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.

When students move away from home for college, a lot of them develop bad habits that cause the freshman 15. This is because, living on your own for the first time can be difficult to manage, and things like diet and exercise just aren't priorities for most people. However, if you can identify the bad habits that cause the freshman 15, you can begin to lose some weight and look a lot better. To help you out, I made a list of 10 bad habits that cause the freshman 15.

1. Drinking too much alcohol. If, for example, you go out and drink 8 beers at a party, that's about 960 empty calories. This will pretty much kill your diet for that day, and make it difficult to keep weight off.

2. Not getting enough sleep. Studies show that adults who get 7 hours of sleep or more per night are thinner than those getting 5 or 6 hours (or less). As a college student, you may be losing sleep cramming for tests or staying out too late, and it could be halting your weight loss.

3. Not enough exercise. If you are not exercising, you need to try to find some time. Just walking to class can be extra exercise for a student, or use the campus rec center.

4. Stress. College can be a stressful time, due to classes and other obligations. Stress can cause the body to gain weight, so try to manage your stress level.

5. Late night meals. It can be difficult to be motivated to make something late at night, but usually the only places open late are fast food. Eating a high calorie meal before bedtime can promote weight gain.

6. Skipping breakfast. People that eat breakfast consistently are thinner than people who don't. A healthy breakfast gets your metabolism going for the day and prevents you from being famished and eating a huge meal for lunch.

7. Addicted to soda. Regular soda is the main culprit because of the high amount of processed sugar it adds to your diet. Diet soda is better, but water is probably best.

8. Too Many deserts. Freshmen that eat in the cafeteria get stung by this one because desert is available at every meal.

9. The caf is killing you. The unlimited deserts aren't the only bad foods in the caf to fill up on. Fortunately, you can get some healthy alternatives, like fruit for deserts and side salads with your meal.

10. You don't have a plan. If you are just going to wing it when it comes to managing your weight, then chances are you are going to get heavier. In today's society, you definitely need to set a plan for yourself if you want to get thin andor stay thin. Make yourself a diet and exercise plan in order to break the bad habits that cause the freshman 15.

Need help formulating a plan Well that's why I invented the Freshman 15 Challenge I want to help students like you identify and reverse the bad habits that cause the freshman 15. I go through solutions that are tailored to your unique lifestyle.

I used to be a college student, and I managed to keep the freshman 15 off throughout my college years, and I know you can too. So, take the Freshman 15 Challenge, because you don't want to miss out on your chance to look your best!

College is a time of change for a lot of students. Moving away from home and living on your own is a drastic change in your life. Unfortunately, a lot of student use their new found freedom to develop bad habits that cause them to gain weight. Is the freshman 15 real Well whether you put on the full 15 pounds or not, I know firsthand that the bad habits and weight gain certainly are real. If you want to change your lifestyle and lose that weight and look your best while you're young, then you need to do these 3 things

Cut out the bad habits. Students develop bad habits when they move away from home and start their college lifestyle, and this is what is causing you to gain weight. You must reverse these bad habits if you wish to achieve college weight loss. Here are some of the bad habits that I've seen college students fall into

Drinking too much alcohol
Sleep deprivation
Eating out late at night
Skipping breakfast
Addicted to soda
Eating too many deserts
Making bad food choices
Skipping meals

Make an exercise plan and follow it

If you wish to achieve college weight loss, you need to get more exercise. It's not as bad as it sounds, and it can be as simple as walking to class. Most campuses are walkable, and you can burn a lot of extra calories everyday just by walking around. If walking is not for you, how about biking or rollerblading If you have to drive, maybe you can snag that parking spot far away from your building. As far as exercise, consider taking a weight training or circuit training class. These are some of the most effective weight loss training methods, and in class you can meet like-minded people who are interested in college weight loss.

Make a diet plan and follow it

If you want to lose weight, you need to have an approach to choosing what you eat. You can't just go to the cafe or out to eat and just wing it. There are too many foods out there that are bad for your weight, and it might not necessarily be obvious at first glance. You also need to determine when you will be away at classes so you can plan ahead and pack some healthy snacks. This way, you are not starving throughout your day, because that leads to binge eating and weight gain. With a plan for your diet and a little foresight, you can achieve college weight loss.

Need help formulating your diet and exercise plan to achieve college weight loss

Well, that's why I invented the Freshman 15 Challenge to help students like you reverse College freshman weight gain. I go through solutions that are tailored to your unique lifestyle.

I used to be a College student, and I managed to keep the freshman 15 off throughout my College years, and I know you can too. So, take the Freshman 15 Challenge, because you don't want to miss out on your chance to look your best!