Students face a variety of challenges when trying to eat healthy. Many live in dormitories served by cafeterias that do not allow diners to create their own meals. Others live in apartments without fully equipped kitchens --- and might not know how to cook anyway. Class schedules often play a part in poor eating habits, as students often aren't able to make it to the cafeteria during breakfast hours, or are forced to eat on the run during the short breaks between classes.
Breakfast
Many nutritionists consider breakfast the most important meal of the day, but many students prefer to sleep in, or to get as much sleep as possible before heading to their first class. The key to a healthy breakfast for students is to have plenty of non-perishable convenience foods on hand.
Many granola or energy bars and juice provide sufficient calories and nutrients to start the day. Fresh fruit, such as apples, oranges, and bananas will last unrefrigerated for several days, and provide a portable nutrient boost. If you have access to a refrigerator, have a quick bowl of whole grain cereals with low-fat milk. Low-fat yogurt is another good source of vitamins and minerals. Keep "just-add-water" oatmeal packets on hand. Combine more than one food or drink as breakfast, to get more than the few calories found in a snack bar or piece of fruit.
Lunch
If you can't make it back to the dorm, fast food might be your only choice. If you can't eat healthy meals, try to make what you are grabbing healthier with substitutions. If you're getting a burger, skip the cheese and mayonnaise, and ask for extra tomatoes. If you're ordering pizza, cut out the meats, and top it with vegetables. If you do have access to an all-you-can eat cafeteria, start with a low-fat soup, and a salad with plenty of vegetables and low-fat dressing, before you go for your entrée. Filling up on healthy soup and salad first will most likely reduce your desire to go back for a second serving of a meat or chicken dish that has saturated fat and cholesterol.
Dinner
Most students have the easiest time fitting dinner into their schedules. If you haven't eaten well during the day, however, you might be tempted to overeat at dinner. Follow the soup-and-salad advice from the lunch section. Dinner is also the time you can balance out your daily nutrient intake. If you've had pancakes for breakfast and pasta for lunch, you'll need to eat more protein for dinner.
Fish is a good source of protein, and contains "good" fat in the form of omega-3 fatty acids. If there's a taco bar, consider a veggie taco or bean burrito instead of using fatty ground beef. If you can cook, making a burger with ground turkey is no different than using ground beef. Make sure your turkey comes from the breast for the least amount of fat. If you've eaten mostly protein during the day, whole-grain pasta with marinara sauce is a good choice for dinner. Skip the hamburger in the sauce, and avoid the white al fredo sauce to reduce saturated fats and cholesterol. If you're having dinner in your dorm room, haven't had breakfast, and had a high-protein lunch, consider "breakfast" for dinner in the form of cereal. If you have access to a microwave, try one of the many heart-healthy or vegetarian frozen dinners available in grocery stores.
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