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How to eat
lyrium
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I’m a 19 year old female who has always been very skinny. ‘Skinny’ as in, the BMI scale says I’m underweight (5’9.5â€, 115 pounds at heaviest) and I kind of look like a bag of bones. This is my natural body type and the way that I have always been, but I’m a little worried that I have lost a little weight since coming to college (as opposed to gaining weight like a lot of people I know). The reasons behind this aren’t very perplexing: 1) before I came to school I rarely did any sort of exercise, and I now exercise regularly, and 2) I ate a lot more back at home.
The exercise isn’t something I really want to change if possible. I’m not over doing it; it’s not as if I’m obsessively at the gym for hours every day. I bike/walk to and from classes and I go to a martial arts class (which includes an hour of exercise before an hour of training) three times a week. It’s something fun that I like to do, and I’m sure getting some sort of exercise has got to be better for the body then none at all, right? I didn’t exercise back at home though, so I recognize that I’m going to need to be consuming more calories each day now to compensate. This is where the issue lies.
I’ve never been able to sit down and pack away a huge meal all at once, but when I was at home I could eat small amounts continuously throughout the day. It’s sort of comical almost, because I will be so full that I can’t possibly finish my sandwich or whatever at a meal, but then I’ll want food again in a short amount of time. Anyway, since I’ve come to college, I’ve had to live the meal-plan way, which is the complete opposite of how I normally ate. I can only go and eat when I manage to be free at the same time as a meal, and then when I get there I don’t have the sort of appetite that makes someone want to sit down and eat a whole bunch of food. So I eat what I can, but then after I go back to my room I’m hungry again later. I don’t have food in my room because I don’t really have the money to go out and buy a bunch of groceries when I’m supposed to be eating off of the meal plan I paid for. So without food in my room or a constantly open cafeteria, a lot of the time when I’m hungry I just can’t eat. (I realize that a seemingly obvious solution is to ditch the meal plan and just buy groceries, but as someone living in the dorms I’m required to also purchase the meal plan, of which I chose the smallest one available and I still don’t use all of my allotted meals due to inconvenient timing).
Also, when I’m at the meals in the cafeteria, I’m not eating calorie-heavy foods. I ]rarely eat meat, and the exact same pizza/nachos/French fries offered every day started to seem gross to me pretty early into the year. So when I go and eat I typically get a plate full of vegetables, some yogurt, maybe a hard-boiled egg, and some bread/a PB&J/soup/a little spaghetti depending on what I feel like eating, and a couple of cookies. I like eating healthy things, and I don’t think the answer is to put nasty food into my body, but I guess I’m just worried that by not eating the gross stuff, I’m not eating enough.
So basically, I’m asking: how is the best way for me to be eating given my situation to gain/stay at a healthy weight?
The exercise isn’t something I really want to change if possible. I’m not over doing it; it’s not as if I’m obsessively at the gym for hours every day. I bike/walk to and from classes and I go to a martial arts class (which includes an hour of exercise before an hour of training) three times a week. It’s something fun that I like to do, and I’m sure getting some sort of exercise has got to be better for the body then none at all, right? I didn’t exercise back at home though, so I recognize that I’m going to need to be consuming more calories each day now to compensate. This is where the issue lies.
I’ve never been able to sit down and pack away a huge meal all at once, but when I was at home I could eat small amounts continuously throughout the day. It’s sort of comical almost, because I will be so full that I can’t possibly finish my sandwich or whatever at a meal, but then I’ll want food again in a short amount of time. Anyway, since I’ve come to college, I’ve had to live the meal-plan way, which is the complete opposite of how I normally ate. I can only go and eat when I manage to be free at the same time as a meal, and then when I get there I don’t have the sort of appetite that makes someone want to sit down and eat a whole bunch of food. So I eat what I can, but then after I go back to my room I’m hungry again later. I don’t have food in my room because I don’t really have the money to go out and buy a bunch of groceries when I’m supposed to be eating off of the meal plan I paid for. So without food in my room or a constantly open cafeteria, a lot of the time when I’m hungry I just can’t eat. (I realize that a seemingly obvious solution is to ditch the meal plan and just buy groceries, but as someone living in the dorms I’m required to also purchase the meal plan, of which I chose the smallest one available and I still don’t use all of my allotted meals due to inconvenient timing).
Also, when I’m at the meals in the cafeteria, I’m not eating calorie-heavy foods. I ]rarely eat meat, and the exact same pizza/nachos/French fries offered every day started to seem gross to me pretty early into the year. So when I go and eat I typically get a plate full of vegetables, some yogurt, maybe a hard-boiled egg, and some bread/a PB&J/soup/a little spaghetti depending on what I feel like eating, and a couple of cookies. I like eating healthy things, and I don’t think the answer is to put nasty food into my body, but I guess I’m just worried that by not eating the gross stuff, I’m not eating enough.
