Eating Healthy in a Dorm Room

I can't stress how important it is to eat healthy.  Lifting weights causes small tears in your muscles.  Your body responds to these tears by building new muscle tissue and repairing the small tears.  However, to build this new muscle tissue, your body needs the right building blocks.  These building blocks come from the food you eat.

I am currently a senior in college and have spent much of my time living in dorm rooms without stoves.  However, I still found ways to avoid eating Ramen Noodles every night.  If you are in college, you must take advantage of your local dining hall.  Most dining halls will serve healthy food options.  For dinner you should be able to eat grilled chicken or steak as your main protein source.  Dining Halls often serve whole wheat bread as an alternative to the more fattening white bread.  Also look for things like brown rice, whole wheat pasta, peanut butter, greek yogurt, fruit, and salads.

If you want to keep snacks in your room, try to eat more healthy options such as trail mix and nuts.  Oatmeal is a great option for a healthy snack as you can make it right in the microwave.  Try to avoid keeping any typical college snacks like chips as they often contain way too much sodium and fat.  If you have to have snacks like that pretzels are your best option.

It is also important to make sure you eat at least 3 meals a day, if not more (5 is ideal).  It should be easy to make it to the dining hall a few times in between classes but breakfast is definitely the hardest meal.  Your best bet will probably be to keep some healthy cereals (Special K, Chex) in your room along with some fruit.  It may not be an ideal breakfast but its impossible to cook eggs every morning when you don't have a stove.