Wellness and Life's Transitions

While I have been wanting to write this post for a while to speak to the group starting college, I believe this post is applicable to everyone. The bottom line here is how to stay "on the wagon" in the midst of a transition. This is truly a hard thing to do - I will not underestimate it. With two years of post-grad life under my belt, I have some thoughts, reflections, and tips about what I did well with the college transition (ie times when you are less than in control of what you are able to eat) and what I could have improved on.

Before jumping in, I did want to acknowledge that some of this information may be inapplicable due to the COVID pandemic (cafeteria options, restaurants, etc). However, the principles still apply!

Moving from the safety blanket of healthy home cooking is a big one. You no longer have Mom, Dad, or whoever you live with to worry about grocery shopping, meal preparation, and the meal planning. When I moved into my freshman dorm, the on-campus dining plan was good. However, I found myself avoiding the salad station or the vegetables (always a little salty I might add) while running towards the quick options of baked pastries, pizza, and the oh so tragic soft serve ice cream machine..... I used to put a cookie on the bottom and a hefty amount of soft serve on top. OH! Topped with cookie #2. Luckily for me, my freshman 15 was only a freshman 10, but I wanted to share some advice on this navigating college, going back to work, or even going out to eat topic.

#1: Start with a protein

This was a great place for me to start. This could be chicken, fish, or even beans. The buffet was great about having at least 2 protein options. Now, sometimes they were deep fried or covered in butter, however I just looked for the "cleanest" protein. I would look for deli meat at the salad bar or a hard-boiled egg. Sometimes the salad bar even had fajita type chicken. My rule of thumb was looking for a protein with the fewest ingredients necessary to make this. What I mean is steer clear of the chicken fried chicken or the chicken floating in the butter sauce. Try to find a protein source that is just the source itself - you don't need or necessarily want the added calories of sauces and breading. (until you do!)

#2: COLORS

The next step for me, and arguably the hardest, was finding color in the form of fruits and vegetables. Again, it was easy with the salad bar, but let's be honest here, sometimes I am not in the mood for the same lettuce they had yesterday! Some days you will just not want salad, and that is totally okay. The problem here is that most of the vegetables in the buffet are also floating in sauce or covered in salt. To fix this problem, I usually looked for vegetables FROM the salad bar, not to make a salad, but to eat separately. We had a make your own omelette station where I would chose to add spinach. I opted for lettuce on sandwiches from the salad bar, and when the vegetables looked decent everywhere else, I put them on my plate.

I know this is easier said than done. Trust me, I remember the buffet life oh too well. But, even if you are at least thinking vegetable thoughts, you are thinking in the right direction. Luckily, the fruit section is usually easier. There were always grab-n-go bananas available and apples. There were berries usually. Always cantaloupe and honeydew. I would advise against consuming an entire plate of these as they are high in sugar. Yes, fruit sugar, but still sugar. You will likely not be able to make it from one meal to the next without getting hungry if this is all you are eating, and we want to avoid hangry snacking. It never ends well.

#3: Carb

This was always the easiest step for me of course. There are yellow and white foods a PLENTY. I'm talking mac n cheese, rice, pasta, and don't even get me started on the PIZZA. Sometimes that was the only think that looked or sounded good, and that is perfectly okay. I will touch on this later. But in terms of a carb, I looked for a simple carb. White or brown rice. Sweet potatoes. Even half of a regular potato. Things like this get a bad name, but you do need them in your diet. I usually aimed for ~1/2 cup of these carbs, but sometimes I got a little more when the other food was not so great that day.

#4: Moderation

I wanted to add this point in here, because I think it is important. Some days, I was craving pizza. Other days the only thing that looked good was the floating chicken. After a big test, it is okay to want that ice cream. I think the key is to moderate. What I tried to do with the unlimited food options (sometimes well, sometimes not so well) is compromise. For example, if I wanted a piece of pizza, I would just get ONE piece and then fill the rest of my plate with salad or some kind of vegetable. If I wanted a cup of soft serve, I should have just filled up my one up and exited the buffet. In reality, this won't always happen, but again as long as you are thinking along those lines, it will start to become your pattern of thinking.

