nutrition – The Western Howl

Written by: Isabelle Jones | Lifestyle Editor

Healthy food habits are essential for a student’s success both in and out of the classroom. For many people, college is their first time away from home. Constant new experiences, late-night study sessions and other exciting events can lead to many overlooking the importance of building healthy food habits. With that, we need to nurture a healthy relationship surrounding food as early as possible. No matter what a person’s weekly schedule looks like, they can always make time for food.

For many students, a busy schedule seems to take over daily life at the start of every term. Whether it’s classes, sports or music practice, extracurricular activities, work, internships or something else, meals often get shifted to fit our busy days, but sometimes when it feels like food can’t be fit in, mealtime tends to be skipped — a dangerous habit to develop. It can be tempting to skip meals, especially when one is running out the door, but it leads to low energy levels throughout the day. It also affects one’s ability to concentrate. This results in overeating later in the day, causing one’s blood sugar to crash afterward. Breakfast is, unfortunately, the most skipped meal of the day. Skipping meals can easily be combated by trying fast, easy and nutritious meals. This could be Greek yogurt and granola, oatmeal with fruit or even a frozen breakfast sandwich popped in the microwave. Breakfast helps with feeling more energized throughout the day and keeps one feeling full.

Since we’re constantly on the go, time restraints can lead people to rely on drinks to keep energy up. Soda, energy drinks and sweetened coffee beverages are loaded with empty calories that cause massive spikes in blood sugar and leave one feeling empty. Any person with a busy schedule understands the reliance on caffeine. Too much caffeine leads to jitteriness, poor sleep and huge energy crashes, which are all detrimental to a progressing student.

Sugary drinks can contribute to weight gain, poor dental health and feeling sluggish. This doesn’t mean that one cannot ever have a sugary drink, but they should be an occasional treat.

All should include more water in their diet. It’s crucial for maintaining energy and focus. In general, it’s great for overall well-being. For some — myself included at times — drinking water is boring and seems like a hassle. Try infusing the water with fruits like lemons or even cucumbers for a refreshing twist.

Stress from exams and the general hustle and bustle of health can build up and become overwhelming. Some can experience emotional eating. This happens when the desire to eat is influenced by our emotions instead of pure hunger. Many seek out comfort foods like ice cream, chips or sweets. In the moment a person can feel good, but feelings of guilt may arise in the aftermath. Emotional eating tends to happen late at night. This can be common during study sessions. Generally, eating before going to bed disrupts sleeping patterns. The best way to fix emotional eating and late-night snacking is through therapy since the root of the stress comes from other areas in one’s life.

When walking into the campus dining hall, one can see that most gravitate towards pastas, pizzas and fried food, but some forget to include enough vegetables. The salad bar is a customizable way for students to enjoy vegetables in a way that suits their preferences. Each vegetable is full of essential vitamins, minerals and fiber that support digestion and immunity.

Technology has revolutionized the way food can be ordered. All it takes is a few taps on a phone and food is delivered right to the door. This isn’t the healthiest option to be pursued and isn’t a budget-friendly option for many college students. Many delivery food options are high in sodium, unhealthy fats and empty calories. Relying too heavily on these processed foods can lead to weight gain, poor digestion and energy crashes. Once this has become a regular habit, it can interfere with one’s ability to learn how to cook healthier meals.

We see new fads and diets that claim to be “new and improved” methods of promoting physical health, but without the proper knowledge of what a person’s body is deficient in, many diets can be extremely harmful. This can be especially true when a person is constantly jumping from one diet to the next when they don’t immediately see results. Diets like keto, juice cleanses, the master cleanse — also called the lemon detox diet — and the “no carb” diet are examples of “fad diets” that often cause more harm than good. While these are just a few, the list goes on. It is essential to focus on a balanced, nutrient-dense diet instead of following fleeting trends.

As students become more independent, it can be chaotic trying to adjust to a new chapter in life. Eating habits are typically the first to fall through the cracks and tend to go unnoticed until the effects are visible. There are changes that can be made in order to shift a poor or unhealthy relationship with food.

The first is to prepare. Food prep is an easy way to plan out our meals and snacks. It’s possible to create single portions and teach ourselves how to cook. All it takes is a couple of hours and, in the end, it is one less thing we have to worry about during our busy week.

The second is to listen to our bodies. Our bodies naturally give cues to signal when we are hungry. When we are eating, we should take the time to savor the flavors and not push ourselves to clear off our plates.

When it comes to food, moderation is key. Instead of stressing over every meal, we should focus on making general healthy choices that will leave us feeling nourished and energized.

