As a college student, sometimes it is hard to have a balanced life, especially with eating healthier foods. A college student's life lacks structure, extensive coursework, and gaining new independence and responsibility in one's life. For any college student, it can be hard sometimes to eat healthy with busy class schedules and study sessions, and often skip meals, especially breakfast, because they don't have enough time to eat. Or some college students don't know where to begin to eat a healthy lifestyle while adjusting to college life. With all of these obstacles in a college student's life, most college students would prefer meals that are easily accessible such as fast food on or off campus or high-calorie snacks. Eating a balanced or healthy diet provides the necessary vitamins, minerals, and nutrients to keep the body and mind healthy and strong. But for a college student eating a balanced diet can also help improve energy levels, promote a functioning immune system, improve a student's ability to cope with stress, and improve concentration and performance in school. Eating healthy for a college student doesn't mean one has to watch their calorie intake or change their whole eating habits overnight because that would be very stressful for a college student. Also, be easy on yourself and make realistic choices when learning how to pick healthy food choices, and don't beat yourself up too. Start foremost with eating a good breakfast every morning to start your day. They said breakfast is the most important meal of the day because breakfast fuel your day and provides the critical nutrition that your body needs upon waking up. With your breakfast, incorporate a protein such as Greek yogurt, nuts, nut butter, or eggs. Meal planning for your breakfast can also be helpful in the morning. Making a meal plan for the whole week for breakfast can help limit your stress or frustration about what to eat every morning. Next, try to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your meals. With your breakfast, you can add bananas, raisins, and berries to cereal or oatmeal, or have your favorite pieces of fruit on the side with a glass of 100% veggie or fruit juice. For lunch, have a veggie or fruit salad on the side and incorporate veggies in your lunch entree. Whenever you are hungry for a snack, choose options such as dried fruits with nuts, raw veggies cut up into sticks, granola bars with fruit, and or a fruit smoothie. Lastly, for dinner, for the side dishes go with vegetables that are either fresh or frozen or substitute a side dish for more vegetables. If that's too complicated for you, especially when eating out choose the available vegetarian options at your favorite restaurants. Not only is it necessary to have a balanced diet, but it is also crucial to stay hydrated on campus with water. As a college student myself, it is hard to live a healthy lifestyle in college with working and going to classes. But having a healthy lifestyle can be achieved through accurate planning, making time for self-care, and becoming health conscious.
Here's a list of my favorite breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner ideas.
Breakfast:
Oatmeal with fresh fruit
Yogurt with granola and/or fruit
Fruit smoothie
Lunch:
Veggie or protein sandwich with veggie slices
Veggie soup or Veggie chili
Vegetarian or protein salad
Snacks:
Apple slices with nut butter
Trail Mix
Salsa or Guacamole and Chips
Dinner:
Tomato soup with Grill cheese
Veggie or Protein broccoli stir-fry
Stuff peppers either vegetarian or with a protein
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