by Amber Hilton

Created on: November 10, 2007

Eating a healthy diet as a college student can sometimes seem like an impossible feat. If you were lucky, growing up you had someone who was kind enough to prepare healthy meals for you at least once in awhile and to nag you when ate ice cream straight out of the carton. However, now you're on your own and the mini fridge in your doom room (that you probably have to share with your roommate) can barely hold one apple, let alone a whole slew of fresh fruits and veggies. Add the fact that you're probably insanely busy, stressed, broke and maybe homesick and it isn't too surprising that many of us start overeating or making junk food like pizza and potato chips the mainstays of our diets. Unfortunately, for a good percentage of college students, the "freshman 15" isn't a myth. And weight gain is just one of many consequences of bad eating habits. Poor nutrition significantly affects your physical, mental and emotional well-being and can ultimately lead to health problems. Not only that, but your academic performance is likely to suffer.

However, while I've painted a pretty bleak picture, all hope is not lost. There are many ways that you can still get a healthy diet as a college student, it just takes a little planning and motivation.

1. Take advantage of university dining services. On my campus its called "The Commons", although I'm sure it goes by many names. Whatever you call it, it's basically the school cafeteria, but don't let that scare you - hopefully it's a huge step up from where you were forced to dine in high school. I'm not going to lie to you and say that the cuisine is amazing, because usually its not. And I'm not going to tell you that everything they have to offer will be healthy, because the school cafeteria can be littered with many high fat and nutritionally void foods.

However, what the cafeteria typically does offer (or at least at the school I attend), is VARIETY, something that is key to a healthy diet. Some people think that dining at the cafeteria is "lame" because it tends to be filled mostly with underclassmen, but I strongly disagree. For a very reasonable price, I can load up on all the fresh fruits and veggies I want, which I'm often unable to afford or have no room for in my fridge. Bypassing the burgers and fries isn't all that difficult because they typically aren't all the appetizing (its still a cafeteria after all), but there are usually some other good options, like lean protein, healthy sandwiches, high fiber cereals and low-calorie

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