by Darin Smith

College is a time of change and choice.  Many students move away from home and start making important lifestyle decisions for themselves, including things like their health and nutrition.  Unfortunately, lifestyle changes, stress, limited finances, peer pressure, time constraints, and access to junk food oftentimes results in bad dietary choices and accompanying weight gain for many students.  Eating healthy can be challenging for a busy, cash-strapped college student, but it is possible by following a few basic tips.

Don’t skip meals!  Many college students skip breakfast and lunch when they are on the go.  Missing breakfast and lunch results in a lack of energy, slows down your metabolism (which means you’ll burn less calories), and causes you to overeat later on. 

Pack a lunch.  Not only is this better for your budget, but it also helps you avoid buying less healthy food (fast food, vending machine snacks).

Less pop/more water.  Limit sugar-heavy beverages (pop, sports drinks, sugary coffee drinks) and drink more water.  Almost ¼ of an average American’s daily caloric intake comes from liquids, and many of these consist of “empty calories” that end up as fat (alcoholic beverages also contain a large amount of calories).  Water is cheap, calorie-free, fat-free, and acts as an appetite suppressant. 

Substitute healthy snacks for bad ones.  If you want something crunchy, put down the potato chips and grab some carrot sticks or nuts.  If you crave something sweet, avoid the candy and go for a piece of fruit.  If you have to indulge, buy small portions so you aren’t tempted to eat a whole bag of cookies.

More fruit/veggies.  Your mom is right; you aren’t eating enough of these.  Try to include one fruit or vegetable with every meal.  Have some OJ at breakfast, a tomato on your sandwich at lunch, an apple for a snack, and a salad with dinner and you’ll meet your daily requirements easily.  Apple pie and banana bread don’t count!

Limit sweets/fast food/fried food.  It is one of the great tragedies in life that something so good must also be so bad.  College students are constantly surrounded by these easily-accessible but fattening delights.  Try to limit these foods or at least try to make healthier choices (veggies on your pizza instead of the meat lover special, salsa instead of sour cream on your burrito, mustard instead of mayo on your sandwich, baked chicken instead of fried).