Avoid 'Freshman 15' with healthy eating habits

Maintaining healthy eating habits in college can sometimes be harder than trying to pass Gospels class. College cafeterias, late-night snacks, and packed schedules that leave little time for exercising often lead not only to the dreaded “freshman 15” weight gain, but to an unhealthy lifestyle that can continue even after you graduate.

But there are ways for you to avoid some of the unnecessary unhealthy eating habits, even if you’re on a budget.

To begin let’s talk about the basic ways that you can avoid the freshman 15 altogether. Freshman15.com has steps that can be taken to improve college eating habits.

1. Avoid eating unhealthy cafeteria food: the cafeteria food is very hard to avoid, and we pay a lot of money to eat there, but in the cafeteria make sure you stay away from sweets such as ice cream, cookies, fried foods, unidentifiable meat, cream cheese, chips and donuts.

2. Avoid drinking excessive amounts of alcohol (off-campus and if you’re of age of course): alcohol is one of the main contributors to the freshman fifteen because of the mass quantities that are usually consumed within a weekend.

3. Avoid eating food late at night: after drinking away many hours of the night, the typical freshman gets hungry. The easy, go-to meal is something easy to obtain, cheap and satisfying; Taco Bell or McDonald’s for instance. This food is so hard on your body and it is very hard for your body to digest, especially when you’re sleeping.

4. Don’t keep unhealthy snacks in your dorm room: chips, cookies, crackers, donuts, chocolate and other unhealthy snacks are usually the typical snacks found in most dorm rooms, but those aren’t the only snacks out there. All those unhealthy snacks go straight to your body in the form of fat.

5. Eat more healthy food: the first step is to change your current eating habits. Try to start swapping out healthy alternatives for the unhealthy foods you eat. Healthy foods will help you look and feel better.

Now, to actually achieve that last goal, I’m going to give you a sample shopping list of healthy snacks/meals you can get a Wal-Mart or Country Mart for pretty much equal to the amount you spend on the fat filled foods you may be eating now.

? Granola: not only is granola great for snacking right from the container, you can also put it as a topping on yogurt

? Peanut butter: what is there to not love about peanut butter? It’s very inexpensive, has a super long shelf life, and can be used in so many ways.

? Oatmeal: it’s very easy to make and it is perfect for on the go, especially on cold mornings.

? Fruit cups: this is a great alternative to a candy bar. It is still sweet, but is actually healthy for you.

? Energy or protein bars: I know I eat a Cliff bar for breakfast every morning and it keeps me full until lunch time. It is perfect for keeping the edge off of hunger in-between meals.12