Back to school so soon!

In some places school is already in session, in others places (like mine) school is starting in the next 2 weeks.

Eating healthy and keeping a healthy lifestyle while in college is something that is extremely hard to do. During my first semester of college I ate all the unhealthy options that were available in my food court, I also used the elevators a lot trying to avoid stairs as much as possible. I decided that this was not a good way to be spending my college years and decided to change it all. I know it is hard but it is possible. Now I avoid elevators as much as possible, pack my own snacks and make healthy choices at the food court.

For lunch I make a salad at the salad bar. But don't drown your salad in dressing!, if you must use a dressing such as ranch use a very small amount otherwise vinaigrettes are a good choice also. Something I do is that i put a very small amount of ranch dressing on my salad and a small amount of olive oil and I found that when you mix it all up in the salad the olive oil kind of helps make it seem as though there is more ranch dressing than there really is. Make sure you do not skip the dressing because if you do your body won't absorb some of the vitamins in your healthy salad. Fat soluble vitamins are only absorbed in the body with the presence of fat so a little bit of dressing helps the body absorb them but if you top you salad with olives and nuts then the fat in the olives and nuts will help and you can then skip the dressing if you please.

Tips for healthy college lifestyle

• use the stairs instead of using elevator (sometimes run up or down a flight for an extra mini workout)
• pack your own snacks in your bag for when hunger creeps up on you in between classes so you won't be tempted to make a vending machine run and go for the unhealthy chips and candy bars.
• Make one of your school meals vegetarian .. this saves in some calories and is healthy for you
• join a sport or intramural 
• use your schools gym!
• eat a healthy filling breakfast! if you have no time make a healthy smoothie and drink it on your way to school/class or make a quick breakfast wrap

Healthy snacks

• granola bars (make sure you read the label and ingredient list because some granola bars are not healthy for you at all  because they include things such as a lot of sugar, high fructose corn syrup and a bunch of preservatives and a bunch of other ingredients that you probably won't be able to pronounce.) Make your own or look for a brand that has the least amount of sugar and ingredients
• veggies sticks and cheese ... prepare and put in a ziplock bag 
• fruit
• pita chips... you can make your own by cutting up pita and brushing olive oil on top and baking it in the oven for about 5-10 minutes until they crisp up. You can also put herbs and garlic on the to flavor them. Or you can buy them at the supermarket. They are healthier than potato chips

Do you have any healthy college lifestyle tips? comment and let me know!