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.

A lot of students experience College weight gain when they move away from home to go to school. Have you put on a few pounds since you left home Do you know what to do about it I am a recent College grad, and during my time at school I identified several bad habits that students fall into that inflates their waistline. Are you making any of these mistakes If you are, you need to identify and reverse your behavior so that you can get the body that you want! Here are 4 bad habits that could be causing you to experience College weight gain

1. Making the wrong choices in the cafeteria. In my cafeteria, there was a soft-serve ice cream machine available, as well as a desert tray. I saw some people who would eat two deserts per day, one with lunch and one with dinner. Packaged deserts got smuggled up to dorm rooms in bulk for later. It's no wonder people are experiencing College weight gain with habits like these; and this is just the deserts. The waffle bars, bagel bars, etc. are also killers. Pick a diet plan and stick to it when you're in the caf. There are plenty of healthy fruits, veggies, proteins, complex carbs, etc. to choose from. Look over the menu the night before so you can plan what to eat the next day and then stick to it when you are there.

2. Eating out late at night. Up late I always was is school, and the caf isn't open. So what are you eating Pizza Subs Burgers You can really ruin a decent diet with this one meal, so pay attention to what you are ordering. Once again, try to stick to something that will be on your diet plan.

3. Relying on unhealthy snacks. This is a similar story to number two, because it's based on your lifestyle. You're moving around to several buildings throughout your day, and all of them have vending machines or snack counters with unhealthy snacks. During a long day away from home, you're bound to get hungry and reach for one of these snacks to satisfy you. It's a lot better idea to pack your own snacks that conform to your diet plan.

4. What are you drinking No, I'm not talking about your weekend activities. I'm referring to the fact that sugary sodas are available everywhere on campus, such as vending machines in buildings and dorms, unlimited supply from the caf, and fountain pops from snack counters or party stores. If you switch to diet, or drink water instead, you'll cut out a lot of unwanted calories.

The good news is that you can fight College weight gain, but you have to identify your bad habits that are the causes. Once you do, you can make a plan to get the body you deserve!

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