Eating Healthy at University
- Wholemeal banana pancakes -
Trying to maintain a healthy
lifestyle whilst at university can be hard if you're on a budget, want to be
social or simply don't know where to begin so in this post I'm going to talk
about my experiences and some tips that I think others might benefit from if
they're a bit muddled.
I spent my first year at
university drinking way too much (6 cans of cider plus vodka on a night
out) and eating takeaway excessively. Dominoes Pizza leaflets get handed out
regularly in student areas and I would abuse the 50% vouchers to get 2 large
pizzas which I would order after a night out drinking and live off for the next
few days. I never planned my shopping or did large food shops at the beginning
of the week which meant I was lazy and bought each meal as it was required. I
was therefore hungry when I went shopping, would buy junk food in huge portions
and I had no idea about the basic nutritional requirements of my body.
- Alpro Soya dark chocolate pudding, 1 banana and melted peanut butter -
My breakfast was mostly two
pieces of toast covered in Nutella and a bowl of cereal. Lunch after my
lectures was a sandwich from Tesco, sushi, a packet of crisps and sometimes a
chocolate bar. I would then snack on crisps and sweets before my dinner. I
would have carb laden dinners smothered in sauce and greatly favoured pizzas
with chips. I turned my eating round in second year when I decided I
wanted to lose weight the proper way as I had taken the cheating way out and
tried weight loss shakes which are obviously not viable in the long run.
I think the most important thing
to remember if you want to eat better on a budget is to effectively plan out
your food so that you don’t end up buying excess in the first place or throwing
away stuff you don’t get a chance use. Planning meals also stops you buying
food in a rush and when hungry which might mean you don’t necessarily pick the
best option and/or you end up spending too much. It’s really simple to draw up
a table for the week with each meal and snack having its own square so that you
can write in what you would like to eat. You can then turn it into a shopping
list and go buy everything at once. This in turn means you can break down your
available income into a weekly budget so you know what resources you have available
to you and be able to set some money aside for unexpected outlays.
- Sainsbury's Ready Oats, cinnamon, apple, semi-skimmed milk, vanilla essence, peanut butter and chia seeds -
Generally a “healthy” plate of
food is ½ vegetables, ¼ protein and ¼ carbs. You don’t need to go out and buy
ingredients to make an overzealous Michelin-starred food with unicorn tears in
it. Keeping food simple and tasty will make it easier to get hold of
ingredients and quicker to make. You can even bulk cook things like curries,
soups or casseroles etc. and keep them properly stored to have throughout the
week. Simple recipes can be found on the BBC and Tesco food websites which
allow you to sort by budget, ingredients and if you want to be able to freeze
it after cooking. Cooking your own food means that you can more easily avoid
processed foods or unnatural ingredients which makes it simpler to eat cleaner. You can also switch some of the things that you may regularly purchase for alternatives such as wholemeal bread, brown rice and pasta, skimmed milk, cous cous, peanut butter with no added sugar etc. It might not always be necessary to cook with extra fat or oil. The juices from meats will generally stop them sticking to the pan and saves adding extra. Non-stick frying pans can be found at low cost if you look in discount stores like Wilkinsons, TKMaxx or Argos and that way don't need to use fat or oil to cook.
- Aldi baby carrots and reduced fat humous -
Proper food storage means that
you can make your food last longer, and thus save yourself money by not having
to rebuy fresh ingredients, or take food with you. A simple Tupperware box is
great for taking your lunch with you so that you avoid buying expensive
pre-made food whilst out and ensure that you know exactly what you’re eating. You
can take basically anything you want for lunch and I enjoyed making my own
sandwiches which you can fill with so many options and interchange between
them, wraps and salads. Freezer bags are super cheap and you can portion out
the food you bulk cook so that all you need to do is take it out in the
morning. I liked to portion out fruit or vegetables in freezer bags and throw
it together in the blender to make a smoothie. Fresh fruit and vegetables can
be relatively expensive depending on a number of things so freezing it when you
buy it or even buying it frozen or tinned will save money. Ikea have a wonderful selection of food storage containers here which are inexpensive.
Where you shop makes a huge
difference to how much money you spend. You can plan right down to the last
snack but it isn’t going to make much of a difference if you’re going to stores
with high prices. Aldi and Lidl are great stores where you can buy identical
products to the high-cost branded equivalents and they have an amazing choice
of fresh fruit and vegetables at low prices. Aldi in particular has a wide
choice of yoghurts, frozen produce, meat and fish for low prices.
You do not
need to buy expensive branded products because the actual product is more than
likely exactly the same but you create the extra outlay to pay for the brand
name. Buying certain products online if they are too expensive in stores is
something a lot of people do. Things like chia seeds, nuts and coconut oil are
quite pricey but if you search on websites such as Amazon or eBay there are
great deals to be found if you’re willing to wait a few days for them to
arrive. You could also see if anyone you live with requires anything from the
same website so that you might split the postage costs.
- Aldi free range eggs in a nest of Aldi wholegrain seeded bread and smoked bacon made with no extra fat or oil -
It is possible to buy brand name products
at lower prices if you can find some discount stores. In the UK you can visit
Home Bargains/Quality Save, pound stores and B&M Bargains. That way you can
find the products you want for a much lower cost. One product everyone seems to
find so important for weight loss is green tea and you can pay like £3/4 for a
box of 20 teabags but if you go to bargain shops you can get the same amount
for less or even in bulk. If you know someone who can take you, stores that
sell in bulk are fantastic as a money-saving option even though it seems
expensive at the time it will lower your daily living costs if you get things
that do not perish like home supplies (laundry powder, cleaning fluids, shower
gels etc.), condiments/seasoning, snack bars, juices etc.
- Aldi wholemeal bread, peanut butter, banana and chia seeds -
Along with university comes the
social aspect and I receive a lot of questions about how people can remain
healthy and still go out drinking a lot. The honest answer is that you cannot
drink too much or eat the post-drinking junk foods all the time and expect to
remain healthy. By all means go out and drink but you have to do it in
moderation otherwise you cannot expect to see results. If you want to go out
and not drink then don’t let yourself be scared to say it to your friends. I
know people, for religious or just personal reasons, that did not drink for the
entirety of university and they were fine. If someone is going to judge you for
it then you just cut them out. University is a period when people become more
mature and if someone is that petty then they are not worth any of your time
because your friends will respect your decisions.
I’ll be doing a later post on the
specific foods that I purchased and ate at university so that you can get some
meal examples! Thank you for reading!
xoxo
I'm in my second year of university now, and I am finding it so hard to actually eat in the house! I literally eat out everyday (Don't get the impression I'm loaded with money, when I say 'eat out' I mean a greggs or a 99p baguette'. My first year resembled yours loads, had a cheeky doms every week practically, and would devour a tub of nutella on a daily basis. This year I am trying to be healthy, but I just do not have the time to make meals in the house, I only eat about one meal a day whenever I can squeeze it in!
ReplyDeleteI love your blog, some really great advice.
Joshua :)