Eating Healthy

It happens to new freshman. They’re at the dining hall with the intentions of starting their new life away from home eating healthy. Then they take a wrong turn, walk by the pile of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, the mouth-watering hamburgers, and the ever-popular pizza and in an instant their intentions are forgotten.

One thing many students realize when they come to college is that they are forced to fill their own hunger needs and at GCSU many turn to the Sodexo dining hall for refuge. For some students, eating healthy is something they’ve already learned to do. For others, control and healthy eating is something they need to learn.

To help with healthy eating, the Sodexo dining hall has many options for students. Sodexo also places nutrition facts on most of their food items. This allows students to determine whether a certain food benefits them or not.

University Health Educator Rachel Sullivan MED, CHES knows that healthy eating can be an easy task, one key is knowing that some choices are favorable to others.

“Limit sweets, you don’t need them every day. Treat them as a special occasion or as rewards. Instead of fries get a baked potato; vary what you eat; go for color like fruits and vegetables. Also limit your drink choice, get water instead” said Sullivan.

Other things students can try are switching fried foods for grilled or baked foods, or drinking low-fat milk or soy milk, instead of whole milk.

Similarly, it is essential that students remember that skipping meals is not healthy.

“It’s the worst thing you can do because you’ll lower your basal metabolic rate and if you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll have more potential to gain it back,” exercise science major Justin Monsrud said.

If students skip a meal, they are more likely to have trouble concentrating in class.

“Try protein bars if you know you’re not going to have time,” Sullivan said. “Like a Clif bar,” she added.

Experts recommend that when there is time for a regular meal, eat a variety of healthy foods. Get a balance of fruits and vegetables, proteins, grains, dairy products and even healthy fats, like olive oil, nuts or seeds.

“If you get a sandwich, go for 100 percent whole wheat or whole grain, go for salads, fruits or grilled chicken” Monsrud said.

Students need to be wary of portion sizes, because that is the easiest way students take in more calories than they need. Especially at restaurants, where they usually serve double the portion size that is necessary. In those situations, students can easily take in more calories than they originally planned to.

In between trips to the dining hall, it’s common for most students to be hungry. There are plenty of healthy snack options that students can keep in their rooms. These include fresh fruit, granola bars, string cheese, oatmeal packets and even pudding.

Freshman Jenny Recinos knows that snacking is acceptable, as long as she knows what snacks to eat.

“Keeping snacks in my room is a big help,” Recinos said. “I keep a lot of fruit and vegetables in my refrigerator, so I can snack when I want and still be healthy about it.”

Eating healthy at school seems hard, but it is doable. Searching for food at the Sodexo dining hall shouldn’t be a daunting task. Just follow the three simple rules: limit sweets, eat a healthy variety of foods and remember to exercise portion control. Soon, that wrong turn in the dining hall will be something of the past.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 25 2009. Filed under Health & Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry