College Students

[minervan12]

How do you college students eat low carb?

[Elihnig]

I'm not a college student anymore, but I well remember the setup at the cafeteria. If I had been low carbing then (I wish I had known of it, it would have saved a lot of money on slim-fast or starve-fast as I called it) I know just how I would have done it.

Breakfast, there was always eggs, cooked any way you wanted, sometimes there was bacon or sausage too. On Sundays there was brunch and you could request what kind of omelett you wanted.

Lunch there was always the salad bar and the hamburger grill.
Also the deli would make you a sandwhich upon request, maybe ask for no bread.

Supper, just take the meat and the veggies and use the salad bar.

Water...I don't recall any water dispenser then, but then I didn't drink any water while in college. But, when I went to a conference at a local college, there was a water machine that would give you hot or cold water.

That's how I would low carb if I was still in college, the only time it wouldn't work was on choices of pasta night, even then I suppose you could scarf some meatballs.

Elihnig

P. S. Our cafeteria was ARA Mark.

[minervan12]

Yup, that is pretty much how I have been doing it this semester. The problem at my school is that we rarely get meat...like real meat. There is a high population of vegetarians and vegans at my school...so frequently the main dish is something like...vegan manicotti...(yuck!!) Meals can be quite disgusting sometimes...lol. I was just looking for more college students and how they personally eat at their schools. I really want to know how students get by at parties...and drinking.

[Susan19]

Hey,
I don't know if anyone's reading this anymore, but here are my two cents.
I just remembered that my dining services in college had a nutritionist available and if you had special dietary needs, all you had to do was meet with her and they would make arrangements with the cafeteria. I remember them being pretty accomodating with all the vegans, kosher, low-sodium, whatever people, so maybe you could see if your school has something similar? I'd bet they do.
Good luck!
Susan

[Mags]

Starting this forum is a great idea because low-carbing as a student/teen who doesn't buy their own food is not easy. Like
minervan12, I'd love to hear about how students are dealing with parties and drinking. I'm fine when I'm on my own but parties and other social situations where you can't control the drinks and food that are served are pretty challenging. Any suggestions?

[beatles]

I'm still in the induction phase, day 11 now. But on day 9 I went out and cheated with 3 glasses of red wine (technically not that bad!). unfortunately I got drunk by then (we get drunk much more easily during the induction phase) so I lost judgement and ate 3 chicken fingers! (you know, breaded!) earlier on the same day I already consumed 9 grams of carbs when I ate half a jar of macadamia nuts.

Please share your success stories on how you handle social events in which everyone else is drinking!

thanks! :wave:

[Erin4980]

There is another thread in this forum that discusses the alcohol situation (not the Parties etc thread). Anyway, when I drink (usually once or twice a week), I have Diet coke and vodka at the bars and red wine at dinner...it's been fine and the Dc and Vodka are not nearly as bad as it sounds. If I drink at home, sometimes I have Dietrite and Vodka....ummmmm so good.

Erin

[Fattiegirl]

Hey! I just wanted to put in my two cents about being a college student and Lcing and goin out and all...

Perhaps Protein Power is a slightly less strict plan than Adkins, but anyways I have found that its okay sometimes to have chicken fingers or a tiny bit of sauce that comes on the meat in the caf.

At first I was really paranoid about carbs being hidden in the cafeteria foods but now I just try to make the best choices I can... it's also true that I am losing rather slowly now. But I guess I am just not quite as obsessed because most of my smallest clothes fit and Im not gaining!

Another thing about the drinking.... I try to drink miller lite when I do drink. But I have found that it's okay sometimes to drink regular lite beer and honestly my biggest weakness is Kahlua and cream which Im quite sure has a fair amount of carbs.

But anyways, my point is that I think once your body gets adjusted you can mess up a tiny bit sometimes and your carb count still ends up pretty low!!

[Fattiegirl]

Hey! I just wanted to put in my two cents about being a college student and Lcing and goin out and all...

Perhaps Protein Power is a slightly less strict plan than Adkins, but anyways I have found that its okay sometimes to have chicken fingers or a tiny bit of sauce that comes on the meat in the caf.

At first I was really paranoid about carbs being hidden in the cafeteria foods but now I just try to make the best choices I can... it's also true that I am losing rather slowly now. But I guess I am just not quite as obsessed because most of my smallest clothes fit and Im not gaining!

Another thing about the drinking.... I try to drink miller lite when I do drink. But I have found that it's okay sometimes to drink regular lite beer and honestly my biggest weakness is Kahlua and cream which Im quite sure has a fair amount of carbs.

