Here’s How To Eat Healthy At College
Eating healthily at college can be such a battle. With friends constantly messaging you to go out, the constant urge to order takeaway, and the fact that you don’t have any parents around to tell you that “a chocolate bar isn’t dinner!”, it can be hard. Plus, there’s the fact that you’re juggling a ridiculous amount of college work, as well as other work, plus trying to still have a good social life and get some sleep at some point too, which can make takeaways a really easy option. However, not only is all of this food not great for your health, but it probably isn’t great for your bank balance either. So, we’ve put together a few tips to help get you eating healthy at college, so you can lose those lbs and save some money.
1. Give yourself a budget for takeaways, fast food and meals out
When I’m struggling to stop myself from eating an unhealthy array of McDonald’s, KFC and Pizzahut, I limit myself by putting £10 in a jar each week as a food allowance for fast food. This usually limits me to either one night of fast food or at the maximum two nights, so really prevents me from just eating fast food every single day. Plus, it helps me to keep my spending to a minimum!
2. Take it in turns to have home cooked meals with people in your flat
If you’re living in a flat, perhaps set up a rota so that one night each week someone cooks a home cooked meal for the whole flat. You can arrange it so that the person cooking is doing so on a night that they won’t have much work to do, that way everyone gets to eat healthy home cooked meals and it doesn’t take up time on busy days. You’ll probably also find that buying these items between a group of you makes meals quite a lot cheaper so you’ll be saving plenty of money whilst also eating better!
3. Check out your college or university’s cafeteria
Most colleges and universities will have a cafeteria on campus, and it’ll likely sell food a lot cheaper than you find at most fast food places and it’ll also probably be a lot healthier. It’s worth checking out the cafeteria and seeing what they offer. Perhaps opt for a salad from the cafeteria once a week.
4. Swap takeaways for supermarket meal deals
If you really must go out and buy some ready-made food rather than make your own, try checking out the supermarket meal deals as cheaper and healthier alternative to fast food places and takeaways. If you play your cards right, you can get a lot for your money with these meal deals so be savvy and have a good look at what is on offer! There are always plenty of salads, pasta pots, salad sandwiches and baguettes on offer that you can combine with a smoothie and a piece of fruit to be really healthy.
5. Have your friends over for a dinner party once a week
If you’re not in a flat or your flat mates aren’t into cooking, why not invite your friends round once a week and have a dinner party? You can take it in turns to cook and it’ll probably be a good laugh. At home dinner parties are a great alternative to going out for meals as they’re much cheaper and can be really good fun – pop a bottle of wine open and get experimenting!
