Place yourself in the mind of the woods and granola people and think of your worst nightmare while living on a college campus. Were you thinking of having to shower frequently? A close second, but eating clean is definitely the biggest struggle. Babson is no different from your average college campus.
So here are some tips from someone who survived a semester and a half on our dazzling, but sometimes hostile to plant murderers second home.
Generally, if you want to make sure you get all the nutrients necessary, try to eat a decent amount of these foods daily and please please please vary it up: cooked vegetables and legumes, nuts (peanut butter counts every now and then), grains and starches, fruits, plant-based milks (great for B12 intake!), beans or lentils and most importantly, lots of fresh greens. In addition, treat yourself to less nutrient stacked but yummy occasional cravings such as meat replacements and vegan versions of non-vegan foods, as well as some chips and snacks.
Also, listen to your body. I am a firm believer that the body craves what it needs (no, that doesn’t go in two directions: sometimes you need something and your body won’t tell you – get your blood checked regularly please!). If you’re craving fruits, eat a whole lot of them and make sure you get all the vitamins you need, either through those fruits or some supplements. Feeling tired may be a result of an iron deficiency or a lack of vitamin D, common for people on an omnivorous diet too, so keep track of your vitamin levels!
Trim know-how:
-
Get yourself a veggie overloaded sandwich and ask for hummus on both sides.
-
Get the marinara pasta and add whatever vegetables of your liking to make it more substantial.
-
Buy $2 seasoning from Trader Joe’s that will last you an entire school year (personal favorite: lemon pepper) and will make every bland dish taste ten times better.
-
In the case of an emergency: white rice, soy sauce, pepper and cooked vegetables can provide a safe haven
Reynolds tips ‘n’ tricks:
-
Burrito bowls are probably the most wholesome lunch for herbiwhores. Get both kinds of beans, add the veggies, and don’t forget about the guacamole!
-
Add guacamole and hummus to your sandwich to make it more substantial.
-
For salads, there’s usually chickpeas, tofu or beans available. Take in that proteinnnnn!
-
If you’re feeling boujee, try a $5 Naked juice! Get all those liquid vitamins in that body. RIGHT. NOW.
-
Late Night: ask for the vegan option (they don’t write it down but they have at least one) and get the Sweet Spicy Chili Doritos.
Gym life hacks: this is where I leave the conversation! One of my dear friends, Moe, a gym rat and co-idealist, decided to show his philanthropical side and help the uncultured out:
“But wait, where do you get your protein from?” every single one of my friends asks me when I mention that I am a both an athlete and a vegan.
For sure, athletes need a little bit more calories and protein to fuel their training and help with recovery, but what better place to get those things than from plants – a cholesterol-free, fat-free and cruelty-free source?! Certainly, this job of getting extra calories and protein can be tricky when you are so busy with school and friends that you can’t even find enough time to eat two meals per day. But no worries, you can be strategic with when and how you get your meals in.
First in the day, try to get high-carb meals such as fruits and oatmeal. A lot of people are scared of eating huge amounts of this kind of stuff at trim because they think that eating sugars will make them fat or even increase increase their blood sugar. The truth is that these whole-foods filled with un-processed sugars are consumed as the main source of energy that will get you through your classes and your workout, as long as your cholesterol and fat intakes are low (As is the case for most vegans!). When it comes to the workout itself, time is also an issue for college students, which is why I always suggest relying on a Pull-Push-Legs split or a Whole-Body split using mostly compound movements, movements that activate more than one muscle at a time, and calisthenics, bodyweight exercises that you can do anywhere, with short rest periods (about 30 seconds between sets and 1 minute between rounds). This way, you can easily get a great workout done in 45 to 90 minutes at Webster.
After working out, try to make sure to eat at least one (if possible 2 during the rest of the day) big meals that include greens, grains, vegetables, and legumes. An easy hack to make sure you are including all you need is to grab one of the big salad bowls at trim, put a thin layer of greens at the bottom, add a spoon of the black beans and pumpkins seeds from the salad bar, put a spoonful of each of the vegan hot plates they have available that day on top of those greens, and mix them all up. That’s it!
Also, as a vegan athlete who doesn’t’t have time to spare it, a protein supplement is a good idea. And no, it’s not because vegans don’t get enough protein from plants (I can hear the unconvinced making up stories of protein deficiency). The reason why I say this is simpler than that: convenience. If you have a great workout but your FME meeting doesn’t allow you to eat a big post-workout meal, then it’s helpful to always have a protein shake available to drink on-the-go, to make sure you recover properly anyways. By the way, I recommend VivoLife as the best brand for vegan protein shakes! Lastly, it’s very important that you get enough sleep when you are training regularly. Not even the healthiest diet will help your muscles recover if you don’t let them rest!`
Dorm necessities and general savoir-vivre:
-
Amazon the heck out of these next products (vegan munchies on a budget):
-
NongShim Noodle soups – cheaper alternative to fancy Dr. McDougall products
-
Energybars: Larabar, Lunabar
-
Condiments like Imitation Bacon Bits, additional herbs and Go Veggie parmesan cheese to make any Trim food taste edible
-
Trader Joe’s:
-
Snickerdoodles
-
Seaweed (perfect low calorie snack for less than a buck!)
-
Vegan cream cheese for less than $3
-
Peas puffs to fulfill chips cravings
-
Mocha almond milk – Yes. Pleaseee.
-
Nuts nuts nuts, of all kinds
-
The beauty of the internet lies in its infinite and fast stream of information. Need to find a place/ a dish at a specific place to eat? La Google! 99% of the time the first result will help you go a long way.
If you have any questions about going vegan, or more specifically changing to cruelty-free cosmetics, eating less animal-derived products, buying animal-friendly gear (CANADA GOOSE I will boycott you until my last breath!!!!), or whatever else you can think of, feel free to ask!
That’s it for this time, dear readers.
With all the love,
Your designated aggressive vegan Amber and our guest writer/iron deficient carbivore Mr. Moe