The Cafeteria - One-stop shopping
The cafeteria, you’ll find, is truly a lifesaver. You have a huge variety of food from which to choose, so there is no excuse to eat poorly. You won’t have to worry about missing out on your favorite entrée, since the cafeteria will usually repeat its menu several times throughout the year. Therefore, you know that if you choose to be good and refuse the mac-and-cheese today because you already had something less-than-nutritious earlier, you will have the chance to eat that dish later on in the month—maybe even that week. With such an array of food options available to you, you can be confident that you’ll never go hungry, so there’s no reason to stock up on extra calories. Also, there are often healthy eating initiatives on college campuses, usually student-headed, and the response has been tremendous. For instance, cafeterias across the country are now required to have vegetarian options available at every meal.
And here’s the best part: you don’t have to do any dishes, help prepare
anything, or deal with any of the leftovers. (Many schools, however, do offer
positions in cafeteria services, if you’re looking to be paid.) For around
five bucks you get to choose from salad, a hot meal bar, maybe even a grill. And
because of the consistency of certain items (like the salad bar) and the variety
of other sections (the hot meal bar will change its entrées for every meal),
you can really get yourself into a good, healthful eating pattern without getting
bored too quickly.
Of course, you’ll probably be surrounded by an abundance of highly processed, highly fattening food, as well. The urge to eat these items becomes more pronounced when you see them every day and everyone around you seems to be enjoying them. Learning to pace yourself is the key to avoiding any serious weight gain, whether you’re a freshman or a senior. The best way to do this without feeling deprived is to remember that everything is about balance and nothing is off limits. If you overindulge today, eat healthfully tomorrow and the next day. Experts agree that the important thing is calorie intake over several days, not just one meal. So don’t be too hard on yourself if today was especially trying on your waistband; just get back on track tomorrow. A word of caution, though: if you eat poorly one day and healthfully the next, day after day, you’ll be thwarting your efforts to get healthy and lose weight. If you are trying to drop pounds, don’t eat badly every other day and expect to be successful.
