alison_in_oh

I guess the thing is, with my current outlook on nutrition and health, I wouldn't put myself in a position where I chose between brown lettuce and greasy pizza. If that was literally all there was in the dining service I'd throw a fuss. Now, if the complaint is that the daily "kitchen sink" soup (the stuff that they used to put in that pot, LOL!) is bland and you'd rather have the cheeseburger, well, sometimes eating what your body needs instead of what it wants takes a little willpower.

The OP said that because she lives in the dorms, she has NO choice about what she eats. The simple answer is, between the choices that SHOULD be available with your campus meal service, and a few healthful additions that you can take out of your music CD and microwave popcorn budget , it's hard to imagine a purely junky diet being necessary. In addition, diet and exercise have to work hand-in-hand to be effective in building health and/or burning fat and/or creating fitness. You are what you eat, you know. And as I find myself harping lately, a lifetime of health is built on the foundation you are laying right...now.

madprofessor100

I am pretty much in this situation.
(1)We have one kitchen which is shared by 60 people.
(2) I am on a mandatory freshmn meal plan, which entitles me to three meals a day. I already payed for this meal plan as part of tution (the meal plan cost $4000!).
(3) There is no way in hell I could cook 3 meals a day, unless they were along the lines of Ramen Noodles and Macoroni and Cheese. The time commitment necessary to do well academically hardly gives me time to eat three meals a day.
(4) true, I am not being forced to eat unhealthy food, but the only thing in the dining hall which I can say I honestly know where it came from is their vegetables (even with those, I'm not exactly sure I can say I know where they came from...). Trust me, there is a limit to how many bowls of wilted salad and questionable vegetables you can eat.
(5) And sorry, I can't afford to even buy a minifridge or a week's worth of groceries each week BECAUSE I SPENT ALL OF MY MONEY ON MY DAMN BIKE!

Obviously, I'm going to try and get out of this situation next year (and get a job this summer), but not everyone has the luxury of chooosing what they eat everyday. Part of the problem I have is not being able to prepare healthy snacks during the day, which would really help me control how much of the dining hall food I have to put up with it. Seriously, I think my situation is a toned down scenerio of those who end up eating McDonald's everyday because it's cheap, and they don't have time to prepare/money to preapre proper meals.

cheebahmunkey

I'm not saying that I, or anyone, should eat unhealthy things provided by the dining services. I, in fact, don't eat anything I deem unhealthy. I'm just saying it's hard as a full time student to make time to cook for yourself. Whether it be going out with friends or studying your ass off, the time to cook something just doesn't present itself very often.