This year I am a R.A so I am back in the dorms and meeting tons of new students. I wanted to write about some quick tips that anyone new to the cafeteria or new to trying to eat healthy :) can use! Here are 5 easy cafeteria tips! I hope they help!
Tip 1: Fill half your plate with fruits and veggies.
Okay so to be honest this is not my tip, this is from the USDA website. The new food plate shows that half of the plate should be fruits and veggies. These foods are going to fill you up with complex carbs and fiber. The other half should be filled with lean protein and a whole grain. As you can see below the plate is finished with a glass of low fat or skim milk. See how all the food groups are covered? Perfect
Tip 2: Skip the sauce.
These two are probably the worst things you can choose on the cafeteria food line. The sauces (gravy, dip, dressing, glaze, etc) take a reasonable food and load it with either fat or sugar (yes sugar). Skip the gravy on your mashed potatoes, the dip for your veggies, or glaze on your meat and you will be much better off. A lot of times the cafeteria has lean meats that are great to eat, but not when they are bogged down with sauce. If your cafeteria offers oil and vinegar from the bottle (mine does), use this to dress your salad. The dressings on the line are loaded with sugar and or fat. If this is your only choice go for the vinaigrette or use a small amount.
Tip 3: Skip the fried foods.
Just skip the fried foods on a regular basis, they are going to make you feel sluggish and won't keep you full. This includes fries, onion rings, fried chicken (of any type) etc. Now I'm not saying cut them out of your diet all together, its great to indulge once in a while. Just don't make it an everyday occurrence and balance it out with fruits and veggies.
Tip 4: Eat dessert once a day.
Now, I should say to cut dessert out of your diet. I should :) But I love dessert, so I can't do that. So, eat it once a day at the most. A little ice cream or cookie is not going to hurt you, and will probably make you happy. But the problem is when dessert turns into 3 cookies or a huge bowl of ice cream or dessert at every meal. Keep the portion sizes small. Soft serve ice cream is one of your best bets because its has a small amount of calcium and it uses oil instead of solid fats, so the saturated fat level is lower. I love chocolate milk as a little treat after a meal as well. Another tip too, is that most times by the time you leave the cafeteria and walk back to your room you forget all about dessert anyway and if you don't I like to keep dark chocolate in my room for a treat (and antioxidants).
Tip 5: Enjoy your food, but eat less.
AKA portion control. I have this problem so much in the cafeteria, they give you so much! So my advice to you is be specific! I'll say, I want half a spoonful of that, I want 2 spoonfuls of that. They will always accommodate and then you don't feel guilty for throwing away extra food. I never get enough vegetables from the line so I always ask for 2-3 spoonfuls. Just be specific! Tell the servers exactly what you want, they will be (or should be) more than happy to help you out.
Good Luck! Thanks for stopping! :)
Emily
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