Hi there I'm looking for some advice about calorie counting...

Some background: From January to May 2006 I was at living home and doing an excellent job at eating right and exercising. I used to eat a lot of healthy, non-processed things! I also counted my calories and I found that a 1400 - 1500 calorie range worked best for me. I had great success and lost about 25 pounds.

In June 2006, I began college a semester early. It threw off my plan... I did not have a lot of time to work out, I was very stressed, and I developed a few bad eating habits -- all-you-can-eat cookies is very tempting! I also ate a lot at night when I was finishing papers or studying for tests.

A year later, I have conquered most of those bad eating habits. I have also managed to lose about 10 pounds (better than gaining the freshman 15!). I'd REALLY like to start counting calories again - I like planning out and counting my food, it makes me feel more in control. My only problem is the dining hall.

The thing about the dining hall is that there really aren't a lot of healthy choices, and it is all you can eat. They have slightly wilted salad and one brand of healthy cereal.. but I don't like salad and cereal doesn't fill me up. They mainly have things like lunch meat sandwiches (with white bread rolls), pizza, burgers, hot dogs, chicken patties (deep fried), bagels, etc. You get the picture. They rarely have yummy - let alone HEALTHY - food. A few other students and I suggested they carry grilled chicken at the grill and they did.. for a week. Also, they NEVER have calorie counts on anything! I can guesstimate calories and portion sizes, but from previous experience I am usually way off. This really frustrates me!!!

I wish I could buy and prepare all of my food myself but (1) my grandparents are basically forcing me to have a meal plan and (2) I don't have a kitchen or items needed for cooking. I have a microwave so I can heat up things, but that's it. I also don't have a lot of money to buy extra food.. all of my extra money comes from my grandparents because I don't have time for a job.

I'd love to count calories again, but I am not sure how to with the unhealthy dining hall food that I eat. I thought of keeping the calories that I CAN count to around a certain range and then just trying to eat in moderation at the dining hall for dinner (if that makes sense). Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated! I want to see some results from all the exercise I've been doing!

(Sorry this is so long - I guess writing super long essays rubs off on you after a while )

Well, you are faced with a challenge! Is there a way you can speak to any of the people in charge of the food service to communicate your needs and see if they can help you (with an idea of what is in the food or in bringing in healthier options)?

Is there fresh fruit or vegetables? Do they offer any steamed vegetables? Low fat yogurts or smoothies? What else is there besides what you've mentioned?

At my old dining hall, there was a comments board that you could post your thoughts, suggestions, etc. They did pay attention to it, but they rarely acted on our suggestions. It took a few months and many comments to even get them to serve grilled chicken - and even then they just served it for a week. I really enjoyed the chicken so I requested to have it back all year long, over and over again. It didn't work. At the new dining hall, there's nothing like that so I don't really know who I'd contact. The workers don't seem to know much about the food and I never see the managers.

They DO put out fresh fruit but the trick is getting it! If they put the fruit out it's gone by midday. If I see them laying out I try to get as many as I can and carry them out in my bag... I guess a lot of students do that and that is why they disappear so quickly.

Here's a few more things that are always out: white rice, beans (I am not crazy about beans, though), a pasta bar, assorted bread (they are actually getting better at this - sometimes they have whole wheat bread as well as white bread, bagels, etc.), fruit (if you can get it!), peanut butter and jelly for sandwiches, tons of desserts and ice cream.

The main dishes and "specials" rotate daily, so I never know what I will get. Sometimes they are GREAT - fruit smoothies, grilled chicken wraps, chicken breasts, etc - but most of the time they are unidentifiable (see http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/phot...48579_6814.jpg if you can. They named this "Sausage stuff" and I have NO CLUE what all is in it. Yech!) They have vegetables on occasion, a few times a week, but they are usually overcooked to the point of not having any taste. Since eating vegetables has always been one of my problems, this doesn't make them very appealing..

I wish they'd have yogurt and smoothies! I have them in my room and I eat them for breakfast or a snack. Unfortunately for breakfast they just have cereal, pancakes or french toast, waffles, scrambled eggs, biscuits, gravy, sausage, and bagels. I prefer oatmeal with a piece of fresh fruit or something like that!

maybe u should live in an apartment instead. Like where I am, there's nothing but the food in the refrigerator to tempt. hehe

I'd LOVE to live in apartment, but it all comes down to finances and finding an apt in downtown Atlanta is kinda pricey..

Where do you go to school?