So basically, I’m asking: how is the best way for me to be eating given my situation to gain/stay at a healthy weight?
lyrium on
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Eat healthy.
Exercise plenty.
It's funny really, the cure for being a skinny person is the same for being a fat person.
I'm not a nutritionist, but my advice would be to stock up on high-protein, calorie-dense foods during your cafeteria meals, and snack on healthy stuff throughout the day. Are you allowed to take food out of the cafeteria with you? If so, when you go for breakfast in the morning, chow down a bowl of oatmeal and a couple of hard-boiled eggs, then grab a bagel and some fruit to take with you to eat whenever you get hungry again. For lunch, same thing: eat chicken or pasta or a stir-fry at the cafeteria, then load some veggies into a ziploc bag for later.
If you aren't allowed to take food with you, you're pretty much going to have to supplement your meal plan with groceries on the side. Buy things like bananas or oranges that don't need to be refrigerated. Granola bars or dry cereal can be great, too, especially if you go for the healthier stuff like Kashi. Nuts are another excellent source of between-meals fuel: a big bag of almonds is cheap and will last you forever. For something a bit more substantial, get a loaf of distressingly hearty multigrain bread, and slather some peanut butter on it.
The key is to use your meal plan for things that are expensive or impossible for you to store or difficult to cook (like meat), and keep your additional groceries as light as possible.
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The best way to treat IBS is lifestyle changes, the first of which is almost always "eat smaller portions." :P
That said, it sounds to me like she just has a small stomach.
lyrium, do you feel tired or lethargic at any point during the day? Are you particularly sleepy? Have you had an increase in illness recently?
I'm a dude who was skinny in high school, and my mom once had me ask the doc when I went in for my physical and some shots. So I asked him, and he told me "Tell your mom I said you're fine; all I see all day are fat kids!" So I told her.
If your body isn't telling you that something is wrong, then you're probably eating fine. Yes, you probably need to eat more, especially since you're rather tall for a woman, but unless you're displaying some sort of symptom -- headaches, missed periods, illness, tiredness -- you probably don't need to worry about your actual nutrition. You just need to eat a little more or perhaps more frequently.
It does sound like you're missing out on proteins, though, and if you rarely eat meat you should find some alternative, such as beans or whatever. If you fall on snacking as the way to stave off hunger, you're going to end up "skinny fat," as in you weigh little but the mass you do have is just flabby from only eating snacky carbs all day. The exercise is good, of course, but if you're not eating in order to build up some muscle, you'll probably just end up burning off calories.
When you're not limited to a meal plan, what do you like to eat?
That is really not necessarily true. I am the first person in line to reject taking a medication in favor a lifestyle change but, having IBS, I was suffering, to the point where I couldn't eat half a sandwich without feeling ill sometimes, and my weight and height were pretty much what the OP's is. Which is why I formed the connection. I mean, sure eating right is certainly helpful, but, you know, it is a problem that is sometimes tricky to avoid.
The standard prescription for IBS is pretty tame.
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Even if you're not technically allowed to take stuff out of the cafeteria, start sneaking food out. It's not like you're eating a shitload, then sneaking a whole lot out just so you can overeat on the basis of one meal; it might technically be against the rules, but it's certainly not anything unethical.
Sure sure. If the OP had complained more of digestive discomfort and less of just not having an appetite for large portions, I wouldn't have argued with you. But it sounds to me (and I do so love playing the, "this is what I'm reading between the lines" game) like she just has an unusually scattered appetite.
I see it this way. We were paying like, $6-8/meal, and definitely weren't eating that much. If you feel guilty about taking stuff, do the math and figure out how much you are paying. I doubt you're eating that much.
Other than that, is there any sort of "to go" type place there? You can always do that and just eat a salad or a sandwich, but you'll have both of them in your room.
Yes, the case is that we aren't allowed to take anything but one piece of fruit or a cookie out of the cafeteria (I grab the fruit). Earlier in the year people were trying to sneak out loaves of bread and things so they put in cameras, though it's possible that doesn't actually guarantee any consequences. I agree, too, that since I'm paying the same for my meal time as the person who eats two double cheeseburgers and three slices of pizza and plates full of fries and chicken... I don't think I'd feel bad if I started trying to sneak out some eggs or kiwis or something.
To answer Jasconius- I looked up IBS and I don't have chronic abdominal pain or anything like that, I just get full very quickly at meals. I think the small stomach/scattered appetite is the right explanation.
Thanks again for all of the advice, guys!
facebook.com/LauraCatherwoodArt
Actual the first is cut back on dairy and red meat, then cross your fingers. Then it's make sure you're getting enough fiber and cutting back on caffeine. It doesn't sound like the OP has IBS though, you know when you have IBS. Upset stomach is understating it just a wee bit.
