What I ate last semester as a junior in college was pretty inexcusable. The stress of colds, chemistry involving math proofs, and the LSAT made me gravitate toward whatever made its way quickest into my mouth toward the end of the semester. Healthy was the salad bowl on half-price Qdoba Mondays and the piece of avocado in my California chicken sandwich. My life-raft during the last two weeks before D-day was a plate of eggs risen from powder (cafeteria fare), a glass of orange juice, oatmeal, and Tums (for my stress) every morning. It was really bad. I had Odwalla with my dinner, though.
After recovering for three days at home and eating like a normal person, I decided that something about how I eat (and exercise regularly) has to change for good, especially since I'll be spending the semester abroad in Scotland and I'll have to readjust slightly in terms of my daily habits. I looked up the US government. No, not the CIA kids site. The Department of Agriculture at http://www.mypyramid.gov. Somehow, I missed the link that led you directly to the recommended portions (by age & sex) and the foods that would fulfill those portions. I missed it and went to the 1000+ page 2010 "Report of the Dietary Guidelines, Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans" [here]. I read through to the section on Fatty Acids and Cholesterol before I realized I was on Christmas break and was probably a lameface for reading through it for hours.
Nonetheless, worthwhile. For, did you know that gin and tonic or a Cosmo or a martini will add up to approximately 150 calories per serving, but a pina colada will be around 450 calories? This chart's toward the end of the Energy Balance and Weight Management section. And avoiding "solid fats" means avoiding things like pizza? Picturing pizza as a stick of butter deters me from craving it. Even the baked ziti Long Island type--that's refined grains on top of solid fat mixed with added sugar on top of more refined grains.
Lessons learned: more fruits and veggies, less refined grains. If I'm having a hard time getting fresh fruits and vegetables in my dorm every day, because the nearest supermarket is always a mile plus distance away from me, then it's safe to say it becomes a problem when there are Pop-eyes and pizza places on every block, but there are only two supermarkets on the main road over the course of ten miles in many urban areas.
