Hey! I know exactly how you feel. I'm an incoming second-year at the University of Chicago. I just started trying to lose weight this summer, too. Though I've made pretty good progress so far, I'm a little worried about what will happen when I go back to school... Last year I ate almost all of my meals in my dining hall, and I didn't even TRY to eat healthy--I ate huge helpings, and dessert (cake or a cookie) and/or a cheese-filled breadstick with pretty much every meal... If I wanted grilled cheese or french fries or pasta with cream sauce, etc, I got it! Not to mention the fact that I went out for dinner almost every weekend, and I always bought snacks and stuff to chow down in the privacy of my room. Ugh. It's really kind of embarrassing to think about it now! So yeah, I'm not really sure how I'll adjust to making better choices. Not
just because it might be hard to find things, but because it'll be such an obvious change that I'm sure my school friends will all notice--awkward!
Luckily for me, my dining hall does seem to have lots of healthy options. However, since I've never really tried to get them before, I'll basically have to re-educate myself about the various things that are available. Hopefully your dining hall has lots of the healthy things that other people have suggested--the grilled chicken breast sounds like a great idea, since there are so many different ways to prepare it. I'm a vegetarian, so I'll continue to opt for beans, tofu, Boca burgers, etc (my dining hall usually has tons of vegetarian options--another lucky thing for me!). And it's always a good idea to look for steamed/fresh veggies and fresh fruit, low-fat yogurt, healthy cereal, etc. Since starting on this "journey" I've really developed a taste for healthier foods (I know, I'm shocked, too) so hopefully I'll be able to stick with it! Best of luck to you, too!
Now if only I can work up the guts to go into our school gym...
