If you’re coming back to campus after four months at Mom and Dad’s, midnight runs to McDonald’s might be an impending reality. Here are some tips and tricks to get you started on building healthy eating habits for the year, without spending an entire paycheque at the grocery store.
- Sign up for loyalty rewards programs, like AirMiles or PC Points. A lot of people think that it takes too long to sign up or that it’s not worth the hassle, but if you save a few dollars for the couple of minutes it takes to sign up, you’ve probably made more money in that length of time than you would have at your job. Once you set it up, you can save money consistently throughout the year.
- Checkout 51 is an app for your phone that notifies you of weekly offers. Once you buy the item being offered at a store, you take a photo of your receipt and get cash back. The offers are usually pretty good and range from food, cosmetics, alcohol and cleaning products.
- Don’t give up on Mr. Noodles. Make it gourmet (and healthier) by adding eggs, soy sauce, veggies, chicken, or beef. It’ll taste better, keep you full longer, and still cost you almost nothing.
- If you go to the grocery store later at night or the day before a holiday (when the store will be closed) you’ll often find produce or bakery items at high discounts because they want to sell them before they go bad.
- Everyone knows that breakfast is the most important meal, but it’s hard to find time in the morning to make it. Smoothies are the best compromise. With a base of frozen fruit, yogurt, and milk or juice, they are the most customizable, healthy and cost-effective way of keeping you full until at least lunch. You can make it extra healthy and put in chia seeds, protein powder, coconut water, or Greek yogurt.
- Try making meals on the weekend, then freezing the leftovers to eat during the week. If you bring the still-frozen food to campus, you can let it dethaw until you get hungry. There are also microwaves available on campus to heat up leftovers—for example, there’s one next to the first floor Tim Hortons in the University Centre.
- Spend some time learning about the best way to make fresh food last longer. Some fruits and vegetables need to be kept in the fridge, but some don’t. Make sure to use up the ones with the shortest shelf life first.
- If you live with roommates, try sharing groceries like eggs, dairy products, fruits and veggies and other stuff you can’t finish by yourself before it goes bad. That way you don’t waste food and you save money at the same time.
- Frozen food is inevitable. There will be times when you’ll come back from class starving and the tastiest and quickest option will be a frozen pizza. Try to make it bit more wholesome by adding fresh veggies such as peppers, carrots, or cherry tomatoes and having fruit or yogurt for dessert instead of ice cream or candy.
The freshman 15 might seem inevitable, but it doesn’t have to be if you keep yourself on track. The newfound freedom of living on your own takes over the need for portion control and home cooked meals. The most important thing is to be happy and healthy and it’s definitely doable if you make healthy eating a priority instead of a preference.
For more on health and fitness, check out Anita Rayegani’s blog on exercise on-campus.
