It’s October, and you’ve settled into the habit of grabbing a bagel from Einstein’s for breakfast, loading up on a Grande pumpkin spice latte and eating French fries with friends at the Night Owl. You feel like the Binghamton weather: boring, blah and gross. Here are some tips I use to cut the calories and to eat healthy so I can rock those high-waisted jeans and a crop top on my nights out.
Situation: You’ve stayed up late doing an assignment, and Facebook chatting/stalking your friends. You wake up late, you hate your outfit and you run out of your dorm looking less than put together.
What you do: You grab a high calorie muffin or a bagel.
What you should do: Stash yummy high protein KIND bars in your cabinets and when you go grocery shopping make sure you buy fruit! That way you have a nutrient filled breakfast on the go. I store V8 100% Juice in my fridge and fill up my tumbler in the morning. The protein from the nuts in the bar will hold you over until lunch. The fruit will offer you fiber to keep you full while the natural sugar provides energy. The juice offers vegetables, like tomatoes and carrots, which contain antioxidants and vitamins that combat cancer and free-radicals (these cause wrinkles).
Situation: You have no food in your bag, and you still have two more classes before you can get home. You want to avoid your tummy rumbling during lecture. You realize you have a few minutes between classes so you grab something to go.
What you do: You head to Jazzman’s to get a croissant.
What you should do: My number one rule is to never leave home without snacks! You need something to keep you going throughout the day and to make you stay awake during lectures. The croissant is empty calories- meaning it does nothing beneficial for you, it just offers carbs that will break down into sugar and leave you hungry. I buy whole almonds, peanuts, and cashews, make sure they are plain with no added salt, and special dark chocolate. I then make Ziploc baggies of the nuts and add in dark chocolate. This way I can throw a bag in my backpack and know I won’t be stuck without snacks. I also pack fruit or a Chobani. The nuts have so much protein which is necessary for tissue repair, antibody creation and muscle contractions. The dark chocolate sweetens it up and also has those amazing antioxidants that fight free-radicals.
Situation: You’re buying food and load up on bottles of Diet soda. You admit: you’re addicted and it makes your life a million times better. What’s the big deal, you say, it’s diet! It has no calories it must be healthy!
What you do: You drink your diet coke happily.
What you should do: Do some research on what makes soda so bad for you! Let’s do a break down: diet soda has tons of artificial sugars where as regular soda has real sugar. What’s the difference? Well diet coke has a fake sugar: aspartame, a powerful additive that can lead to brain tumors, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease. Aspartame allows excess sugar into the channels in the brain which creates an overload of calcium. This can trigger neurons to die. The FDA has recognized the harmful effects of phenylalanine, which is in half of aspartame. To make sure you are not ingesting this, you should check ingredients label which will state CONTAINS: PHENYLALANINE. Also soda is one of the number one things making American’s gain weight. You can make your waist line smaller by skipping the coke completely. If you feel like you can’t eliminate soda completely, switch to regular coke and limit your intake to rare special occasions. If you can try to completely eliminate it, that would be most ideal for your body. I like to order water with lemon at restaurants, and I also always carry a water tumbler with me that I constantly refill. Get some use out of those high tech water fountains we have. If I want something sweet I drink my juice or drink an unsweetened passion tea. Follow these rules of thumb and your body will thank you.
Situation: You just bombed your test, and you’re feeling pretty sad. You need something delicious to make you feel better.
What you do: Go to CIW night owl and get a chocolate milk shake.
What you should do: Go to either Mountainview night owl or Newing night owl and get fro-yo! The probiotics in yogurt help your G.I tract and limit yeast infections. Stash dark-chocolate chips in your room and use these as toppings in your fro-yo. If you are really craving chocolate, you can just grab a handful of those dark chocolate chips. In 50 years, when people ask you why your skin is so beautiful, you can share your sweet tooth secret.
Good luck trying to transition into a healthier lifestyle! If you feel like it’s too difficult, try to get your friends to jump on board. This way you can all motivate each other to obtain certain health goals.