Eating clean is an important life choice and plays a major role in contributing a long and healthy life but many college students are not eating correctly. On every college campus there are many convenient but calorie rich food options such as burgers, pizza, Subway, Togo’s, or even KFC. Moreover, there are many other fast food establishments near college campus’ which will add a bundle of calories into one’s diet and lack many important macronutrients. In addition to the calorie rich foods served on or around campus, vending machines offering a variety of snack foods can be found throughout campus which are typically high in sodium and fats but many students opt to go for a quick snack while on the go. These types of food will only fill you up for the time being but they are empty calories and can have negative consequences to your health.
According to the American College Health Association, the percent of overweight and obese American college students increased from 27.4 percent in 2006 to 29.2 percent in 2011. These numbers will continue to increase as time goes by so change is needed to improve the diets of busy college students. Sometimes food can be expensive for college students who are on limited budgets which is why students run to low cost and calorie dense processed foods to meet their needs. What students fail to realize is that investing the time to prepare your meals in advance can not only be healthy but also less expensive you if you plan ahead. Meal prep is important and efficient because this will prevent you from making poor eating decisions when hungry and on the run. Preparing meals can be time consuming but if you’re meal prepping every two days this will allow you to plan ahead and have plenty of fresh and healthy meals which will typically have less additional calories than the other food choices on or around campus.
Exercise is also an important factor in your everyday life especially if you’re trying to lose weight. In order to avoid being part of the obesity statistic you can do additional things that can help out burn calories during the day such as walking as much as possible around campus. Eating healthy can be hard to maintain so picking a day of the week to allow yourself to have a cheat meal can help you stay motivated the rest of the week. You can start making a change in your life tomorrow by bringing your own lunch to school and work which can include snacks and try to find an hour in your day to exercise.