In college, we all hear the rumors about people gaining the “freshman 15”. With all-you-can-eat dining halls and little food stops like Moe’s and Pizza Hut within walking distance from your room, it’s hard to say no to food. I mean who wouldn’t want to walk to Anatolia’s at 11 o’clock at night for some pasta and rice. Even the convenience store down the stairs from your dorm is jam-packed with tasty snacks. Food cravings are no joke when you are being tempted everywhere you look, especially when it’s two in the morning, you just got back to campus from a party and there’s Waffle House looking all lonesome and mouth-watering.
Most people don’t realize that when you’re craving a certain food it’s really your body asking for a specific type of nutrition. I know what you’re thinking, I can’t afford to shop for groceries at Sprout’s or Whole Foods but you’d be surprised how many inexpensive places there are to buy healthy snacks probably walking distance from the dorms. For example, if you’re craving chocolate, what your body really needs is magnesium. That kind of craving can also be satisfied through consuming nuts, seeds, veggies and fruits. If you’re craving other sugary foods, it means your body needs chromium, carbon, phosphorus or sulfur and you need to eat things like broccoli, grapes, cheese, chicken, grains, fish etc.
Remember that not all food cravings are bad, you just need to feed your body the right foods. With that being said, here are five simple ways to get started combating food cravings.
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Wake up at the same time every day. Even if you’re schedule says you don’t have class till one in the afternoon, it’s healthier to get up early that way you can eat more but your body has more time to produce energy which speeds up metabolism. So let the sunshine in! It’s the best way to wake your brain up every morning, as well as, power down early at night.
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Drink a green smoothie a day. Veggies are super essential for the body and you’re actually supposed to eat five to nine servings of vegetables per day. So if you can’t eat them, drink them. Try to blend up your own since most store-bought juices have a lot of sugar in them. Tip: having half of an avocado is a great mid-morning snack.
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Snack away. The point is to eat more but healthier. You can snack as much as you want as long as you’re munching away at cranberries and not Dorito’s.
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Drink at least eight cups of water a day. You don’t have to be a gym rat to stay hydrated. Water is the best antioxidant out there and it’ll make you feel full when you feel like eating for no reason.
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5. Take a grocery list to the store with you. This way you don’t buy anything other than what you wrote down. No cheating!