Since I’ve been away at college the common question asked at the family dinner table is something along the lines of , “You’ve lost weight!” or the complete opposite “You’re finally putting on some pounds.” It feels as if both statements could be potentially true, but I haven’t been consistently using a scale to check. Skipping meals and eating the quickest meals possible, which often fall into the category of being something along the lines of fast food, are the reasons why I can’t answer my family’s pressing questions. All I know is since I’ve been at college, I haven’t been eating 3 meals a day and this is something that I, and many of other college students, need to change.
Get the Food Goodies in Advance
It seems as if getting 3 meals per day should be a simple task, but with overwhelming workloads that never seem to stop, this can be hard. Students need to stop focusing so much on work that they forget about personal health. Students can work and eat, but meals shouldn’t be skipped just to get a paper done.
A way to be less overwhelmed with working and also taking care of yourself is to prepare in advance before things get too hectic.
Prepare To:
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Set a day to go to the grocery store/c-store weekly or as much as you need.
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Get healthy foods. We may be in college, but chips and sour patch don’t make as good of a meal as one may think (believe me).
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Meal Prep! Buy some containers and put premade meals in your fridge to grab and go.
Share Meal Prep
If you have an apartment on campus or off and live with multiple roommates, have each roommate cook a potluck dish one day of the week to share. If you don’t have an apartment, share the meal prep or buying load with your roommate.
Use Your Lion Dollars for Good
If you aren’t having 3 meals a day and you have a meal plan, you are probably rich in lion dollars and don’t know what to do about them. There is an interesting way to fix this even if LMU food isn’t your cup of tea. LMU is great for customizing meals and with bunches of add-ons (such as avocados or a sunnyside egg), you can make a boring burger into as close to an off campus burger as you can get. Also by trying different food combinations you may be more motivated to go to the Lair, Roskis, or the Crimson Lion.
College may seem too much sometimes, but it’s important to continue to eat, sleep, and take time for oneself. If in doubt of picking to continue working or to grab a bite always pick the later.