[collegegirl21]

I'm new to the site and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to stick to a diet while in college. My school has a cafeteria with three options plus a salad bar. Our meals are included in the tuition and I feel that I need to at least eat a majority of my meals there. I love the salad bar, but it does get old after a while. Does anyone have advice on what foods are usually safe to eat in the terms of calories or which foods I should avoid at all costs (besides the obvious)?

Also, does anyone have any advice on a good diet regime to follow? One that I can incorporate into a life where I don't always have control of what is made (due to younger brothers and the aforementioned college situation)?

Thanks for any help.

[UrsusMaritimus]

Hi there! Welcome to 3FC.

It's great that you have access to a salad bar. I'd suggest you make salad your "main course" at both lunch and dinner and have whatever other items seem reasonably healthy as sides. I do understand, though, that one cannot subsist on salad alone - what other foods does your cafeteria consistently stock? Is it possible to get nutritional info for those foods?

As far as plans go, look around the site - there are LOTS and LOTS of options. And I believe there are several college students here who might be able to help you out.

Good luck!

[garstar]

IF you can get nutritional info, that'd be great. Then you'll know how many calories, etc. that are actaully in the food! Other wise, yeah I agree - eat a salad every day. When I was eating at the cafeteria on my campus it was buffet style and really hard to portion control, so good luck with that!

Maybe try counting food types and portions, setting a number each time. For example, say you're going to have 2 grains, 1 piece of fruit, and 1 dairy..

Or before you go, plan out what you're going to eat so you're not tempted to just eat anything that looks good. good luck

[cornellchick]

Collegegirl, I'm relatively new here and in the same boat as you are. You might see what some other people recommended to me when I asked about this:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147659

I'm going to try to live on dining hall food too! Hopefully we can both do it! A couple of the ideas that I liked that people recommended to me:

1. Get ONE plate at the dining hall, fill it up (half veggies, 1/4 meat, 1/4 carbs), eat that, and don't go back for seconds. If you're still hungry try switching what you're eating to get more fibrous/filling foods on your plate.

2. Have a weekly dessert day. That's the only day you're allowed to get dessert.

Good luck

[GradPhase]

I'm also sticking to the college meal plans. Maybe we should try and start a sub-group of kicking the freshman 15!