ABBEY STELL
Staff Writer
Many students grow weary of the struggle to eat healthy and maintain or lose weight on a college campus. While strong efforts are made at Pepperdine to provide healthy eating, some still feel the cafeteria doesn’t fit their needs or desires.
So what is some good sense one can use when trying to form healthy eating habits, especially when living on campus with just a microwave and a mini refrigerator?
Many would agree that sticking to the basics is best: lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean meats.
A few Pepperdine students are offering their own advice on what they think is important in keeping a healthy diet, and what they have resolved to accomplish this year with their eating habits.
Junior Heather Bruce, said she is trying to eat six ounces of meat per day.
“I also try to avoid foods that are high in bad carbs and empty calories,” she said.
Senior Kayla Godwin, who lives in a freshman dorm, says she eats a lot of salad, fresh fruit, instant oatmeal and cereal.
Godwin recommends always baking food rather than frying it, but if one must, always fry things in olive oil, never other cooking oils, and especially not butter. Susan Helm, a Pepperdine nutrition professor, has a few basic principles to stick to regarding food choices. She says to “include a variety of food over a two to three-day period (fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats, oils)” and to “avoid packaged foods (too much salt and preservatives…and most likely calories).”
Helm says to pay attention to “portion” versus “serving” sizes.
“The portion size is used for the Nutrition Facts Label, while the serving size is from the Food Guide Pyramid and is used to determine the amount of food to consume,” she said. “The portion size served at restaurants usually has three to four times your actual serving size.”
Junior Dane Benham also emphasizes portion control and exercise. He believes most people, especially in the United States do not eat as healthy as possible. He attributes that mainly to a “lack of will power.”
“I went to Europe and saw maybe one person who was overweight,” Benham said. “Everyone is more active there; they just live a different lifestyle. I found that interesting.”
01-24-2008
