This is a sponsored feature. All opinions are 100% from Her Campus.
Hi collegiettes™!
Whether you’re living on campus in a dorm or in a nearby apartment, I’m sure that eating and cooking healthy was a totally new experience. The newfound freedom of the college experience allows you to run free in your college town… and that may even mean not watching your diet. Your parents are no longer around to hound you to eat your veggies–you’re a big girl now!
Though many students may opt for the fruits and vegetables in the dining halls and avoid the temptations of the greasy, unhealthy fast foods options, some of us haven’t had the strength to.
As you may or may not know, I still live at home with my family, but surprisingly, that hasn’t made my diet any easier! Home cooking isn’t always the healthiest, and when I (usually) find myself running late for work or school, eating out is sometimes my only option.
Even collegiettes™with the best intentions may sometimes find it difficult to resist the less-healthy options. But healthy eating is possible in a college town… right? I decided to completely shed the meal options (home cooked & on-the-go) and attempted to eat 1,600 calories (the allotted calorie count for the Jump Start Diet) in College Park, MD– home of the University of Maryland Terrapins!
Breakfast: 
Bagel Place of College Park
Much to my surprise, bagels aren’t a healthy breakfast option. For breakfast, the Jump Start Diet allots 350 calories for the most important meal of the day. A bagel may run 300-350 calories without cream cheese! With cream cheese it can be 450 calories. No thanks. So, this was a bit of a challenge:
- Multi-grain bagel (340 cal.)
- Small coffee (0 cal.)
Lunch:
Chipotle
What college student doesn’t love a burrito bowl? For lunch, I had a little but more leniency with the calories, 450 to be exact. My typical order of a steak burrito bowl with rice, both salsas, corn, tomatoes, cheese, lettuce and sour cream (which they basicallypour all over) wasn’t going to cut it today at… 655 cal. Wow. I definitely needed to make a change here:
- 2 steak tacos with corn and tomatoes (450 cal.)
- Bottle of water ( o cal.)
Dinner: 
Saladworks
I’ve always walked past Saladworks in our student union building because prior to losing the freshman 15, eating healthy was clearly not on my mind. Here you can choose from a signature salad or create your own. My boyfriend and I decided to make a healthy date here tonight for my 400 cal. dinner. I chose a chicken Caesar salad, while he chose to create his own:
- Chicken Caesar salad– romaine, iceberg, chicken, homemade baked croutons, chopped eggs, parmesan cheese (286 cal.)
- Fountain diet soda (o cal.)
Since I had so much fun with the first giveaway, I decided to give away a Saladworks giftcard to one lucky reader!
How to Enter: Fill out the entry form below with the required information (first and last names + your email address)! I’ll be using a random generator to choose a winner! (Note: This giveaway is not officially affiliated in any way with Her Campus or SELF magazine.)
You will have until Thursday, April 14th at midnight EST to enter and I’ll announce the selected winner in in this Friday’s blog! Good luck collegiettes™!
How do you eat healthy on campus? Please let me know! Leave a comment below, e-mail me at allylopez@hercampus.com or Tweet me (@allylopez).
If you’d like to join me in my healthy, happy weight loss (and please do), go register for the Jump Start Diet on SELF.com and be sure to use the SELF logs to keep track of your daily workout and meals, which is an awesome way to keep track of your calorie intake and how much you’re burning off!
Love,
Ally
To follow Ally’s journey on the Jump Start Diet, check out her out on Twitter (@allylopez), and while you’re at it, follow the latest news from SELF (@SELFmagazine) and Her Campus (@HerCampus)!