Advice for College Students

Diet and Nutrition
1

I, like many others on this board, am a college student. I was wondering if you all could post advice about nutrition for college students (in the dorms or otherwise)?

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=460575
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459620

There’s two articles that helped me alot.

Other than, things I’ve noticed:
-Get as many “meals” as you can, flex points or dollars you can spend only on campus are bullshit. They don’t really have anything you need or want in the oncampus stores. Just crap.

-Beef jerky, various nuts, and other portable snacks are you friends. Stick them in your bag, take it with you. meal on the go made easy. Go to the baking isle of your local grocery store, and buy the little 2oz. bags of nuts.

-Your school has a salad bar, take advantage of it. Usually, they have some good stuff on there.

-Quaker Quick oats+scope of whey=quick breakfast. No excuses. Maybe not the best thing, but certainly better than nothing.

Things I’ve learned this semester. Thanks in advance for any contributions.

EDIT: One thing I forgot
-Buy a Nalgene (or similar) bottle, fill it with water, take it everywhere.

2

-Cook in bulk

-Get a Costco card

-Plan ahead

-Stay consistent in the gym (that being said, it’s ok to take an extra day off)

-Focus on what’s important

-Stock up on foods on sale (freeze the rest)

-Find no/low salt canned foods (Tuna and vegetables)

-Always have eggs (get a hot pot and hard boil them)

-Always have leftovers in the fridge

-A blender is very convenient, although not necessary

-Always have a gallon of milk in your fridge

-Don’t sweat having a few beers here and there (assuming not training for a contest)(this is your only chance at college, don’t fuck it up by being too anal)

-If you’re a little late for a meal, don’t go nuts, take a deep breath, eat, and then worry about your next meal (just get the calories in)

-Lastly, have a fucking blast man, this is the only time in your life with a shitload of time and no real responsibilities. Never forget that.

3

consider supplements wisely.

some seem expensive, but really aren’t for what they give you.

example, we all know how important it is to get our fruits and veggies in, but not just an apple here and a carrot there, we need a comprehensive amount of them.

fruits and veggies are really pretty expensive if we actually buy enough to meet minimum requirements, and they take up tons of space that your roomates may not be ok with.

i take a supplement called earth’s promise by enzymatic therapy.

they offer a few types, each with a rather impressive list of various fruits and veggies that have been powdered and are to be mixed in water.

one serving gives the minumum daily requirements and 14 servings are priced at just over $20.00.

for approximately 1.40 per day, you can get all your requirements, and you just drink them!

6 salads and six servings of fruit would run you much higher each day.

weight gain powders are great too. i like muscle milk and met-rx. they also cost about 1.50 per serving and substitute for a meal or two nicely if mixed with milk for the calorie content.

whey protien is great, but is really only adding to your budget as you have to take it along with your meals, rather than substitute it.

diet pills are the same way.

look for stuff you can substitute from time to time in place of food.

while it is not smart to eat only supplements, you can come up with some pretty cheap, nutrient dense meals by using the right ones.

and of course, invest in mixed nuts, jerky et cetera as others have mentioned.

4

[quote]boyscout wrote:
I, like many others on this board, am a college student. I was wondering if you all could post advice about nutrition for college students (in the dorms or otherwise)?

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=460575
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459620

There’s two articles that helped me alot.

Other than, things I’ve noticed:
-Get as many “meals” as you can, flex points or dollars you can spend only on campus are bullshit. They don’t really have anything you need or want in the oncampus stores. Just crap.

-Beef jerky, various nuts, and other portable snacks are you friends. Stick them in your bag, take it with you. meal on the go made easy. Go to the baking isle of your local grocery store, and buy the little 2oz. bags of nuts.

-Your school has a salad bar, take advantage of it. Usually, they have some good stuff on there.

-Quaker Quick oats+scope of whey=quick breakfast. No excuses. Maybe not the best thing, but certainly better than nothing.

Things I’ve learned this semester. Thanks in advance for any contributions.

EDIT: One thing I forgot
-Buy a Nalgene (or similar) bottle, fill it with water, take it everywhere.

[/quote]

i agree with everything you said, i’m a college student as well and it takes a lot of discipline to eat right/sufficiently…on top of that, the only legit meal my dinning halls serve is breakfast because i can get eggs made to order or hardboiled, whole grain bread, and fruits.

other than that, i have to supplement with whey more than i would at home because it’s very rare that they serve leans means. i eat a lot more tuna at college than i do at home as well because it’s not like i can grill up a chicken breast in my dorm room…hope this helps

5

Shakes…shakes…and more shakes…loads of recipies on this site…my preference is shakes with oatsa banana and chocolate whey along with other things such as honey, soft cheese even.

Buy a blender…sorted…and tupperware

6

[quote]fleep wrote:

i agree with everything you said, i’m a college student as well and it takes a lot of discipline to eat right/sufficiently…on top of that, the only legit meal my dinning halls serve is breakfast because i can get eggs made to order or hardboiled, whole grain bread, and fruits.

other than that, i have to supplement with whey more than i would at home because it’s very rare that they serve leans means. i eat a lot more tuna at college than i do at home as well because it’s not like i can grill up a chicken breast in my dorm room…hope this helps[/quote]

I feel you. My dining hall is the same way: no real lean source of protein. I just had “lunch” there: A few large slices of turkey, hamburger patty with mustard, serving of cottage cheese, bowl of broccoli and an apple. Basically, there’s never a main dish that’s just a good source of protein. I find myself going to the deli counter a lot and just asking for some slices of turkey.

Thanks for the great responses so far!