College Students: How to Get Healthy at the End of Winter

1) Put an apple in your breakfast! You want that bagel smothered in cream cheese, but starting the morning feeling full and heavy will only lead to poor choices the rest of the day. You can choose a small carton of yogurt, a carton of cottage cheese (they sell these little 1 serving cartons of low fat cottage cheese that is loaded with protein and not too many calories),1 piece of toast, or a banana if you like fruit, but whatever you do, put that apple in your breakfast too (apples are key because they keep you feeling fuller for longer, they are a good source of fiber, they are low in calories, and they are easy to carry on-the-go!)

2) Along with breakfast, drink a good half-liter to liter of water. It will fill you up, but it also will seem to energize you. Often, being dehydrated puts you in a sluggish mood, and fools many into grabbing a soda or other form of unhealthy beverage. Get ahead of these bad choices by filling up on water. Also, take that water bottle with you, so you can fill it up throughout that day and sip on during class. Constant hydration is key to getting and feeling healthy.

3) For lunch, keep it light. Consider lunch to be a midday snack. At home, you are used to being served a reasonable lunch with a sandwich, orange, and maybe a small cookie or piece of chocolate. However, in college, the dining halls offer you food that would otherwise wait until suppertime: mashed potatoes, pasta alfredo, casseroles, etc. So, think back to those days at school and either buy yourself a small lunch that you could imagine in a small lunch box, or better, pack your own homemade (and therefore, likely healthier) lunch.

4) Keep drinking water!

5) For an afternoon snack, have a fruit such as another apple (I can't stress how wonderful apples are!), banana, orange, pear, plum, grapes, etc. Or, if you like, a bag of 94% fat free butter popcorn is a great way to feel like you ate a big carbohydrate snack, when you actually only had a handful of calories.

6) When you get home, take the time to make a good meal. Enjoy pasta with marinara, or a chicken breast, with some vegetables…really whatever you fancy, but be reasonable. The evening is the easiest time to splurge on chicken nuggest, macaroni and cheese from the box, pizza, etc. But take a moment to realize that you were healthy all day long, and you resisted pop and drank water all day long, and then ask yourself if you really want to throw that away by chowing down on some late night greasy food. If you take a moment to think, you'll realize that you will only feel disappointed if you go for the crap food. So, tell yourself that you will make a perfectly delicious, healthy meal instead. Have some water, or milk, or juice with that if you like.

7) Have some tea with lemon juice or honey added. Lemon juice provides flavor and even more antioxidants. Honey provides a little bit of sweet, if you need.

8) Resist the temptation to dive into ice cream and cookies (but if you HAVE to have some dessert, allow yourself one little rectangle of Hershey's chocolate. Have only one and stop there). Go to bed at a reasonable hour. Good sleep, along with lots of water, is important to feeling healthy.

All right, you did it! Maybe this day was hard because you are used to picking crap food, but you will realize that choosing healthy food that is still tasty will make you feel a lot healthier. Feeling healthier is motivating and will be the first step to staying on the right-choices track.