Fit as a fiddle
Healthy eating on campus
by Jamie McGrane
the Carillon

It’s easier than you think

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When I began researching this article about healthy eating on campus I thought I would find tons of places that did not offer healthy alternatives to a burger and fries.

To my surprise, I found every food place on campus offers a healthier choice. This choice may be among several unhealthier choices but it is up to the student to decide if they want to eat healthy food on campus. It is definitely not an impossible or even daunting task.

If a student is eating lunch on campus some healthier choices include soup, sandwiches, salads and wraps. Higher calorie foods such as, pizza or burgers and fries, are probably best avoided.

Some foods to be wary of are the foods with hidden kinds of fat. Often people think they are making a healthier choice when in reality they aren’t. Maggie Pioro, a dietitian, says, “Some of these foods including Caesar salad, croissants and toaster pastries have high calorie content and very little nutritional value.”

Some healthy drink choices to accompany a soup and salad may be milk, fruit juice or water. Pioro states, “try milk, especially low fat, because the fat has been taken out and leaves more calcium.” If you choose a fruit juice be careful because you may be drinking a fruit cocktail or beverage, which has more sugar than juice.

Water is always a good choice. Pioro recommends drinking 6-8 glasses of water per day. “But it doesn’t have to be water,” she continues, “as soup, milk and juice are counted as water, but coffee or tea are not.”

Some healthier dessert choices on campus are: yogurt, jello, pudding and fruit cups. Often cafeterias sell these lower calorie desserts. Choosing a square of rice crispy cake or puffed wheat cake are not very good choices for healthy eating. The hardest thing about eating on campus for me is consistently walking by the desserts, such as, banana bread or biscotti, and only buying my salad or soup. If you cannot resist the temptation of higher calorie foods like those, bringing your lunch from home may be a better choice.

Pioro also says a good idea is to, “Choose days, maybe every Tuesday and Thursday, to treat yourself to something you really like, which may be a little unhealthy.” Obviously, you can’t be healthy all the time but choosing specific days may help you to abide by healthy eating habits most of the time.

Erika Martinez, a student living in residence with a meal plan, suggests, “Henderson Café is cheap and healthy.” Tyne Hollgrimson, another student, suggests, “Mr. Sub has all the nutritional information. You don’t know what’s in sandwiches at other places.”

To have healthy eating habits requires some thought given to your diet. If you’re going to eat a high calorie dessert every Tuesday and Thursday it may be better to choose yogurt for dessert every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Thinking about the choices you are making goes a long way to creating healthy eating habits.