Eating healthy at college is an extremely difficult thing to do. If you live off campus, healthy, organic foods are often way too expensive, and 4 boxes of Mac And Cheese for a dollar seems like a much better option. If you're living on campus, there is constantly pizza and amazing desserts set out that you can never say no too. Besides the difficulty of eating healthy as a college student, here are a few other reasons why trying to eat clean is just so frustrating.
1. It seems like nothing is healthy.
Although I'm not super interested in learning all about nutrition, I do try to look up online what foods are healthy. I always see Instagram photos of "30 Day Challenges" that has a long list of foods that I can't eat. This gets pretty annoying at times. First I would try to switch to whole grain bread, then websites would tell me not to eat bread at all because it's fattening, then I would eat a lot more fruit, then websites would tell me not to eat too much fruit because its sugary and will make you bloated, then I try healthier yogurt and cereal and websites will tell me to avoid them unless they're sugar free (and from experience, sugar free yogurt tastes like sour cream). That often leaves me in a situation where I feel as if I can't eat anything without eating something unhealthy, and it's very frustrating.
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2. Healthy meals take a lot of time and preparation.
College students are always busy, and rarely ever have time or resources to actually make themselves a meal for lunch and dinner. The problem is, the fastest and easiest foods to get ahold of are usually the worst foods for you. Sure, sometimes you can grab a salad (but see the next point below), but salads and fruit A. aren't always filling enough and B. can get old really fast. There are a lot of good and nutritious options out there but they often take a lot of time to prepare, which college students just do not have.
3. Healthy foods are not always filling.
Healthy foods are not filling in my opinion. At all. Salads are delicious, but I need a small side of pasta or bread in order to be full, and I don't even eat very much typically. Additionally, an apple or raspberries are never enough if I'm actually hungry and need a snack. Compared to bread, bagels, pizza and other heavier foods, the "healthy" options often leave me starving ten minutes after I'm done eating them.
4. Exercise typically makes a person hungrier, which forces them to reach for fattier options
Every time after I'm done exercising, I feel really good. But then a hour passes, and I am typically absolutely starving. This leads me to reach for mac and cheese, my favorite meal, which is really not a good option at all.
Overall, eating healthy is a huge struggle for me as well as other college students. To the people that are able to eat 100% clean, I don't know how you do it, but congratulations for being awesome.
