan if you have a religious reason or dietary restriction.  You can ask food services about it... it might require you to have a doctor's (nutritionist?) note or maybe you can just claim to be vegetarian/vegan.

I don't know how your school works but for example: my dining hall (we only have one) is not kosher so Jewish kids frequently get out of the mandatory freshman meal plan. I know this won't help your problem with actually finding food, but it can be less of a monetary loss.

What about a george foreman grill?  (Grilled cheese!! mmm) A crock pot? (Stews, chili, slow roasted anything... delicious!)  You can cook eggs in a microwave, easy. Is there any sort of outdoor grilling available (if it's warm enough)?

How close are you to home?  Sometimes I went home on a Sunday, cooked a big meal, put it into tupperware and microwaved it throughout the week.

Does your dorm have any kind of common kitchen area?  There must be some alternative to the dining hall and cafes.

Or... Get a job in a restaurant?

okay so I can't help but get frustrated by your post because almost every dining hall i've ever been in has bread, peanut butter, jam, cottage cheese, cream cheese, cereal, milk at EVERY meal, it's just like the salad bar...kind of a permanent fixture.

if you don't like the food then eat cheerios with a banana, milk, and some peanut butter toast for breakfast.

have a sandwich at lunch, we had a sandwich bar with deli meat, bread, cheese, and condiments so if you have one then make a sandwich. if not then have peanut butter and jelly, an english muffin with peanut butter, or something like that

for dinner you can have a salad but have primarily beans, tofu, peas, oil based salad dressing, corn, and a few eggs. that can easily be a 500 calorie dinner style salad. have a whole grain roll, slice of bread, or some rice with it...one of these HAS to be available if you go to a decent sized school.

it isn't impossible to eat well and not eating is WORSE than eating a small portion of not the healthiest food. so eat up and be creative. i have free meals 3 times a week in the halls because i'm a tutor and i love it. the food is crappy in general but not what I put together because i know how to make it work. a slice of cheese pizza and a salad is not a bad meal by any standards and 1 slice is not going to cause the freshman 15. your all or nothing mentality is what's hurting you here. sorry if i'm being harsh, i don't mean to be but really try to think creatively. the options are endless!!

I know exactly what your going through my first week of college i lost about 5 pounds that I didnt need to loose. I know the food is gross, everything is either between two slices of bread or swimming in corn starch gravy. A great thing to buy is one of those compact bullet blenders they're great. Try making a smoothie with your favorite fruit and yogurt and some sort of protein supplement( a must). Try buying a Rotisserie chicken from the local supermarket and keep it in your fridge for a few days and just pick at it when your hungry. Keep pita bread in your fridge and some hummus, thats a great snack, all protein and whole grains. Always drink milk it benefits everything from your skin to your digestive function, but always try to make it organic...stay away from those hormones.

Try to stay away from processed food its gross and terrible for you. Its nice to know what your actually eating. Try to eat every few hours, in order to keep that metabolism going. If your not eating enough your metabolism will slow down so much that once you do infact resume to your normal eating habits you'll blow up like a blimp. Another thing H1N1 flu is plagueing college campuses and its no laughing matter( a kid from cornell recently died from it) it is essential that you get healthy again because malnutrition causes a weakened immune system which will make you more suseptible to the virus.