Healthy Eating 101: How to Eat Healthy in College
For those headed to college, it can be a nerve-racking time of change. New housing, new friends, new classes—essentially a new start. I may not be able to help you decide which sorority to rush, or if he is really into you, but I can definitely help you avoid the freshman (or sophomore, junior or senior) 15. I want to give you a little gift that I hope will keep eating healthy high on your priority list since your brain is bound to be overloaded with many other things. Really, you’ll come to find out that being prepared is 90% of what you do in life. So, if you’re prepared to eat well and know where healthy foods are always available, the follow-through will come easily. The same lesson can be applied to your schoolwork, but I’ll let your parents point that out to you. Here’s how to prioritize your well-being in order to thrive in college this semester. How to Eat Healthy in College 1. Eat breakfast, even if you wake up at lunchtime. Even if you get up at noon, begin every day with a healthy breakfast that includes a high-fiber carbohydrate (fruit and/or whole wheat toast, for example) and a lean protein and/or healthy fat. Not only will it help to rev your metabolism, stabilize your blood sugar, control your hunger and boost your energy, but studies have shown (over and over) that students who eat a healthy breakfast do better in their classes. Even if you don’t have time to sit down for breakfast, keep healthy items in your dorm room for on-the-go breakfasts. For example: Single-serve oatmeal (easy to pop in the microwave and add your own berries and spices). Try Quaker Original, 365 Everyday Value Original. Feeling adventurous? Add some protein to your oatmeal for a fulfilling breakfast. Individual containers of milk (or almond milk) Natural peanut butter (also try packets of nut butters) Fruit (grab a piece from the dining hall to save as a snack later) Healthy, hot cereal cups, such as Wildway (you can always find some hot water!) Greek yogurt Individual hummus containers. Individual portions of cheese. Try Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar Snack Bars Hardboiled eggs (can buy pre-cooked or hard boil a big batch in your dorm’s kitchen at once) Individual chia seed packs Nuts (such as individual packets of raw cashews, almonds and walnuts). For makeshift breakfast ideas, try: Hard boiled eggs, cheese stick and a piece of fruit Oatmeal, packet of nut butter Apple, piece of cheese Yogurt, nuts and chia seeds 2. Navigate the dining hall with healthy finesse. When you head to the dining hall, think of a meal game plan. Are you headed to the salad bar or the sandwich station? Are you going for the hot entree or the soup? Whichever you choose, prep yourself before you walk in and stick to the game plan. Treat this like you are prepping to write a paper or studying for your chemistry test. It’s just as important and definitely more fun! Some tips for whichever way you go: Eat grilled: Ask for grilled chicken (or burger or veggie burger) with a whole wheat bun or bread. Add some veggies from the salad bar and a side of brown rice. These healthy, fiber-filled carbs will keep you satisfied while providing more nutrients than other options like white bread or white rice. Add extra veggies: Add extra vegetables, such as beets or roasted peppers, from the salad bar to an open-faced turkey sandwich or wrap. This will make it more filling without loading up on empty calories. Eat the rainbow at the salad bar: See how many colors you can throw on top of your leafy greens and pair it with a good protein source. Keep this tip in mind if you have an exam after lunch! Foods like leafy greens, avocados and blueberries are great for helping you stay focused and boosting brain function. Avoid the rich sauces: If the hot entree appears uber-loaded with some buttery sauce, then skip it. Grab the hot veggies instead and add lean protein from the sandwich station to your plate. Control your portions: Pour cereal in a small coffee cup instead of those family-sized bowls and couple it with protein. It’s hard to judge how much to pour when cereal is served in huge, self-serve dispensers. Better yet, go for hot cereal like oatmeal, which is a better choice than most of the cold cereals. Choose seltzer over soda: Always choose seltzer instead of sodas and juices from the drink dispensers. Hydrating with water is also super important; it makes up 60% of our body, but can also help beat that seasonal slump in the colder winter months. Don’t hang in the dining hall. Use it to eat. Lingering can cause you to eat more than you need just because you are there. Don’t forget to look around and assess what is really available. Often there are many options that are baked, broiled, steamed, roasted, or grilled. This will make it easier to avoid foods that are fried, sautéed, breaded, crispy, creamed, batter-dipped, or buttered. 3. Make sure you take exercise 101. When you plan your semester and know your schedule, plug in where and when you’ll exercise, just as if it were a class you couldn’t miss. That’s right, treat physical activity in your schedule with the same importance as your classes, study sessions, group meetings, social events, and other appointments. Whether you go to the gym, walk to class, join an intramural sports team, take a fitness class for credit, or set up a workout corner in your room, daily exercise can improve your mood, help relieve stress and anxiety, increase your energy, promote better sleep, and help you maintain your weight. 4. Keep your caffeine in check. While 1 to 2 cups of coffee per day are fine, don’t depend on soda, coffee or energy drinks as a substitute for sleep. This can actually backfire and cause