#5: Keep up a workout routine or active lifestyle

I'll just flat out say that no amount of working out will compensate for eating whatever and how much you please. What I mean with this point is that maintaining a daily fitness routine and making daily choices like opting for the stairs over the elevator will give you a buffer. This is more for your mental health than anything. Let me explain. It is a buffer that says it's okay to have that slice of pizza or cup of soft serve. However, the extra calories you burn will help when the vegetables are a little salty or the protein they served today was covered in a butter sauce.

I truly believe this is the reason why I did not gain more weight starting freshman year. I will be so honest and say some days I went for anything and everything in the buffet line. However, I managed to walk to class everyday, workout in the mornings or afternoon, and I took the stairs everywhere. The damage could have been much much worse. But because I was working out consistently, I was less likely to beat myself up about the choices I made at the previous meal. That brings us to our next point.

#6: Once you've had a meal, BE DONE.

I mean this physically and mentally. If you went a little crazy with the pasta or fresh-baked cookies, do not sit there and beat yourself up about it all day long. This is a great way to build a negative relationship with food as well as a negative view of yourself. Once you leave that cafeteria/restaurant, consider it a mulligan or a do-over. At the next meal or snack time, you'll once again try to make healthy choices. But beating yourself up about the pizza you had is going to make you feel like you might as well say "to heck!" with the day and have several cheat meals. This mentality can repeat over and over, day after day, and it is not good.

Instead, have your cheat meal (planned or not planned). Enjoy every minute of it. Then, get back on the wagon for the rest of the day making healthy, portion-controlled choices. Now, I know this is easier said than done. This is something I am still working on every single day, but I especially wish I would've known this in college. I would have a bad meal, feel bad about it, then declare the day a cheat day. I would fill up on desserts and carbs galore, sometimes things that didn't really sound good, just because it was a cheat day. What. A. Time!

#7: Social Eating

This tip applies to everyone at every stage of life. Eating is a social thing. It is a way we connect with others - over a meal. This was especially true in college I felt like. Almost every night I was invited to get ice cream, custard, and sonic. It being freshman year, I said yes to everything. Unfortunately that meant waaaaay too many nights of a huge, creamy dessert. In hindsight, I have some tips for this.

Sonic is a great choice of place to meet for something like this. Instead of going for the sonic blast or slushy, I loved a lemon water with raspberry (or the sorority special as they called it in Fayetteville). It was enough sweetness in a water I felt like I was having a treat. Shake's frozen custard also had a mini kids option. Likely, that one scoop of ice cream would have been enough to tide over my sweet tooth and given me something to eat while I talked to everyone. It is okay to get a smaller portion - no, you are not a buzz kill, I promise! Instead of the huge custard at Andy's, they have Fudgsicles that again would have been enough. Going and having a cheat dessert can be rewarding in the short-term, but long-term, you will feel better just having a little something. I PROMISE.

#8: Drinking

This is the unexpected caloric intake that is the biggest change from your routine at home - drinking your calories. Whether this is a sugary margarita, a sugary mixer in an alcoholic beverage, or the sugary caffeinated beverage you need to keep studying, drinking your calories is a sure way to really undermine your healthy eating and working out. This is not to say NEVER drink your calories - that is unrealistic. I love a Pumpkin Spice Latte with almond milk or a margarita at my favorite Mexican restaurant. The point is to realize that these beverages do have a LOT of sugar and calories and contribute (almost secretly) to the dreaded "Freshman 15" that everyone talks about.

Without getting into the math of calories and alcohol, it is important to know that alcohol itself has calories that come with it such as carbs, fats, and proteins but without the nutritional value. Therefore, with these sugary options, you have the calories from the base drink, from the alcohol, AND the mountain of sugar - which more than likely will give you a headache if you over do it! My tip for managing the drinking is - again - moderation. Especially senior year when I went out with friends more frequently, I would ask myself if I really wanted a drink or if I was just ordering a drink because everyone else was? I tried to stick to just one - two nights per week and ONLY if I was out with friends. If I thought I would not be out for that long or I did not really want a drink, I just ordered a water or unsweet tea and enjoyed my time with friends!