But anyways, my point is that I think once your body gets adjusted you can mess up a tiny bit sometimes and your carb count still ends up pretty low!!

[Fattiegirl]

Hey! I just wanted to put in my two cents about being a college student and Lcing and goin out and all...

Perhaps Protein Power is a slightly less strict plan than Adkins, but anyways I have found that its okay sometimes to have chicken fingers or a tiny bit of sauce that comes on the meat in the caf.

At first I was really paranoid about carbs being hidden in the cafeteria foods but now I just try to make the best choices I can... it's also true that I am losing rather slowly now. But I guess I am just not quite as obsessed because most of my smallest clothes fit and Im not gaining!

Another thing about the drinking.... I try to drink miller lite when I do drink. But I have found that it's okay sometimes to drink regular lite beer and honestly my biggest weakness is Kahlua and cream which Im quite sure has a fair amount of carbs.

But anyways, my point is that I think once your body gets adjusted you can mess up a tiny bit sometimes and your carb count still ends up pretty low!!

[Toby]

I used to be a student and you might not go as far as I did. But I prepare all my meals in advance. As I eat every 2.5h I only cook twice a week so all me meals are cooked for the next three of four days.
each meal I then know how much protein/carbs/fat there is.
If your serious about looking good, then its a small price to pay.
if you are Trying to follow a diet while eating out then you stand no chance of acheiving all your goals.

Preparation is the key to success.
During my studies I told the staff I had a medical condition where I had to eat every 3 hours and they were quite happy to help accomodate me by providing a fridge and microwave.
nothing is impossible it only is if you say it is!

[BeccaSue]

Drinking, yes...this is only like my fourth day and last night when I went out, I drank water. How miserable! So are we all sure that vodka is safe? Cause I thought all alcohol is bad. How is everone's weight loss progressing? I'm hoping to see some serious changes in my body, but haven't as of yet. Good luck to everyone!

[Erin4980]

There's an up side to things like vodka, but there;s a down side too...

THERE ARE NO CARBS IN VODKA...however your body burns the cals from the Vodka first....

Our body finds it's fuel in three major ways....first CARBs, then ALCOHOL, and finally FAT...

So if you drink you're going to burn the booze first, then go back to FAT.

Hope that helps. I've lost thirty pounds in 5 months and I drink about once a week - I have never had a problem until recently (my hangover are making me crave carbs the next day).

E

[kanne140]

I noticed several of you said you were on protein power and not atkins... is there a big difference? seems as if they allow you to have a few more carbs during the induction phase, but other than that are there major differences?

college student .... I need to lose weight! damn me.
:wave: kristin

[cjcbabydol]

Hi..I am in college and I like to drink Michelob Ultra Beer w/ 2.6 grams of carbs per bottle. :o I dont think that bad to have once a week..(I dont drink all that much)

[OzzyBabe88]

I think it can be kinda hard at collge to go LC with everyone always ordering pizza, getting McD's and Taco Bell and all the parties but what I do is cook my food and freeze it for use later. I make chicken breats, hamburgers, eggs, eggs, and more eggs and my dad got a deer this hunting season so I have been eating venizon too. I found it saves me $ by not ordering food, and when I do drink which is like once a weekend I go for Michelob Ultra at the bar. I don't eat at the cafeteria here, we all call is Scurvo because if you eat in there you get scurvy, nasty nasty food!

[Lux]

Oh my goodness, based on most of your stats, your start weight is my goal weight! Well, that's alright, I suppose. Anyway, I'm a college student, but I don't eat at a dining hall that often. I just started, but I had food in the refrigerator that would have been very tempting, so I got rid of all the food that was bad for me (and gave it to my boyfriend). We'll see how that works. I just have to make sure I behave myself at the supermarket - then I'll have no choice but to eat healthily. Well, back to homework for me.

[LizzyKitty]

I have three main hint/topics:
A.) Get a minifridge.
B.) Cultivate a lunchlady (or 2, or 3)
C.) Find a friend who will let you borrow his or her kitchen (like my splendiferous friend Heather, also on Atkins - you go girl!)

A.) The Fridge: Cheese, lunch meat, cream, some prepackaged precooked regular meats, diet caffine free soda, and yet again, cheese... all these things need or want refridgeration, and are no or very very very low carb, and require little to no prep time, and no oven or stove.
Besides refridgerated foods, Hormel canned meats (ham, turkey, chicken) are all 0 carb. Tuna and salmon are also 0 carb, if you can take 'em by themselves, and mayo and dill relish don't add many carbs. Check the canned meat section of your local grocery store, you might be suprised.

