Baldwin: some say a trap of unhealthy, unappetizing food; others say it’s the highlight of their day. Love it or hate it, everyone has dealt with it. The best way to avoid the freshman 15 (or possibly the sophomore 20) is follow my advice.
Why me? Mostly because I was raised by health-freaks. Like, the literal workout six-days-a-week-and-go-home-and-have-protein-powder kind. And well, my dad is a dentist, so as you can imagine that adds to it – a lot. I was raised without pop, sugary cereal, Gatorade, juices with added sugar, hard candy, soft candy, white bread, fried food, fast food – I think you get the picture.
So here is some solid advice to keep up your health. Let’s start with the one meal that no one skips: dinner.
First, take a peak at what Baldwin has to offer and make the best choice out of it. We’ll look at Sunday’s menu. Both the pasta bar was open and the famous mac and cheese was offered. Either one of those meals is pretty good, but absolutely packed with carbs. A healthy student needs protein to make them more full, so I chose the lemon-pepper chicken breast (with the skin off it’s much healthier than food like chicken nuggets). Next up was a side dish. It’s okay to have carbs in here; a roll or biscuit works nicely and fills you up. Rice was offered and though it doesn’t taste like much, it’s excellent roughage for your system. If you really want to know what roughage is, Google it. All I say is that you need to make things… easier.
Now let’s draw your eye to the fruit. Yes, fruit. You need it, so start loving it in doses of 3 to 5 pieces a day. Sometimes the produce standing out doesn’t look the best, but I’ve noticed the fruit served by the salad bar typically looks pretty good.
Speaking of the salad bar, let’s talk about the greens. Try to focus on spinach instead of the iceberg lettuce. Iceberg lettuce has extremely low nutritional value while spinach is chock full of vitamins and minerals every healthy student needs. The trick with salads is actually the dressing, that’s where the calories add up. Try using lemon juice – it’s way lower in calories and fat than any conventional dressing.
The final thing on the menu is your drink. This is where you say no to pop (especially Mountain Dew and Coke, they are by far the worst for tooth decay). I usually get one of the juices available or lemonade, and I take 50% water and 50% juice. I promise you the flavor is still there, just in a less intense, less sugary form. Grape juice contains roughly around 160 calories for only eight ounces. Watering it down is a great way to cut calories.
Chicken breast – 86 calories
Rice (1/2) cup – 121 calories (don’t worry about the calorie count, it’s good carbs, unprocessed)
Grapes – 53 calories
Salad – (estimate) 45 calories
Juice – 80 calories
Total – 385 calories
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