Again, everyone is different, but specifically in the college, for me, drinking was a social thing. So, I tried to avoid alcoholic, sugary beverages on random weeknights or weekend nights when I did not have plans, and instead, I saved my drinks for karaoke night or a friend's birthday dinner. I just wanted to blow the calories for my favorite marg when I could enjoy it with my girlfriends! This applies even with my favorite Chai Tea Lattes - I saved those for celebration for the end of a test or presentation. I started to think of these things as special things - not something to have everyday!

My advice on this topic is check in with your self and save those drinks for the fun nights or special occasions! As much as I love a glass of red wine after a long day of class/work, I knew the more I got in the habit of doing this, my weekly caloric intake goes up and the effort I made in the gym or in my healthy food choices was dampened. However, as I will mention below, life is to be lived. Do not become so fixated on rules you have set for yourself that you become inflexible and hard on yourself. Progress not perfection - I'll say it again!

#9: Keep some healthy options in the dorm room/car/house

When the dining hall looks not so great one day, or you need a lunch on the go, I have included a list of snacks/meal replacement options below that I loved keeping in my dorm for a healthy snack or meal.

- Trail Mix. I kept a good trail mix in my room for a quick snack. Try not to go for the one that is 100% chocolate chips, but nuts are a great and filling snack option. We have a post soon coming about how to make your own!

- Chomps Jerky Sticks or some form. This was a quick and easy way to add protein to any snack. These things are yummy and filling. Also very easy to eat on the go.

- Apples and Bananas. These were the two fruits I found I could easily keep in my dorm that I could actually eat on the go. These are great paired with a 1/4 cup of trail mix or a chomp stick for some protein! However, if there are other easy to eat fruits that you like, those are a great option to have on hand in the dorm room.

- Breakfast Bars. I kept granola bars or protein bars on hand for a quick and easy breakfast or lunch. My go-to bars right now are the Perfect bars. These have to be refrigerated, but they are delicious! For more of a snack bar, I love Lara Bars. The lemon flavor is my absolute favorite.

- Skinny Pop. This popcorn will change your life. I suggest buying it in the individually packaged form unless you have great self control, because I can go to town on this stuff. With the individual packages though, you get one serving for 100 calories. I always paired mine with a few slices of salami or a piece of fruit.

- Amy's Organic is a great brand to consider for freezer meals. I usually kept around 2 in my freezer just in case I did not want to eat in the cafeteria or at a restaurant. Now, I am not saying that every meal you eat should be a freezer meal, but it is nice to have a healthy, high-protein option for back-up.

- Boca Burgers are another great option for protein in your freezer. I believe it takes ~1 minute and 30 seconds to heat them up, but they are delicious. I love to eat them with a pre-made salad kit like the one I shared from Trader Joe's.

- Greek Yogurts in the fridge are always good. You can grab fruit and some granola even if you are raiding the cafeteria.

- Tuna, salmon or chicken packets like those made by Chicken of the Sea or Starkist. They last forever and can give you quick protein, especially in a bind.

- Nut butter packets - if you are not allergic to peanuts or nuts, these are great! You can grab an apple with your packet for an instant meal on the go.

These are just a few tips and ideas of snacks to have on hand. My biggest piece of advice is to set yourself up for success. Do not keep a bunch of unhealthy, high-sugar snacks around because you WILL eat them. For example, I may see a great looking pint of ice cream at the store. I buy the pint and enjoy one scoop. That is perfectly fine, however, the next day, I have a bad day, and BOOM, pint is gone. My point is do not lead yourself into a trap. Keep some healthy snacks around and develop your eye for handling eating out. Remember, find a protein, some color, and lastly a carb. You've got this.

HOWEVER, as my mom always says, "Life is not a dress rehearsal." So all of this in moderation. Do fun things with your friends. If that involves ice cream, so be it. If that is ordering a pizza and watching a movie, do it. Wine night with friends? Some of my favorite memories from college. Do not say no to life experiences in order to stay on track. Just realize that there is not just one way to go about the track. Everything in moderation. If you fail one meal, don't worry, just try again at the next. As we like to say here at Wellness Made EC - it is PROGRESS, not perfection that is the goal.