BUDGET-FRIENDLY HEALTHY MEAL

Start to finish: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 cups Rolled oats

1 cup Peanut butter or almond butter

1 Banana

¼ cup Honey or maple syrup (optional)

⅓ cup Milk (or water)

Instructions

Cook the oats according to the package instructions, using either milk or water.

Once the oats are cooked, stir in a spoonful of peanut butter for healthy fats and creaminess.

Slice the banana on top of the oatmeal.

Drizzle with honey or maple syrup for added sweetness (optional).

Recipe from Lee Funke at Fit Foodie Finds

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

Written by: Liberty Miller | Lifestyle Editor

Content warning: this article contains mentions of weight, nutrition, eating and fitness.

Eating well in college can be a challenge, just as much or even more so than getting good grades, working out or balancing one or two jobs on top of being a full-time student. Having gone through the experience of working two jobs, being a student-athlete and writing for the Howl, this article is based on real-life circumstances, making this a comprehensive and achievable guide for even the busiest of individuals to follow.

The goal of general nutrition in college is not to lose or gain weight, nor to optimize performance or to become a superhuman. At its very core, nutrition maintains the homeostasis of the body. It ensures that one has enough energy to get through the day, to regulate the nervous system and digestion and to increase the quality of life for the individual.

Keep in mind that this guide is not published by a medical professional.

The power of meal prep — Meal preparation is an amazing time management technique along with the assurance that proper meals are eaten throughout the week. If properly sealed, a four-day meal preparation cycle is perfect for ensuring no food will spoil, offering four days of stress-free breakfast, lunch or dinner. It also discourages eating out, which is not inherently bad, but going out to eat can make is easy for one to miss out on vital nutrient groups and force an even tighter budget.

When meal prepping, it’s important to include all major food groups — fruits, vegetables, grains, protein and dairy. If one chooses not to eat one of these food groups due to a condition or any other reason, it is important to continue to get the nutrients required from those food groups. When it comes to the kind of food in the meal prep, that is purely up to the individual, and it is important to listen to one’s bodily intuition when choosing what feels good to consume.

As for the time involved in the meal prep, two to three hours every four days is the benchmark for this system to be successful. For example, if one has a Saturday off work and classes, meal prepping on a Saturday and Tuesday evening would be a proper cycle.

Finding creative ways to consume — As college students, it is a universal struggle to access affordable and readily available fresh food. Finding ways to budget and store fruits, vegetables and meats can be challenging, but not impossible.

Frozen fruits and vegetables are largely the same as freshly bought ones and can be stored for long periods. These can be incorporated into dishes such as oven-roasted vegetables, smoothies and even eaten as-is. Unless the frozen product has some sort of sauce or syrup added, it is an option that is just as healthy and may be more practical than fresh produce.

Fresh meats don’t have to be expensive either — many meats are similar in fat to protein content, but meats like pork loin are affordable compared to ahi tuna steaks or top sirloin and still contain high amounts of protein. Eggs are one of the most notorious sources of cheap protein and can easily be incorporated into almost every meal.

Grocery shopping options around the Monmouth and Salem area include Winco Foods, Grocery Outlet, Costco and Safeway. A multi-pronged approach to grocery shopping may be more effective than finding one store — Costco will have better price-per-unit deals on items such as Annie’s mac and cheese, Kodiak Cakes, loaves of bread and soups; Roth’s Fresh Markets will be able to cut and portion fresh meats to fit one’s budget and stores such as Grocery Outlet have the best deals on frozen fruits and vegetables.

Liberty’s recipe recommendation corner —A personal favorite lazy recipe is Nongshim brand Tonkotsu ramen, topped with an egg and pork loin for a high-protein meal, sided with fresh blueberries or whatever fruit or vegetable choice one prefers. Per unit, the ramen, egg and pork loin are a meal that costs less than five dollars and takes around 20 minutes to prepare if the egg and pork loin are fresh.

A well-balanced option for mac-and-cheese lovers — Purchase a quarter to half a pound of fresh steelhead trout — Roth’s Fresh Markets is a good option — prepare it with one’s preferred seasonings, wrap it in foil and cook it in the oven – when that is being cooked, heat water to make a simple box of Annie’s white cheddar mac and cheese shells, as well as a separate pot to heat up a frozen vegetable mix, preferably with green beans, peas and carrots — the frozen vegetable packs are available for less than a dollar at Grocery Outlet. Top the mac and cheese with the portion of steelhead and mix in the vegetables.

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

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