Introduction
College is a crazy busy time for most people. The thought of cooking and eating healthy foods when you’re struggling to make time to sleep is just one more source of stress. However, with a little planning and careful shopping, you can eat well for very little money and avoid a lot of processed foods.
Dining Hall
If you eat in the dining hall for part of your meals, make sure your first stop is at the salad bar. Fill up on fresh vegetables at lunch and dinner, and start breakfast with fresh fruit. A tummy full of fiber will not leave much room for desserts, pizza, or soda.
For those who have a hard time walking away from an all-you-can-eat situation, set the timer on your phone. Take 30 minutes to truly enjoy your food. Drink water with your meal and make room on your plate for lean protein. Save dessert for the weekends or as a special treat. When the timer goes off, get busy with the next part of your day. The longer you stay in the dining hall, the stronger the tendency to overeat.
Keep fresh fruit in your dorm. Yogurt and granola are also a great option for a small dormitory refrigerator. Avoid stashing noodles and other empty carbs in your room, or when you’re tired and in need of comfort, you’ll overload your system with salt and empty calories.
On Your Own
It may be easier to make healthy choices in your own apartment, but if you want something hot you’ll either have to order it in or make it. Plan ahead. Invest in an old-fashioned crockpot and put it to work on the weekends. Make soups, stews and casseroles in the crockpot that you can split up and refrigerate or freeze to warm up later. Additionally, crockpots cook slow enough that you can fix cheap cuts of meat and still enjoy a delicious meal at the end of a long day.
Another way to eat healthily and stay frugal is to focus on breakfast. Eggs are a cheap and extremely healthy source of protein. You can reduce your food budget and improve your nutrient intake with a regular rotation of omelettes that contain vegetables. Add a side salad, cup of fresh fruit or some soup to your plate for a budget-friendly, healthy meal.
Cook Ahead
One of the biggest problems with your workload may be the easy access to take-out and fast food. Thanks to many delivery services, we can get almost any food delivered to us, day or night. However, this can lead to poor food choices and may seriously cut into your available cash.
Spend part of every Sunday cooking ahead. If you have to get out the cutting board, don’t just prepare one salad. Fire up the oven and the crockpot while you’re at it. Chop your veggies for a salad, load the crockpot with some ingredients for soup or stew and make a simple casserole in the oven. Once everything cools, break it down into single service containers and store it for the coming week.
Tools
In addition to basic cooking tools, invest in a small cooler you can use as a lunch bucket. If you have access to a microwave, stack your lunch bucket with a frozen serving of soup for supper, yogurt and granola for a morning snack, a serving of protein such as tuna, cheese or hard-boiled eggs and crackers for lunch, and fresh fruit for an afternoon pick me up. Even if you can’t heat up the soup until you get back to your apartment, having something frozen in the bottom of your kit will keep the rest of your food cool.
Always carry a thermal water bottle you can fill up at the nearest water fountain. Fill it with ice in the morning and sip it down through the course of the day. Keep gum in your pocket or purse for days when you can’t focus. If you wish you had a motion activated camera to remind you to step away from the refrigerator or your favorite vending machine, having a piece of gum in your mouth can keep you from a stress binge.
Conclusion
Convenient food generally isn’t very healthy and it’s often terribly expensive. Make space in your budget for the occasional splurge, but do your best to make time for food prep on the weekends. You don’t want to find yourself with nothing to eat, gazing into a vending machine. With some planning, you can make healthier choices and maintain your diet during your college years.
