You’re finally on your own away from home, and now you have to feed yourself; or maybe you have returned to campus and are tired of the dining hall and eating out—this is the article for you. As a sophomore, I find myself wanting to cook more and to eat healthier, but that’s easier said than done. Through trial and error, I have arranged seven tips for healthy eating that the average college student should be able to follow.
This is such a simple idea but is still a real time-saver. At the beginning of the week or month, choose a few meals you can make in bulk and set aside some time on the weekend to cook or prepare these meals. If you have access to a freezer, you can freeze just about any meal and it will stay good for a couple of weeks. Preparing meals means that you don’t have to cook every day and clean up tons of dishes. Personally, I’ve meal-prepped frozen lasagna, enchiladas, and various kinds of soup! Just be sure to mark what day you made each meal, and look up how long the food should last, so you don’t give yourself food poisoning!
Making a grocery list of ingredients you need, snacks you want, and even personal items will help save you time in the grocery store. Having a grocery list can also keep you from buying extra food you don’t need or won’t use. Saving both money and time are priorities for a college student!
Drinking water throughout the day will help you meet your necessary daily intake of water. Staying hydrated is important for many bodily functions, including digestion, and will help you feel your best!
Fruits and vegetables make for quick, easy, and healthy snacks. Reaching for chips or ice cream when we start to feel hungry is easy, but choosing instead to have fruits or vegetables will help you get the nutrients and fiber you need. Fiber is especially important for digestion and is something that college students might not get enough of.
Thinking that you will eat healthily every day is unrealistic. Some days, you will want Chick-fil-A, or a sweet treat, and that’s OK! Eating out or eating an occasional sweet treat can still be part of a balanced diet. Eating these comfort foods can also help with your mental health and can serve as rewards for reaching academic goals.
If you are going to start cooking, cook what you like! If you don’t like eating salads, then don’t force yourself to eat salads every day. Research recipes for some of your favorite foods or ask friends and family members for the recipes to some of your favorite home-cooked meals. For the recipes that you decide to make, try sneaking vegetables or healthier alternatives into the recipe so you can have a more balanced meal while maintaining its taste!
One of the easiest ways to make cooking more fun is cooking with friends! Get a group together and make some meals together. You can even split the ingredient cost and food preparation. This can be a way to hold yourself more accountable for the food choices you make while keeping yourself enthused about committing to cooking instead of eating out.
These were my seven tips for healthy college eating, but there are so many more out there! Looking at advice on the internet or asking the adults in your life how they manage their time with cooking can also be worthwhile. Learning how to take care of yourself isn’t easy, so give yourself some grace! I hope you try some of my tips, but still make sure to do what works for you. Try to experiment with what works best and turn what you find into healthy habits. Good luck!
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