How to Eat Healthy Without Getting Bored
So you either already learned how to eat healthy, or you’re now learning to eat healthy, but you can’t possibly eat another carrot stick or suck down another green juice and don’t even get you started on scrambled egg whites for breakfast every.single.day. Sound familiar? Ever wish you could just invent new foods? It’s something I hear about often from my clients. They are b-o-r-e-d with their healthy routine. After a few weeks or months of following various diet plans, it’s easy to lean too heavily on the same few healthy foods and meals. (Your refrigerator just called, and it’s really tired of yogurt, too!) So while I can’t conjure up a variety of broccoli that tastes like chocolate or transform salad greens into pasta or create a new fat burning food, I do know there are hundreds of tricks to put new zing in your old healthy eating standbys. Learning how to eat healthy doesn’t have to be the most boring thing you’ve ever done, and staying healthy doesn’t have to be an exercise in monotony. How to Eat Healthy Without Getting Bored Shake up your yogurt routine Make it savory: Instead of adding fruit, cinnamon or honey to your yogurt, add ¼ cup of chopped cucumbers, ¼ cup of tomatoes, ½ teaspoon of olive oil, and a dash of red wine vinegar for a tangy, Mediterranean-inspired snack. Pair it with raw veggies. Make it dessert-worthy: Add 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter and 1 tsp cocoa powder for a peanut-buttery chocolate treat. Note: you can do this with oats too! Make it tea-licious: Green tea doesn’t just belong in a mug. Sprinkle in 1 tbsp of matcha powder and stir some antioxidants right into your bowl. Add sex appeal to sandwiches Try something richer: Spread on a little healthy fat, from hummus, mashed avocado or a nut butter. Crunch it up: Sprinkle sliced almonds, finely chopped walnuts, or cashews on turkey or grilled chicken wraps. Make it ethnic: Mango chutney or spicy salsa can give your sandwich some flavor pizzazz. Un-blah food with more flavor Turn up the heat: Cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, wasabi or hot sauce make so many dishes more interesting, from your morning eggs to your evening chicken breast. Diet food does not mean tasteless food. Remember this always. Rediscover zest: Add fresh lemon or lime juice, white balsamic vinegar, pomegranate champagne vinegar or ginger rice vinegar to kick up the flavor profile of savory dishes, especially fish. Make it earthy: Add mixed mushrooms (shitake, Portobello, Oyster) to tomato sauce, stir fries or tacos for a woodsy, hearty flavor, or if you’re sick of lettuce wrapped turkey burgers try portobello mushrooms with the turkey burger in between.
3 Reasons Why I Love Fat
Fat doesn’t make you fat. I promise! Fat is your friend. Not your enemy. But I still get questions all the time about this. Is this too much avocado? Is it OK to eat peanut butter? Overconsuming anything, in general, will make us fat. But when you control the amount of food you are consuming, fat by itself does not make you fat. Studies have even shown that low-fat diets can actually make you gain weight! Why do I love fat so much? It tastes good! But keep in mind, not all fats are created equal. Saturated and trans fats are solid at room temperature (think lard and butter). However there is a big difference between saturated fat and trans fat. Saturated fat has had a bad reputation for a lonnnnng time, but there is room in your diet for saturated fat from real foods (like dairy, coconut, dark chocolate, and grass-fed butter) and it can actually be good for us. Trans fat on the other hand is just bad bad bad. People mostly get trans fat from packages of processed foods. My advice: Ditch ‘em! On the other hand, monounsaturated fats (from avocado, nuts and seeds) and polyunsaturated fats (from fatty fish, nuts and seeds) have many benefits, like boosting immunity, improving brain function, being good for our heart health, and helping us lose weight. Here’s what to focus on when it comes to fat: Fat helps you absorb vitamins. Vitamins A, D, E and K get absorbed better when there is fat consumed with them. But this doesn’t mean you should pour the ranch dressing on to your beautiful, healthy salad! Use 1 tablespoon of an oil and vinegar dressing on your greens, such as roasted broccoli rabe or mixed greens salad instead. Fat helps you burn fat. Fat helps take fat out of your cells so you can use it for energy. Again, portion control is key, but be sure to get fat in consistently throughout the day (about 30% of your calories should come from fat). Instead of having a big apple for a snack, have a small apple with 2 teaspoons of almond butter. Fat provides satiety. That’s a fancy word meaning it helps keep you satisfied. See, carbs have a single bond: Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Fats have a double bond. What does this mean? It’s harder for your body to break it down, so you digest it slower, and you end up staying more satisfied. So there you have it. Three reasons why I love fat and you should, too.
