During my first two years of college, I had a meal plan that I used more frequently but it was never a fan of the dining commons because the food was always very bland and was never a healthy option and the healthy options were all pretty low-quality ingredients. My junior and now senior year I’m in apartments on campus that have a full kitchen, so I literally never step foot in the dining hall. Grocery shopping can get pricey, places like Walmart do not sell good produce, so alternatives like Hannaford or Price chopper, and I’ve heard Aldi’s. They’re on my hit list of grocery stores to go to since the upstate area doesn’t have a Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods or ShopRite. If you plan your meals out before or just go with the list you can accomplish a decent grocery trip in under $50 you just can’t throw things in your cart aimlessly.
Affordability is the main key and figuring out what you can buy and how much you can get for the cheapest. Along with that my focus has currently been on trying to eat better and meal prep so that I just have food ready for me and I don’t make poor choices. 80% of losing weight comes from just nutrition alone and altering your diet, that was a fact that I read and her stuck in my head so that’s why I’ve been trying to make some significant lifestyle changes aside from just trying to be healthy overall.
Some of the things that can help you get started on eating healthier for either weight-loss reasons, or just wanting to be healthier, even just wanting to have your food planned out so you don’t spend a ton of money are things like:
– Meal prep containers
– Coupons via apps
– Checking in-store deals and altering your list based on the store
Now my challenge is still figuring out learning how to cook things that are good for you and not just easy and unhealthy because let’s face it anybody can figure out how to make mac & cheese but putting a little more effort to figuring out how to perfect a healthy recipe that’s not bland it makes you actually enjoy it it’s a little more difficult.