Did those homemade desserts this holiday season tempt you into letting your diet slip? Or maybe you’ve started to hear talk about spring break plans, and the thought of bikinis and beaches is terrifying. Or perhaps you just made a New Year’s resolution to get healthier. Whatever your reason may be to get in shape, you’re in luck. With the new dining options on campus, making a few easy healthy diet changes has never been easier for Elon students!
It is never a bad idea to be more conscious of what you are putting into your body, especially as a college student with a demanding schedule. Between classes,
logging long hours in Club Belk, and juggling extracurricular activities, it’s all too tempting to satisfy your hunger pangs with dining hall pizza again. But fortunately Elon dining options make it easy to be both busy and healthy. A healthy diet can make a huge difference in how you feel, your energy level, and how well you perform in class. With the multitude of delicious options on campus, making nutritious choices should never mean sacri?cing taste and variety.
You’ve most likely heard this before, but combatting the dreaded “Freshman Fifteen” begins with a healthy breakfast. Making time for a balanced and ?lling breakfast helps jumpstart your metabolism, improves cognitive and memory function, and plays a crucial role in preventing weight gain by stopping cravings later in the day. Freshii, the new retail location located in the middle of campus in Moseley Center, aims to provide students with quick and energizing meal options on the go. For just one retail swipe, you can have a variety of fresh breakfast options, as well as a drink and a side. Check out their house-made oatmeal with nuts and fruit on top – it’s ?lling, delicious, and low-cal, and is therefore the perfect way to prepare for an early class. Freshii, however, is by no means only great for breakfast – their lunch and dinner menu is full of intriguing salads, wraps, noodle bowls and soup, and is all are made with high-quality, fresh ingredients.
There is great news for every Elon student looking to improve their eating habits: nutritional information on nearly everything is readily available. Nutritional information sheets are posted next to every food option in all of the dining halls. Keep an eye out for fat and sodium content, not just calorie count – the lower, the better! But even if you’re craving a cupcake off the over?owing dessert bar, or a burger and fries is calling your name, try to enjoy them in moderation. Making a few easy modi?cations can change a greasy meal into a nutritious dinner. For example, try an open-faced burger or sandwich by just taking off one of the pieces of bread, and save yourself the carbs and about 60 calories. Substitute fries for a salad with your favorite vegetables and light dressing, and you’ll stay fuller for longer as well as help meet your daily vitamin quota. Also, saying no to soda, both diet and regular, is always a good idea. Do yourself a favor, grab a glass of water instead and you will cut great deal of sugar out of your daily intake. Stay away from the sneaky things that can add a lot of excess calories and fat to your diet: condiments, extra cheese, fatty dressings and salt.
Snacking throughout the day is a necessity for most college students in order for them to stay energized. But don’t sabotage your health by beelining to a vending machine. A free and easy way to combat midday hunger is grabbing a piece of fruit on your way out of the dining hall. When your eyes are blurring from tiny textbook print and you need an energy boost, you’ll be glad you did.
Staying healthy on a college campus doesn’t mean spending hours in the gym, or eating nothing but salad. Make a few simple changes, and you will notice an improvement in your body and your brain. For more helpful tips and information about nutrition at Elon, check out the CampusDish website.