Do you find yourself stopping by Starbucks mid-afternoon for your favourite sweet drink? Filling up on yummy greasy pizza after a night out with Captain Morgan? Or even refuelling off a tender Chewy bar, because Quaker oatmeal said it was made with 8g of whole grain? If you said yes to any of these, stop it right there. You’re doing it wrong!
Listen, I understand your taste buds are probably salivating Mother Nature’s water reserves at the sight of these, but your arteries are seriously hating you right now. Unfortunately, the reality of the life of a collegiette consists of money and time management. Fortunately, I gotchu.
Have you ever heard the term “meal prep”?
Of course you have, by following Insta- famous gym enthusiasts who post the week’s feast in 500 different Tupperware containers. No, I’m not asking you to do this. However, this concept strikes me as a very intelligent and forward thinking approach to ensuring you’re eating right- by saving your wallet and your waistline.
Here’s the deal hotties
The importance to finding the perfect balance in your daily nutritional values is not by checking the labels of each and every condiment you take off the shelves on your Loblaws run. Learning what your body needs on a daily basis to function to its full potential is the key ingredient. On campus, I see students bring baggies of their favourite veggies, homemade muffins, and reusable bottles of citrus infused water and think, my gosh, this is how we do it! *Queue the Montell Jordan soundtrack*.
I promise you, the trick to avoiding a craving in the first place is to consume fibre/protein rich goodies at the beginning of your day, which will in turn reduce high caloric meals as the day persists.
If math has taught you anything…
Fibre + protein = craving knockout
Sweet cravings:
– Apple slices + peanut butter
– Cereal + Greek yogurt
– Berries + soy beverage
Salty craving:
– Carrots + hummus
– Broccoli + cheese
– Whole wheat crackers + tuna
Powerful everyday foods
– Green tea (cancer fighting properties)
– Oranges (folic acid, vitamin C)
– Tomatoes (cancer fighting properties)
– Yogurt (healthy active bacteria)
– Walnuts (protein)
– Apples (reduce chances of heart disease)
– Dark chocolate (antioxidants)
– Olive oil (good cholesterol)
– Cinnamon (boosts metabolism and improves blood sugar)
Why you should say no to smoothies. Huh?
By fruits being an abundant ingredient in the mix, they offer much of a sweet-appeal for our taste buds, but listen to this: since the density of energy in a fruit masks the density of energy in greens, this health break turns out to be quite higher in sugar consumption than intended. Who are you really fooling?
Healthy “green” smoothies might contain:
– 1 cup fresh spinach
– ¼ cup water
– ¼ cup orange juice
– 2 cup fresh berries
– 1 banana
I have here listed 218 calories; 6% come from spinach, the remaining from the fruit. In perspective, this is a whole 32 g of sugar, where 59% of the calories come from the sugar itself and not the healthy fibres.
Instead, by filling your belly up at sunrise with a glass of water and a glass of orange juice, a banana on your way to class, as well as a spring mixed berry salad at noon, I’ve used the exact ingredients to opt for a better feeling of fullness for a longer period of time. This my friends, has saved you the messy leakage of a smoothie in your bag, and the $5 bill you would have otherwise spent waiting 10 minutes in line at your savvy coffee stand, for a 500 calorie dessert-in-a-cup-perceived-as-healthy drink. Ouch.
My solution
Here’s a compact list of some ridiculously healthy, wallet-friendly foods to put on your grocery list.
Snacks:
– greek yogurt
– bananas nuts (unsalted)
– avocado
– broccoli
– tomatoes
– tuna can(s)
– sweet potato
– dark chocolate (yes baby)
– blueberries/ strawberries
Cooking and seasoning:
– cinnamon
– garlic
– olive oil
– red wine vinegar
My darlings, I enjoy writing articles around this topic, and I encourage you to be more conscientious about your student budget and your undiscovered beach bod. (Yes, it’s there!)
Next time you walk by a lengthy wait line for Starbucks on campus, you can bye Felicia all that waste of time, money and sugar you would have otherwise wasted on a drink, prior to reading this article.
Think smart.
Eat clean.