Dining Hall Tips (Workout Series Part 3)

Dining halls are intimidating. Having unlimited and mainly unhealthy food set in front of you all the time is very daunting and you need to be disciplined in order to prevent gaining the freshman fifteen. 

Part One: Five Tips for Losing Weight at School
Part Two: A Little Motivation
Part Four: Let's talk Food
Part Five: Working Out

Here's a few of the rules I try to follow when I walk into the dining hall:

1. Don't make the dining hall an all you can eat buffet!

Healthy Meal Experts

Just because the dining hall is an all you can eat buffet doesn't mean you should make it that. Eat until you feel satisfied not stuffed. Stick to your fruits, veggies, dairy, and protein and try to limit carb intake!

2. Know your options.

Walk around the food court to see what's available before you grab a plate. This will help prevent you from grabbing multiple plates of food. Take in your options and then select the one or ones that are what you really want to eat.

3. Know your serving sizes and portions

Kohls Care Portion Sizing

Knowing how much of something you should eat and how often you should eat it can seriously help your body get the right stuff and eliminate the bad stuff from your diet.

4. No pop/soda or ice cream

This one is really hard. Our hall has multiple soft drink dispensers as well as multiple desserts available. This includes diet sodas. Drink water or milk at meals. Only drink juice at breakfast.

5. Don't eat pizza for every meal.

Seriously. Limit the pizza intake. I have only had one slice in the month I have been at school. Just because it may be one of the least gross items in the cafeteria, skip it! Go for a wrap, salad, or cereal instead.