Living in the dorms and getting a healthy college diet at the cafeteria can be a serious challenge. Many students put on the freshman 15 or more, and the caf food is at least partially to blame. There are plenty of unhealthy choices in the caf and this leads to an improper diet. If you want to improve your diet and lose some weight, here are 5 tips for cafeteria survival

1. Don't take a tray

Nutritionists agree that eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day is better for your weight than eating 1-3 large ones. Grabbing a tray is counterproductive because you can fit a lot on a tray, like a dinner plate, dinner roll, desert plate, and beverages. Skip the tray and just grab the plate and silverware. Fill up the plate with a decent lunch or dinner and go to your seat and set it down. You can head back up for your beverages. This is a fool-proof way to stick to eating small meals.

2. Unlimited meal plan

Building on what I mentioned above, you want to eat several small meals per day on a healthy college diet. Make sure that you have enough access to stop for at least 3 meals before the caf closes, and maybe even run through for a snack. It depends on how your school runs its meal system, but if you only have access to 10 meals per week in the caf, this is going to lead to eating large meals, fast food, or unhealthy snacks in between meals.

3. What to eat for breakfast

A healthy college diet must include breakfast. Studies show that people who eat breakfast daily are thinner than people who don't. Choose a breakfast with lean protein, complex carbs, and fiber.

4. Beverage choice

The cafeteria has many sugary soft-drinks available. Try to avoid these, since they will add a lot of unwanted calories and processed sugar to your diet. Try to stick with water, milk, and limited amounts of real fruit juice.

5. What to avoid

Some things to try to avoid as much as possible for a healthy college diet

The desert tray and desert freezer
Bagels
French fries
The waffle bar
The soft-serve ice cream machine
Fountain pops
Doughnuts
Desert pastries
Sugary cereal

Want more tips for eating a healthy college diet

Well then check out the Freshman 15 Challenge. At this site, I go through solutions that are tailored to your unique lifestyle.