OP is you have a minifridge fill it with fresh vegetables you like to eat raw and don't be afraid to snack. You can do the same with granola or nuts too. This way you're eating more and snacking but not on crap.
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At any rate, I know they have nutritionists you can visit here and all it costs is the $10 copay which is very reasonable. If your school has similar services, they can probably give you very specific advice about how to eat on campus.
If you have a friend with a club card to Sams or Costco, get them to buy you a gigantic tub of peanuts or cashews. Those things keep forever. When it comes to being a sneaky ninja type trying to get away with food, I don't think if they caught you there would even be a confrontation.
"Oh, I just got a call and have to go, I didn't get to eat a thing!"
"I'm sorry, you can't take food out."
"Oh, okay then... I just didn't want to waste it."
They're not going to track down and kill your childhood friends. As long as you don't hop the counter and run off with a tub of meat or something, I doubt they care if you take an extra pear or a spoon of yogurt.
I'm not saying that you have a medical condition, or at least something that's diagnosable as anything, probably, but "small stomach," but yeah, bring it up with the school if you're not feeling any other symptoms other than "hunger."
You could overeat in order to stretch your stomach, but I don't think it's a good idea. As an example, when I was in high school, I could eat a lot -- but didn't snack much either, so i didn't gain weight from it. For example, in my first semester of college I lived at home and, often before class, I would stop by McDonalds and get a double quarter pounder with cheese and a large fry, and I would eat the entire thing on the drive in to school. I was full, sure, but it wasn't that big a deal. After I moved up to campus, though, I cooked for myself, and I ended up eating pretty lousy for a year or so -- usually some fancy Lipton Noodle packets. That was my dinner, w/o any meat or anything mixed in. Not my every meal, of course, but often I would not eat anything until like 10-11pm, realize that I was really starving, and would cook something light like some cheesy noodles.
After I got a girlfriend and started cooking some actual meals more frequently, I soon realized that I couldn't eat nearly as much as I used to be able to -- my stomach had shrank. It's stayed small, too -- now I can barely finish off a Whopper, let alone a small order of fries.
So you can definitely go the other direction, too, but I don't know if you'd gain much. Most people still end up hungry after 4-5 hours, regardless of whether they put away 7oz food or 17oz
Above all. If you think you are healthy apart from your weight you probably are...
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The most amazing candybar ever, it is true. You may be able to find large bags of them at Walgreens for like $4 or $5.
This is probably really terrible advice, but it doesn't sound like you're unhealthy, it just seems like you find yourself in situations where you're inconveniently hungry.
You may also want to just talk to your Resident Head/authority figure at your dorm. This might be a common problem and they could have an easy solution on hand.
aha.
My observation is that a lot of people probably aren't taking fruit/dessert out and would be happy to grab and donate something to you for later consumption.
I recommend off campus housing because, 9 times out of 10, if you live in the dorm you're "required" to have a meal plan.
You said you are on the smallest meal plan? What does that consist of? 5 meals a week? 10? You said you're not able to even use them all because of "inconvenient timing," which says to me "I care about being underweight and hungry but not enough to do anything about it." When is your dining hall open? Ours was open for 2+ hours every meal, it was pretty hard to schedule classes over everything.
Do you go to breakfast? You should go to breakfast. Breakfast is reliably the best thing in any college cafeteria. You can have something for breakfast and probably your cafeteria also has toast or bagels which are really easy to take out with you without being noticed - wrap it in a napkin and stick it in your bag or a pocket. The "no taking out food" rule is at almost every college, because they don't want you trucking stuff out to feed people who are not on the meal plan.
The college I went to had specific times for each meal plan. So most likely the meal plan is some asinine off hour time.
Besides being a good supplementary source of Protein and Fibre, less than 15% of the fat content is the "Saturated" or bad type. They also contain small amounts of Iron and Calcium, as well as a chemical called resveratol, which is linked to reduced cancer and cardiovascular disease and increases in athletic performance.
Mine too. I had no troubles gaining the freshman 15 and then some, but it was almost impossible to make it for lunch some days.
Yes, as everyone has suggested I will start to take out more food. I can definitely try to keep peanuts and candy on hand, too
It's not that I think I'm unhealthy, I just don't want to become unhealthy to begin with, and I noticed my already tiny self becoming tinier and my eating habits not seeming sufficient.
Once again, I appreciate all of the advice.
facebook.com/LauraCatherwoodArt
Now I live in an apt. that is a lot cheaper than the dorms (dorms also require a meal plan here), I get to cook my own food, and I'm not wasting money on a stupid meal plan. Move out if it's an option for you.
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