[mimsyborogoves]

I figured this would be the best place to post this seeings how a lot of people in their 20s are college students

I live on campus at my university and for the most part have to live off of cafeteria food. This is kind of hard when I'm trying to lose weight because they serve SO much fried food and I get so sick of eating salads all the time. Also, it's hard to measure up portion sizes, too, when you don't know how much is in a serving spoon. So how do I know I'm consuming the right amount of calories without knowing exactly how much I'm putting into my body? Are there any other college students out there in my shoes that can help me?

[delyn]

Well I just graduated this past December, but I know how you feel.

I'm not sure about your university, but my school had a section on their webpage where you could access the menu for the food items offered in the dining halls and see the nutrition facts. You should try looking into that and see if that is something that your school offers.

Food wise, what I did when I lived on campus and ate only dining hall food was I tried to eat sandwiches (ones that weren't grilled cause they use a lot of butter) and filled it with as many veggies as possible and had turkey meat. Other things would be maybe having pasta, but getting the side portion instead of the entree portion that they serve.

It's hard to really estimate serving sizes & calories especially if you don't know exactly how the food is being prepared and what is all going in it. For the most part, try to avoid fried foods as much as possible or things that may be cooked with a lot of butter & whatnot.

[Mizzthingaling]

My first year in college I lost a lot of weight. I was the smallest I have ever been even with the unhealthy cafeteria food. I walked almost everywhere I went. Sometimes we walked 5 miles. I also started going to the gym (at first mostly to scope for guys) 3-4 days a week. I too classes, walked and did weights.

Once I started noticing I was losing I stared eating better. I chose more vegetables and the grilled chicken options. I also gave up eating so many Fruit Loops. Little changes may help you too.

[sontaikle]

Do you have to eat the cafeteria food all the time?

I didn't live on campus, but I would frequently bring my own lunches (and in graduate school, dinner as well) because I couldn't always trust the food. Since I was a commuter though it would have just cost too much to buy the food all the time.

[Soon2BSlender]

Does your cafeteria have an omelet bar? The line at mine could be long, but was worth the wait. I'd go for filling proteins, salads, and things like yogurt cups where the calories are easily measured. Oatmeal is another great option. Go for a turkey sandwich if need be. Just stay away from pizza and fried food. Don't feel the need to eat the full serving they give you. Drink water or iced tea and try to pace your self.

I think you would benefit greatly from reading up/experimenting outside the cafeteria with portion sizes. You can pretty much figure out a reasonable calorie estimate (lots of online calorie tools) if you can guess a portion size. You might not know the exact prep method, but you should be able to get an ok guess and you can always ask how it was prepared.

[abejune23]

do you have a kitchen in dorms? when i lived in a non-kitchen dorm, there was still a kitchen in the basement. you can also bring a mini fridge so you can cook and stuff.

[Munchy]

I posted this before, but:

In college is when I finally lost the ten lbs that I had been trying to lose for years! I'm still trying to lose it now lol.

-I took advantage of the free gym and the fact that I had support that lived all around me. After classes M-F, a group of us would go to the gym together for an hour or more.

-I ate cafeteria food 1-2 times a day, depending on my schedule.

BREAKFAST
In the dorm breakfast: Low cal instant oatmeal, low sodium canned soup (Health Valley, Trader Joe's, and Lundberg are the ones that come to mind but read the labels).

In the cafeteria breakfast: I'd always drink one entire large 16oz cup of water with lemon before eating anything. Coffee, egg, an English muffin or one slice of wheat toast. If they had an omelette station, I'd take advantage of the veggies and lean meats, ask for egg whites, ask for no or very light cheese.

LUNCH
In the dorm lunch: I typically picked up a grilled chicken sandwich and ate the chicken dipped in bbq sauce and threw away the bun (sometimes this would be in the dorm breakfast), a veggie wrap with hummus, or a 6" turkey lunch meat sub on wheat with mustard, lettuce and tomato (we had the ability to get "fast food" with our meal plans at several locations on campus) to eat in the dorm.

In the cafeteria lunch: usually a salad with chickpeas, no cheese, and some low cal dressing on the side. I typically tried to eat chicken if they had it and I'd put it in my salad or eat it on a separate plate, tossing the skin and blotting the meat if it was greasy. I often made a dipping sauce for my chicken with soy sauce, sweetener, garlic powder, and a dash of hot sauce. It was a tweak from a "Korean Chicken" recipe that I made as a kid with my mom.

DINNER
I always ate dinner in the cafeteria. I'd always drink one entire large 16oz cup of water with lemon before eating anything. I'd start with a salad on the side with beans (like the above). If the entree looked moderately healthy (even if I had to tweak it a little like with the chicken above), I'd get it. If not, I'd get about 3/4 cup of pasta, add tomato sauce and mix in 1-1.5 cups of the vegetable side dish(es) offered.

I kept one snack in my room - mini light salt pretzel twists and I allowed myself 12 and put the bag away. If I was hungry, I'd just drink more water/tea/diet soda (at that time I wasn't into natural foods) and sleep if I needed to. Accountability was easy because I was living in such close quarters with other people.