Aggies eat green
Top Ramen, Easy Mac, Totino’s Pizza Rolls and Captain Crunch. What do all of these items have in common? They can be found in many college students’ cupboards.
“There’s this myth that it costs more to eat healthy,” said Jeris Kendall, a first-year grad student studying political science. “I just think that it costs in the sense that it takes a little bit more time to prepare.”
Kendall believes there is a “chow down quick” mentality involved with students’ health and eating.
For college students, it usually comes down to needing the quick, whatever-is-fast, type of food, Kendall said. This is often why students tend to choose the less healthy, but speedy food to cook up, he said.
Kendall believes the most important part of a students’ eating habits comes from the results of grocery shopping. He said it determines what ends up in the cupboard, which can make or break bad habits.
“If I have it, I’m more likely to eat it,” Kendall said. “When I’m shopping I have to make sure I’m getting the stuff that’s good.”
Kendall is not the only student who thinks smart grocery shopping is the most important part of eating healthy.
“To eat healthy, you need to shop healthy,” said Kate Gourley, a junior majoring in art.
About 90 percent of Gourley’s grocery shopping happens in the produce section, she said.
“If you buy healthy food, you’ll eat healthy food,” she said.
Gourley has a few simple rules she follows when cooking her meals at home. First, she tries to make at least half of her meal vegetables. She also tries having both a grain and a protein in the meal.
“You have to listen to your body, because everyone is different,” Gourley said. “I understand that a lot of people may not want to eat how I eat and that is OK.”
Gourley said she believes eating healthy does not have to be complicated. If students stick to the basics, such as eggs, bread, vegetables and fruit, they can stay healthy and keep it cheap, she said.
“It’s completely possible to have a healthy lifestyle on a student budget,” Gourley said. “If students, and people in general, are consciously trying to put in more vegetables and take out more processed food, they will be healthier.”
It truly can be more difficult for college students to be aware and eat as healthy as possible, said USU graduate Alyssa Craig, who learned this lesson after leaving college.
“I was never the best at applying what I learned while in college,” Craig, who graduated with a degree in exercise science, said. “When I finally figured out that being healthy would be for me I really started to get into it.”
Craig saw significant differences in the way that she felt and looked since graduating last May, she said, and her three main points to living healthy are moderation, habit and endurance.
“I’ve noticed as I’ve eaten better, unhealthy things aren’t really as appetizing,” Craig said.
Though she might have craved a cheeseburger at one point, she said she now knows to listen when her body tells her grease is only going to make her sick later.
“It’s a good challenge for students to learn how to eat well,” Craig said. “Sometimes, what you eat in high school is not what you can eat in college. It really is a challenge developing those skills of eating.”
Some specific ways in which Craig believes that healthy eating can be achieved include cutting portions down, learning to stop eating when full, doing what her dad always told her and “eating for fuel.”
“I always thought ‘Whatever Dad,’ when I was younger, but now I can see it makes so much sense,” Craig said.
To follow this advice, she said she tries to pack a healthy lunch for work, make sure she has protein in her breakfast and buy lean meats for meals at home.
There are endless ways for college students to eat healthy and live right while going to school. Though it may take a little bit of extra time each day, it is going to be worth it when you feel better, your mind if more clear, and you can focus more, Craig said.
“It’s a way of life. It’s not a chore that you check off of a list,” Craig said.
– mandy.m.morgan@aggiemail.usu.edu