Food for the College Student

[skie]

College is amazing. The food on the other hand is pretty crappy, at least at my college. The food tastes good, but selection is terrible. W/ my current meal plan, I can only eat 3 times a day at the cafeteria.

What foods should I eat that are main staples for a good healthy eating. Currently, I am trying to lose bodyfat, but even the eggs seem to be loaded w/ fat.

I usually have a piece of fruit every 2 hours during meals. Even then I am still staying where I am.

Any ideas?

[christian gotcher]

I go to a college with mandatory meals, so I feel your pain, but at least the up-and-ups care about nutrition, so there's usually ways of substituting. We have a salad available almost every meal, semi-fresh fruit, and a protein cart (boiled eggs, tuna, chickpeas, and cottage cheese) for whenever the main course is unhealthy.

Knowing the range of your food selection would help. The paleo/Crossfit recommendation is lean meats, vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruits, little starch, no sugar. If you have access to any of the first four, eat them, and eat them in moderation. If you're trying to cut and stay healthy, there's no need for a meal to be more than 400-500 calories, and you can substitute with snack foods throughout the day. I've found a snack pack called "Go Raw Trek Mix" that works for me, with equal parts raisins, cashews, walnuts, almonds, and filberts. Also, for these in-between snacks, it helps to take some protein/fat as well to tide your hunger lunger (since you'll be eating smaller meals)- I find that a small (1.5-2 ounce) can of tuna (you find them in the easy-open cans) and an apple or a half-cup of raisins/blueberries do the trick. If you can't keep anything refrigerated or don't have access to a grocery store, I find that ASAP, a nutritional supplement you can find on a Google search, is pretty good on the go (pretty expensive, though- I don't use it unless I'm doing some long-duration PT).

When eating eggs, especially boiled eggs (it's much easier to separate), taking out the yolks cuts out a almost all the fat from the eggs and keeps a little over half the protein. If the protein options are just too fatty, you might want to consider some relatively inexpensive options you can take care of yourself (eggs- you can scramble them yourself in the microwave, cans of tuna, chicken breast if you have an oven available, even whey protein can help in the short term).

[skie]

Yeah, I should divulge the average meals:

For breakfast:
Eggs
some sort of meat (sausage mostly), ham, bacon (sometimes)
s_hitty cereal selection
Breakfast sandwhichs
They do have Kashi Go lean to go cereals.
Crappy fruit selection

Lunch:
Deli bar (cold cut meats, cheese, etc)
Crappy pasta bar
Crappy vegetarian bar
Some sort of hot sandwhich w/ fries
Salad bar
Fruit

Supper:
Crappy main course meals (pork, ham, mashed potatoes) High starch dinners
The above for lunch as well.
Fruit

Also portion size, how big is big? I usually limit myself to a plate.

[remeark]

those god damn meal plans. I'm glad they didn't have that at UW-Madison. They just don't understand that 3 meals a day isn't enough.

You're on the right track though. Fruits are vegetables are great. You could get that quaker instant oatmeal **** too. Some kind of healthy cereal, maybe kashi go lean. that's all i got. i didn't even very well during college. so good luck to you.

Yea, those meal plans are not only insufficient but they cost an arm and a leg. Here in Milwaukee, its like $6-7 per meal minimum to even feel semi-full. My suggestion would be to pick up some tupperware when you are home on a random weekend or break and stock up heavily on chicken breast, fruit, cooked vegetables, lunch meat, jelly/peanut butter and various condiments. Stuff that is already cooked at home and just has to be heated saves a ton on money and can be healthy/fulfilling at the same time. If you don't have the space to carry all of it back, you can always have someone send it to you in the mail if you don't live too far away.

[christian gotcher]

I'm on the Zone, and it's working for me, so I'll give you an idea of how I would run it as a college-goer. Very general guidelines:

Protein- as lean as possible. For breakfast, the ham will be leaner (most likely), than the sausage which will be leaner (most likely) than the bacon. Hard-boiled egg-whites are incredibly lean, but if your school's cooking them as scrambled eggs, eat in moderation. You're better off getting eggs and scrambling them in your microwave. It can be done, it's tasty, and the results will be less greasy than the alternative.

Carbohydrates- Vegetables before fruits, fruits before starches, avoid sugars with a passion (okay, treat occasionally, but not habitually). If you've got a salad bar, tap it. If you've got a fruit bar, tap it. If you can't tolerate salad, mix in a dash of salt and an orange. Make sure you take an orange slice with every bite of salad and it'll go a long way.

Fats: Nuts and seeds are generally good, but don't go overboard. If the protein source isn't lean, you don't need any extra fat sources.

Proportions:
Protein- ~5 ounces of lean meat per meal. Think one medium-sized chicken breast.
General Carb guideline- Vegetables, you can have 2-3 times the volume of the protein. 2 times for fruit. 1-1 for starches, and be cautious with sugars. (These don't stack, so if you pile chicken breast cuts onto a heaping salad, you may/may not need extra fruit)
Fat: If the protein is lean, add in a little extra fats from nuts, olive oil, other monounsaturated sources. Not much- just think: 1 macademia nut for every ounce of meat is enough.

College meal ideas:
Lunch:
Try making a deli cold cut salad, adjusting as you need. If the hot sandwich has something easy to transfer to a salad, like meatballs, feel free to switch it up. Take a little fruits. Bring your favorite nuts/seeds with you for a little extra.

Dinner: Try minimizing the starchy carbohydrates. Mix the salad or the fruit with the meat of the main course. If it's still too starchy, try eating some carbs afterwards back in your room (keep a fruit stash, and mix it with plain yogurt, the like).

