5 ways to eat healthy on dining hall food

Okay guys, here it is. The 5 hacks on dining hall food I wish I had known earlier.

THE SALAD BAR IS YOUR BEST FRIEND

Sleeping on the salad bar was the biggest eating mistake I made freshman year. It just never looked that appetizing to me. But you can get creative! Try new things, add healthy carbs (quinoa, chickpeas, broccoli, cauliflower, rice etc), make your own dressing.

Now, I go to the salad bar before I even get food from the normal buffet. It's a simple and easy way to make sure I get vegetables in with every meal.

COLOR YOUR PLATE

Eating balanced meals is essential. But when you're not making them yourself and you don't have time to find out the nutrients for everything you have, it can be difficult. A simple, easy way to make sure you're eating a variety of food is to eat a rainbow. Green, red, white/brown, purple/blue, green, orange. If you try to eat a balance of these colors, it is very hard to go wrong.

There's an Ethiopian proverb "syayut yalamare sebelut yakeral" which pretty much means if it looks good, its probably good for you (and vice versa). And theres a reason good food looks so beautiful and colorful.

This also gets you a variety of phytochemicals (non-nutrients found in fruits and veggies). We don't really know how phytochemicals work yet but there has been convincing research linking them to better digestion, weight management, gut health, immunity and protection against a variety of diseases.

DON'T SKIP BREAKFAST, SKIP DINNER

I know this is a controversial one. Breakfast is personally my favorite meal of the day but if I'm fasting, I don't eat anything until as far as 3pm. With doing a lot of reading and trial and error, here is what I've found:

1. It is generally easier to eat healthy at breakfast. Even if there isn't anything you like, there will always be the option of having fruit, oatmeal, (healthy) cereal, or eggs.

2. Additionally, research has found that your self-discipline starts of high in the morning and is lowest by the end of the day. What this means is that it is more likely (or at least easier) for you to make healthy decisions in the morning. (This definitely applies to me - I would never have half a cheesecake in the morning but after 6pm, its fair game).

3. If you have a big, nutritious breakfast, your energy levels can stay stable throughout the day, you're less likely to crash, get hungry or crave junk food. It has a self conscious effect as well. After a healthy breakfast, my mind and body is always full of good, light energy that I am motivated to sustain it throughout the day.

soooo many breakfast options

The skip dinner part is obviously optional. Skipping meals is generally not recommended. I also just wanted to emphasize that if you're going to skip a meal, it might as well be dinner instead of breakfast. Instead, you can opt for having a light dinner or an early dinner (this especially helps if you are trying to lose weight).

The reason I skip dinner is because it helps me have a better appetite for breakfast in the morning and since I'm an early sleeper, it works better for me and my digestion. However, everyone's body is different so make sure you do what feels right for you.

COME BACK LATER FOR DESSERT

Its easy to overestimate how hungry you are and end up getting more food than you actually need. Tell yourself you will come back after your done with your first plate.

Even better, fight your instinct to go for the highest calorie food first - take advantage of your appetite and try to chose the healthiest, nutrition dense and high fiber foods you see. For example, if you hate veggies, make it a rule to ALWAYS go to the salad bar first and tell yourself after you've fulfilled your body's vegetable requirement, you can come back. You'll be surprised at how much better vegetables taste when you're hungry and you may find you don't want the unhealthy stuff as much afterwards. At the very least, you'll have loaded up on fiber and nutrients so you will cut back on your consumption of other less nutritious food.

If you're a foodie like me, it can get easy to want to eat everything you see. Breathe. Lol. Breathe between each bite, wait 10-15 minutes after your first plate and stay hydrated (with WATER) so you don't mistake your thirst for hunger.

CREATE YOUR OWN GO-TO MEAL

The dining staff do an amazing job trying to provide meals for everybody. But sometimes, there just won't be something for you. Or, you won't have time to eat. Having a "go-to meal" that you can easily make on the go, is a good way to make sure you have a back up and don't just end up having a bag of chips or something less nutritious.

Pick a couple of things that you think are healthy (if you're not sure you can always google them) and preferably unprocessed (ie not cereal or a bag of chips) and have fun mix and matching them.

If you’re not sure where to start, these are 5 go-to meals I have:

I love these meals and never get sick of them. They're also a great to have when you're done with your meal and want dessert. If you're having it instead of dessert you can add syrup/ honey to some of them (like the yoghurt bowl) to make it sweeter and kick that sugar craving.