Answer: Realize that you’re in college and not at home. Focus on your actions outside of the dining hall. Keep in account that your diet outside the dining hall is causing you to lose, gain, or maintain at the weight you are at now. It is maybe the drinking?
First, do university dining halls put laxatives in the food?
Fuck no. First off, that’s illegal. Second, that’s illegal. Third, it’s VERY ILLEGAL. Come on you’re smart, you’re in college. If you were given laxatives, you would know.
I have heard many complaints that the food in the dining hall sucks. OK, you’re spoiled if you think so. Food is food. Be grateful to have the ability to choose whenever you want to eat with the swipe of a card (not your credit card). What do you expect from a university dining hall? Here are some of my thoughts why you are losing, gaining, or maintaining the weight you are at now. All of these tips and hints come from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. I have had problems of losing, gaining, and maintaing weight from my diet in the dining hall.
Why am I losing weight?1) You are not eating enough at the dining hall because you don’t like the main entrees they are serving. Carb up. Grab some pizza. There is always pasta. Eat cereal. Make a hefty sandwich.
2) Make sure you are eating three or more meals a day. Are you only eating two big meals a day? Are you waking up late and eating lunch first then dinner at night?
3) Make sure you are eating large portioned meals, and not a bowl of cereal.
What am I gaining weight?1) The food in the dining hall is greasy. Every main entree is going to be greasy. Some people have a different metabolic rate. You may have a slow metabolic rate. See how you can quicken your metabolic rate.
2) You may be drinking a lot of alcohol on the weekends. Alcohol is very unhealthy because of the amount of calories it has. I’m not going to sit here and write about how you should not drink, but keep that in mind.
3) What are you eating outside of the dining hall? If you want to lose weight, keep eating meals at the dining hall rather than take out. Restaurants will make your food as tasty as possible. In other words, they are adding a lot of oil and grease to your meal so you will order from them again in the future.
4) You should be working out because a key factor to lose weight is working out. You need to eat in order to survive and have energy to go about the day. However, if you are not working out and just studying, you are not burning enough calories. Those calories just become sitting ducks. Also, if you aren’t working out, the fat is going to stick onto your muscles therefore making them heavier.
5) Balance the amount of desserts you eat. When the food being served in the dining hall does not attract us, we tend to be attracted to the desserts. I am a victim of this temptation. Try not to be tempted.
6) If the food doesn’t interest you, don’t just eat carbs. Carbs fill you up.
Why am I maintaining the weight I am at now?1) Your sleep schedule is off. I bet you are sleeping for a couple hours one night, five hours another night, and 12 hours Friday night. This fluctuating sleep cycle is really throwing your metabolism off. Your metabolism is going fast to slow, fast to slow.
2) If you are trying to lose weight, stick to salad and protein. Stay away from the carbs. If you are trying to gain weight, eat carbs and less salad. You’re either not intaking enough weight or you’re intaking too much weight in the food you are consuming.
ADVICE FOR A HEALTHY COLLEGE DIET
1) Depending on your goal, make sure you have a balance diet and consume certain foods accordingly.
2) Have a consistent sleep cycle. Consistency in sleep does not mean eight hours every night. It’s okay to have six hours one night, seven another, and eight on the weekend. It’s inconsistent if you are sleeping for two hours one night, 10 hours the next night, and four the third night.
3) Regulate the amount of alcohol you drink on the weekends. In other words, try not to blackout every weekend and consume massive amounts of alcohol. Not only will this be the cause for your large increase in weight or bad health, it will detrimentally affect your digestive system.
4) Stress plays a huge factor in diet. If you are really stressed out, you barely or don’t eat. If you are not stressed, you will have a healthy diet.
5) Stick to the dining hall. Even though the food is low quality, you know what you are eating. You see where the food is coming from. You see what the chefs are doing with your food. You don’t know what the chefs are doing with your take out/delivery food. You also have a HUGE selection.
Your lifestyle in college is much different than your lifestyle at home. Back to the idea of consistency, your schedule in college is going to be inconsistent time and you need to realize that. This is why we lose, gain, or maintain weight. Try to maintain a consistent schedule, but if you can’t, just stick to my advice for a healthy college diet.
Boston University Health Guru 