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How to Eat On Campus
(can be adapted for at work)
by Adam Librot
On Meal Plans
Off Meal Plans
Cooking in an Apartment
Eating at Restaurants
Most college meal plans allow you 3 meals a
day. But what if you are up late at night? What if you want to
optimize your nutrition with 5-6 smaller meals a day? How do you
get a good balance of protein, carbs, and fat in each meal? What
do you do for the all-important postworkout meal? Well, the first
recommendation is to get off the meal plan as soon as possible or
to get a reduced form of the meal plan.
Until then, here are some guidelines:
You hear a lot about allocations of
protein, fat, carbs, and calories for a given day. It is
incorrect to think this way; you should think of each meal as a
separate entity, which includes all 3 macronutrients. It is not
good to have 3 eggs in one meal (fat and protein) and then have a
plain pasta and a tossed salad (carbs) for the next, though all
of this food is good for you.
On
meal plan meals:
--Avoid fruit juices, sodas, and other
calorie drinks (except after a workout). As long as you have no
negative reactions to aspartame, diet drinks are fine. Water is
the best.
--Lunch meats such as turkey and tuna are good choices. Choice of
bread makes little difference, so go with what tastes the best to
you.
--Chef's salad is great!
--Instead of mayo, use honey mustard, mustard, olive oil, or
tomato sauce on sandwiches.
--For a healthy source of fat, choose olive oil. Cheese and mayo
are not sources of “healthy” fat, nor is margarine or
butter, though small amounts are not unhealthy.
--Keep the meals to a small size, not more than 500-600 calories,
or 20-25% of daily calories, whichever is smaller.
--For breakfast, eggs are good along with some carb source such
as a bowl of cereal, pancakes, or waffles.
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For
Off-Meal Plan Meals:
There are many cheap and easy ways to get
good meals or snacks not on the meal plan. Here are some ideas:
--A glass (or two) of 1% or skin milk
--A cup of yogurt
--A balance bar or a PR bar (available at most health food
stores). Power Bars are not good snacks, as they have way to many carbs. They are good as part of a
post-workout meal though.
--Unprocessed (natural) peanut butter on a piece of bread.
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In
The Apartment:
If you cook in your apartment, then you can use many of the
following ingredients, and put them together to make a complete
meal:
Protein:
eggs, tuna, turkey or chicken (canned and deli), 98% fat free
ham, fish (salmon and mackerel), 1% milkfat cottage cheese, milk,
skinless chicken
Carbohydrates:
pasta (tomato sauce), beans, oatmeal, special k, peas, broccoli,
other vegetables, pita bread, rye bread, other bread (in
moderation), fruits (preferably apples, oranges, plums, or
peaches)
Fats:
nuts, unprocessed (natural) peanut butter, extra virgin olive
oil, flaxseed oil, eggs
Also, supplements such as meal replacement
shakes and protein powders make easy and very nutritious meals.
There are many different brands for many different purposes.
Email me at alibrot@aol.com for
recommendations.
Remember that vitamin and mineral
supplements are important on a daily basis too.
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At
Restaurants:
There is decent food at fast food places:
A hamburger at Burger King
A double hamburger at McDonald's (or get 2 hamburgers and throw
one bun away)
Grilled Chicken Sandwich (if does not specify grilled,
probably fried)
Any grilled chicken
Egg McMuffins
Soft taco without sour cream
One or two slices of pizza
Chef Salad
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