How I Found Out How to Eat Right in College

This academic year is finally drawing to a close and throughout my first 2 semesters at college I have learned many things: I've learned about time budgeting, about prioritizing, about study habits and what works for me - but perhaps one of the most difficult things to learn and adjust to was How to Eat Right in College.

In some ways the way meal plans work in college can make meal pacing much simpler - you have specific time restraints for when you can buy each meal (ex: Breakfast is 7 - 10:30, Lunch is 10:30 - 3:30, Dinner 3:30 - 12). The lack of food in college, due to the general lack of pocket cash, also takes away the snacking element much of the time. Many people eat right at meals at home but don't realize the poor quality or unhealthiness of the food they snack on in-between meals - this temptation doesn't exist as much with the way college life works.

Well then, you ask, whats so difficult about eating right in college?

The vast majority of food served on campus is junk food. All the main dining halls are just constantly pumping out junk food. Anything you could want: Chicken tenders (deep fried), a basket of oil soaked french fries, pre-made burgers ready to be grabbed and walked off with for your convenience, cheese steaks, mozzarella sticks - basically anything that you would want to buy at a sports bar they offer at every dining hall on campus.

What I came to realize after a semester of eating the way most students, at least at my university, eat is that while I was eating only 2 meals a day (avg. student doesn't wake up in time for breakfast) and not snacking in-between meals as often - yet - i was gaining weight, and most importantly it wasn't the kind of lean mass I was aiming for, it was fat...

I took a long hard look at my diet, whats wrong i thought, I'm eating 2 meals a day, not snacking nearly as much, how in the world could I be taking in more calories then I use to when I lived at home?

I decided to keep a diary of what I ate and to try my best to eat what I usually do - and the results of the day-long experiment were shocking.

While I was indeed eating Less food - I was consuming more calories and way way more fat then I used to. I ran the calculations for what my daily value of calories, fat, sodium, etc. should be and it was obvious that while eating the way I was at school I was eating 1.5 times the amount of fat I should have for a healthy diet. Not only that, but due to the fact that I never was awake in time to eat breakfast - and thus missed out on that meal (at my university they don't give you back the meals that you may have missed, once you miss the time frame you miss your chance to eat) - my metabolism was also slowed down greatly. This is because while you are asleep your body goes in what is called a catabolic state where it kind of hibernates and burns less calories then usual, then when you wake up and eat breakfast your body is kicked back into an Anaerobic state and you go back to the normal calorie burning rate. Because I missed breakfast my body would be in rest mode for hours until I would eat the usual cheeseburger/cheese fries/soda for lunch.

Once I realized the gross amount of fat and calories that was in all the junk food, I decided it was an urgent necessity to change my diet. I started eating breakfast, or at least a protein shake right when I wake up. I stopped eating burgers and fries. Cut way back on the cheese. Switched to wheat and whole grain breads as opposed to the nutritionally empty white bread. I decided it was important to have a few veggies with every meal (and fried veggies don't count). Sure, the College dining experience doesn't force students to eat unhealthy - but it certainly doesn't make it easy for students to know the nutritional value of the things they are eating. I'm able to find healthy dining options at all dining halls but they tend to be less convenient, take substantially more waiting time compared to the junk foods, and are never served hot.