B.) Lunchladies: These wonderful people cook for you every day, and if you treat them like people, they'll do the same to you. Even though she's not 'supposed to', one of the ladies at my cafateria will routinly give me a "double hamburger with cheese and no bun." She also said she would not put barbeque sause on one serving of ribs for me, since I can't have it because of the sugar. All this because I've taken time to find out about her granddaughter (middle school, plays Basket ball) her pets (2 cats) and various stuff like that.

C.) A Friend's Kitchen: Sometimes you get tired of cold cuts and cheese. Sometimes you want a real meal, served on a real plate, and not just a couple of hamburger patties from the cafateria. This is when you must say thank-you, thank-you to friends who allow you to come into their houses and use their kitchens. If you have a friend like this, always make sure to clean up after yourself, and spend time with the friend, not just his or her kitchen. Cooking is fun, but life in the dorm can keep you from it.

Hints from the trenches (2 more semesters 'till graduation)

[sarabeth]

Well, I'm a freshman in college and I usually have the same routine...wake up, cook sausage and eggs or something the like, pack my lunch which consists of salad with some kind of meat in it with sugar free jello and a bottle of water from the machine (I eat it between classes), and have what my mom fixes for dinner. It's really not hard to maintain.....as for exercise, there is an indoor track at my school, so I walk around there for a little while and voila, there's my exercise, or if I don't have time to walka round the track, I let my dog take me on a walk (yes I typed that right....he's a huge dog). So it's not hard, just a slight adjustment.

[hjackson]

Sarabeth, it sounds like you are commuting from home to college...

many college students, perhaps even MOST college students don't have Mom's kitchen or their dog to help them on their journey. My friend, Liz, for instance, lives in a dorm. She's allowed a teeny weeny fridge, and there are communal microwaves and toasters available on every floor. (I think there's a toaster on each floor...Liz?). She's required to be on a meal plan with a minimum of 10 meals a week in the cafeteria. She lives some 150-200 miles from her parent's kitchen and pets (neither of which is a huge dog). The challenge for students like Liz, then is trying to find a way to eat LC without easy access to big fridges, stove/ovens, or large amounts of cash. Then they have to also look at the challenge of hanging out with others and finding what to eat/drink when she's out with friends who are eating tons of pizza, brownies, etc.

It's a challenge...even for those of us who do live in a house, who DO have big fridges (and a seperate freezer), but those in dorms have special challenges.

[2am6]

Hey now!!! I almost died when I saw all this!! A student forum! I'm a student and I eat low carb. I'm lving in Canada right now and am on a program I do not recommend. It's called Dr. Bernstien. Another time I'll explain the story. Anyway, I got a note from my doctor there explaining what foods I could/ could not eat, and now they make all my food for me. I'm not sure how your cafs work in the states, but in Canada, if you live in res you generally have to eat whats in the caf. Meh...so thank god that worked out for me. Anywho...yeah..LCing is so hard to do in University . Especially when it comes to the drinking part, and everyone is drinking. What a pain in the ass.
Anyway..good luck guys!
:)

[Tex04]

Well I really don't drink alot, and so that has not been too much of a problem for me. I have diet coke and vanilla vodka. Tastes just like diet vanilla coke! I am usually the designated driver though, so its not usual for me to drink.

My biggest challege has been learning to eat LC while eating OUT. My BF and I eat out all the TIME. He loves Whataburger, Sonic, Hotwings... etc. I just order a double bacon cheese burger no katchup and ditch the buns. Plus alot of fast food places are starting to offer salads. Look online for the nutritional info though, some of them are SHOCKING. Wendy's Chicken BLT with ranch and no tomatoes is about 7g of carbs and very very filling. Its my favorite fast food meal.

For me it is all about compromise. I am not always in control of my food surroundings, and my choices are limited. I make deals with myself and plan my cheats so that I am in control not the food!

[Battousai]

Sometimes you have to realize what you want in life, if being healthy is one of those goals then sacrafice the alcohol and pizza! Try getting a whiteboard and write your goals for the day. It's a good way to remind you and keep you focused. Some people would argue that they would rather have a good time then staying loyal to the diet. Remember there will always be another party. Who says your not having a good time building your new body! :yay:

[tsphilli]

Just about the drinking - I drink vodka water. So many people cringe, but if you have motivation to drinking it (ie. Low Carb), you get used to it. It's a nice light drink, and sounds way worse than it is,e specially with a lemon or lime in it. It also keeps you hydrated more than if you're drinknig pop and liquor.

And I'm assuming everyone has already heard of the low-carb cooler, "Light Source", a variation of Pur Source, a vodka-tonic-esque cooler. But it's sweetened with Aspartame - but that's better than sugar.

Just my thoughts...