How Many Hours of Sleep Do You Really Need?
How many hours of sleep do you get every night? 5? 6? 7? How many pounds do you want to lose? 5? 15? 50? Guess what? These two numbers go hand in hand. So many of my clients are terrible sleepers. They can’t fall asleep because their minds are racing or they fall asleep, but can’t stay asleep. Or they wake to use the bathroom and then wander into the kitchen at 3AM. Or they sleep OK, but wake exhausted. And they eventually end up in my office, asking for diet plans and how to lose weight. This is yet another example where I preach, “It’s not just about the food!” “Sleep deep” is a Nutritious Life pillar because how many hours of sleep you get affects your wellness and waistline as much as the healthy foods you eat, the exercise you practice and the stress you manage does. See, sleep deprivation messes up the hormones that regulate hunger, causing an increase in appetite and specific cravings for calorie-dense, high-carbohydrate foods. So after a long night, there is indeed a reason you are reaching for the bagel and cream cheese at 7am instead of your normal healthy breakfast of hard boiled eggs and berries. Research shows that sleeping only 4 hours per night for 2 nights causes leptin — the hormone that tells your body to stop eating — to drop 18%. And levels of ghrelin — the hormone that says “eat more”– jump 28 percent. Again, there is a reason you can’t stop chowing after pulling an all-nighter. Buh-bye healthy eating, so long balanced diet. Now keep in mind this happened after just 2 nights of sleep deprivation…just imagine what happens after weeks and weeks of missing sleep! No wonder your pants are tight, right?! So, how many hours of sleep do you need to be the healthiest you possible? Adults are supposed to get about 7-9 hours of sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation. If you only get 6 hours, your risk of developing obesity rises 23%, if you only get 5, it increases 50%, and if you only get 4, it increases a whopping 73%! The thing is, if you want to improve your sleep, you’ve gotta work on your nighttime behaviors, just like you practice brushing and flossing or washing and cutting fruits and veggies right when you get home from the grocery store. What can you work on to better up your shut eye? If you wake up to pee, stop drinking 2 hours before bedtime and try to go right before you turn in for the night. If you fall asleep, but wake up a few hours later, give up all alcohol for a few days and see if it helps, or jot down your biggest stressors in a journal immediately before you turn in to quiet your mind. If you’re sleeping, but not feeling rested, flip your mattress, adjust the temperature in your bedroom, buy yourself new pillows or invest in snore-strips for your wake-the-dead, apnea challenged spouse. If you’ve flipped the mattress and that isn’t working, I’ll let you in on a secret – invest in an Essentia mattress. They are the only organic memory foam mattress available and I’m telling you, you’ll sleep like a babe. Can’t fall asleep? Ditch the caffeine after noontime and exercise in the morning, rather than the evening. Tonight, I want you to stare at the inside of your eyelids with the curtains drawn, in your favorite jammies, with your iPhone silenced, no matter what. Stop making lists in your mind or preparing for tomorrow’s presentation or folding the laundry. Tonight is about sleep. That’s it. If you sleep well, you’ll eat a better breakfast tomorrow morning, which might motivate you to eat a better lunch, which might motivate you to hit the gym, which might make you sleep better tomorrow night, which might help you drop those pounds you’ve been struggling with. Done and done.
