Finding Healthy Options

I assume I am not the only one on campus who looks for healthy and nutritional options for consumption at the dining halls. As an active being, I look for healthy ways to replenish the calories I have burned working out at the gym as well as just walking around campus. How can one find “healthy” food options on campus?”

Healthy options sometimes are difficult to find on campus, but they are easier to find than one might think. In my experience, the healthier options can be found in the afternoon, when more vegetables are put out and less of the carbohydrates. While finding health-conscious food may be tough, one must also try to make do with what’s available. A healthy plate of greens and protein won’t just show up on your table unless of course, you are at a restaurant. The dining hall will always have salad, stir fry at most times, and soup, and “making do” sometimes means combining the offerings. This is a good way of showing tolerance to refrain from junk food and pizza and other foods that are easier to find, but less healthy.

One day at Emerson Hall, as I often do, I made a salad and added whatever greens were available.  Then I ordered stir-fry, which is generally either chicken or another protein and seasoning. On that day it was chicken. I either get a starch like rice or pasta with it, or I get the chicken by itself and add it to the salad. This is a great way to get a lot of the food groups in one meal. Soup is also a great and filling meal, whether it is a stew or broth. Either way, it is a very wholesome meal and can be a great source of energy. I had chicken and rice Florentine soup on this particular day. It is also a great alternative to a lot of other greasy filling foods like French fries or burgers.

In this case, as the photograph of the meal I put together shows, the dining hall had yams and Turkey Panini, which are pretty healthy too. Yams are great starches good for added protein and carbs.

Though it can be difficult to make sense of the foods around you, it can be pretty simply to put together a nourishing and healthy meal with a portion of the fast carbohydrates that actually tastes good too. This is a better alternative to chugging down a green shake for nutrients in my opinion.