Meeting September 8th, 2021
This meeting we met with CHAW representative Rose Rezai to discuss health and wellness while in college. Throughout her presentation she highlighted how to navigate dining halls, meal prepping, and exercising to make being healthy easy.
Nutrition and Dining Halls
To start off her presentation, Rose discusses how to stay healthy while also managing dining halls. She begins by highlighting the importance of not skipping meals, as it can slow your metabolism and cause long term effects. She also mentions having a “colorful plate” (vegetables, fruit, carbs) and to consistently snack and drink water. If you have a dining plan, she states to pay attention to hunger cues and not just eat based on time. If you’re not hungry but still want to use your dining plan, consider taking a to-go box instead. Also, getting creative with your meal can help make eating at the hall enjoyable. Buying spices or reforming your meal can help keep things interesting.
Meal prep
Eating healthy in college can be hard, especially when you’re constantly on the go. To help assist that, Rose suggests meal prepping a couple days in advance to make sure you’re getting full nutrients.
Her steps include:
Looking ahead. Plan your meals and create your list of appropriate ingredients/servings.
Go shopping. Make sure to eat before and to stick to the list!
Prep your food for the week. Wash/Cut produce immediately. Have your food at eye level in the fridge so you’re more prone to grab them.
Adding a seasonal menu to your meal preps can elevate them to a new experience. This includes using vegetables when they’re in season, or eating hotter foods when it's cold outside (and vice versa for summer).
Exercise
Lastly, Rose discussed exercising while in college. She pushes the idea that exercise isn’t necessarily lifting weights at the gym, but can be walking around campus, doing yoga with your friends, or swimming in the pool. Get your body moving with something you’re comfortable doing, and HAVE FUN! Don’t worry about calories or how you look, as exercise is to help your body and your mind.
Thank you Rose Rezai for coming out and teaching us about health & wellness!
Check out the Savy Seminole Cookbook that CHAW shares!