I hope I gave you some ideas- you know what's available/what you like better than I do. Vary your diet as much as you can and try supplementing from the outside. "The Zone Diet" and "Mastering the Zone Diet" by Barry Sears are pretty good for losing weight and discussing insulin management, the "Seal Nutrition Guide" is a solid resource for a general, no-nonsense understanding of nutrition in general, there's "The Paleo Diet," I'm sure you can find others. Yes, the SEAL Nutrition Guide advocates a higher proportion of carbs than the Zone Diet (50 vs. 30-40), but I find on college diets, you really can't afford to be that choosy. Good luck!

[scskowron]

The main problem for me as a college student is MONEY. If I had enough money to buy everything I wanted to eat, I'd probably go on the Zone or even the Caveman diet. So I try to buy foods that are cheap, quick/easy to prepare, and provide a good source of carbs and nutrients. My diet isn't great, but it's getting better. Here are some of the things I buy most often which will cost you about $30 a week if you shop right.

Bananas (30c / lb if you're lucky, depending on your part of the country)
Canned Tuna/Crab/Chicken (lots of protein, no fat, usually cheap)
Peanut Butter (4.00 goes a long way..not to mention it goes with everything)
Nuts - peanuts, cashews, almonds (more expensive, but tasty and filling)
Whole wheat bread ( 2.00 or less)
Milk (read the other thread in this forum regarding milk)
Prunes & raisins
Deli cuts of turkey, lean ham, chicken (buy them pre-packaged to save money)
Eggs (very cheap, great source of protein)
Apples, blueberries, clementines, oranges (depends on your part of the country, but usually cheap)
Mustard (use it instead of mayonnaise or butter)
Shredded cheese (get fat free types to top off your sandwiches, etc)

[n00433478]

I live on campus, and this is pretty much what i have been eating for the past year or so. Now, I do have a full kitchen in my dorm (stove, oven, fridge, microwave), so if you don't i'm sorry. I typically eat a lot of fruit: apples, oranges, bananas, kiwi's, prunes, plums, cranberries, etc. i like it all!. Most fruits do fine in the mini fridges most colleges allow. Also, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, frozen peas, carrots and ROMAINE lettuce are just completely delicious. Lots of milk (skim), yogurt(low fat), cheese... dairy in general, its all godly! Also, they sell a sort of trail mix packs at my grocery store (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, raisins, and a few other raw seeds/nuts in it) thats pretty cheap, tastes good and is very healthy for you. I do not eat very much meat as a protein source just because it gets fairly expensive for a 'good cut.' Fish is def the best when i do grab some meat, fresh or canned tuna.

If you have a stove, oven, and/or large fridge i would DEF advise you to go for lots of fresh fruit/vege's, especially salad, bread, and try and get most everything low fat. Fat is important, which is why i always snack on nuts or seeds. www.WHfoods.org is a pretty good database which tells you about the finer details of the food your eating.

[mikepr]

cereal/ oat bars for breakfast + fruit for luch have a club sanwich and for dinner have like some meat or fish

[tomin67]

Canned fruit. In my opinion, it is the cure for world hunger. At about a buck per can, you can buy like 30-40 of these bad boys and it will last you paycheck to paycheck. Besides the weird looks from the cashier, it is a great way to keep yourself full in between meals without taking Little Debbie on a date. Also, you can eat these before a lot of your workouts without the threat of puking. (With the exception of wind sprints, which will make you puke no matter what you ate.) Also, it has a nice advantage over fresh fruit because it will never go old and no refrigeration needed. At this moment, I am chowing down on about a lb of canned pineapple. Just my 2 cents....

[jmason]

I live in the barracks and right now, all we have is a microwave/fridge...

Best foods have to be oatmeal, fruits, microwave lasagna, sandwiches (tuna fish, ham, ect..), ramen...

Ofcourse I can get a full course meal at the galley, breakfast: $2.10 lunch/dinner: $3.85. I work nights so I miss lunch/dinner.

If you get tired of stuff at your room, go to subway grab a healthy sub on wheat bread.

[MeatHead08]

College food really is crap and it is not only difficult but also costly to eat clean... for some reason bad food is cheaper than good :). I have been bodybuilding throughout college and it takes a lot of creativity to eat clean food without access to a proper kitchen. Luckily for me now that I live in my own place I can prepare my own food the right way.

What appliances do you have access to? Can you use a microwave, george foreman, mini-fridge, blender or a toaster?

If so, there are some decent meals you can make. Oats are very cheap and easy to make for breakfast, you can get frozen hash brown patties and pop them in the toaster (not 100% clean but they taste so good), canned fruits/vegetables, canned tuna, frozen already cooked grilled chicken breasts, deli meat or tuna sandwiches on wheat bread, peanut butter, baked potatoes, you might even be able to get away with cooking up burgers on the foreman... you have to use your imagination a little but you can definitely make some good food. Oh, you might also be able to cook up some brown rice in the microwave but I have never tried it before. Also, get some protein powder and blend up a milk, banana, peanut butter, protein shake and you can easily get some more calories in.

Even if your diet is a little lacking, not to worry. Just up your running mileage and lift more weights :).

[oldswabbie]

When I was overseas and lived off base my house didnt have a fridge...cheapo landlord. I (and my buddy) lived on RiceARoni and roasted Chicken (from the Bar up the street) for $2 each! Cant beat that. Plus there was a grape vineyard in front of my house... all the grapes I could possibly eat in a lifetime during season :D