I went to a university, and if you looked (via their website, talking to managers, and even books in the dining commons) they had nutritional information available. We could also trade our "meal value" (I think it was $5 per meal) to buy other foods in little on-campus convenience stores...they had water, yogurt, cereal, and even some lean proteins and reheatable meals that, while not the best options, were better than you could get in the dining commons itself.

Thanks for everyone's replies!

I go to Georgia Tech (go Jackets! ). I've looked for nutritional information, and they always say "it's on the website"... I've looked and I cannot find info for any of the things, just some random recipies and a general calorie calculator. We do have a convenience store as well as a few fast food places during the fall and spring semesters but we can't trade our meals :-\. That's a great idea, though. If I ever get in contact with a manager I will definitely suggest that.

edit: @kitkit, that's another reason I was so successful at home - the only food available to me was in the fridge

I would email or call these people linked below:

http://www.gatech.edu/offices-depart...dex.php?id=323

Can you access this salad bar (linked below)? It looks great! I see several things that are healthy and nutritious here!

http://www.gatechdining.com/images/FoodCourt007.jpg

Georgia Tech uses Sodexo for their catering, so you should have labels on items that delineate "healthier choices" based on the following criteria (these should have a "Well Balanced" indicator on the display for the item):

WHAT ARE THE WELL BALANCE CRITERIA?

Calories Fat Cholesterol Sodium
kcal gm mg mg
SOUPS <225 < 7 gm <25 mg <600 mg
ENTREES <550 <15 gm <100 mg <1000 mg
SANDWICHES <550 <15 gm <100 mg <1000 mg
VEGETABLES & SIDES <225 < 8 gm <5 mg <250 mg
FRUIT <300 < 6 gm <10 mg <100 mg

Also, you can look up nutritional info here for Sodexho entrees:
http://balancemindbodysoul.com/nutritioncalc.html

If you can find out what the menu will be, you can plan ahead by looking at the entrees and choosing the best option. If not, you can try to find foods labeled with that "Well Balance" label and count them as the maximums for the type (so, for example, if you had a serving of a "Well Balance" soup, you'd count it as 225 calories)

Thanks for those links. I had no clue those pages even existed! Silly me, I must have not done enough research.

I can access that salad bar, but I have to pay for it, so I could only visit a few times a week at most.

I'll try to look up things using that system, if they were on there it would be a dream! I honestly don't know where those "well balanced" labels would be but I'll try investigating tonight!

Thanks for all your help!

when i was in college i had a rice cooker and ate that. helped alot because i could cook brown rice and steam veggies. rice is pretty cheap too. good luck.

Oh girl I know how it is with the meal plans! I am so glad our school has the options of 21 meals per week in the cafeteria, or a certain amount of money (300-900 bucks) to spend in our other on campus dining options. My first semester I made the mistake of getting the 21 meals per week, because it was more food for the money (I probably gained alot of my weight during that time LOL). They had the same food you were describing...never anything healthy. There was a chinese section of the caferia that always had a chicken/veggie stir fry, but of course it closed down. There was also a section where they made you pasta, and you picked what kind and how they cooked it.

We also have a Chic-Fil-A, a smoothie shop, and a diner (with a huge fruit and salad bar) that aren't on the 21 meal cafeteria plan, but we CAN use the declining balance, so that's what I use now.

Eeeeek I digress.

If I were you (which I was at one time and made the WRONG decisions) I would just work with what they had. On days they main dish is not edible, just suck it up and eat the salad, or make a sandwich. Or just eat small portions of what they do have. OR go against grannie's wishes. I kjnow my gandma still bugs me about a meal plan so I always get the smallest one just to say I have one.

Buy (or rent) a mini fridge to keep some healthy stuff around (yogurt, fruit)...it doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing (all your food or all dining hall) but on the days the dining hall isn't serving anything good, it'd be great to have other healthy choices back in your room.

Oh boy, do I know that!

What are your exact conditions of living? Do you have a room on the campus? A possibility of sharing a kitchen/hot plater/fridge with another student, perhaps? (Ah, the good old days of smuggling hot plates and *gas burners* in our rooms, which almost set fire to the ceiling once. ) Or maybe you can talk to your grandparents, tell them you'd like to get more fruits than the meal plan offers, and buy season fruits/veggies that can be eaten raw (carrots...), so that it's not too expensive for you?

I reckon that without at least a fridge and a hot plate, it's quite hard to do much. But I hope things will go better for you in that regard.