<p>I will be a freshman living on campus this fall and the biggest thing by far that I'm concerned about in adjusting to college is the food. I stick to a pretty regimented diet and exercise program that includes lots of fresh veggies and fruit, lean sources of protein (mainly chicken and turkey breast, fish and egg whites), Greek yogurt, and limited amounts of starches, and when I do eat starches it's whole grains (brown rice, 100% whole wheat bread, oatmeal). I prepare this food using almost no added fats or sugars, and if I eat anything that's processed I make sure there's little or no additives (preservatives, etc.). Has anyone been successful in following a diet similar to this at UT and finding a variety of options while eating at places like J2, Cypress Bend, and JCL? Any suggestions for off-campus restaurants that would be appropriate for me?</p>
<p>I realize that it's only for a year, and not even a full year, and then I'll likely be in an apartment where I can cook and eat the way I'm accustomed to, but for my freshman year I'm commited to living in the dorm and also commited to continuing eating healthfully.</p>
<p>Part of growing up is adapting to your situation without a fuss.
Yes, your diet will not be as healthy because you do not have control over every aspect of the food chain from the quality of the proteins to the variety of foods available to you.
But you will not go hungry if you can relax your high standards and use your mealtimes as a way to socialize with friends and not a rant against food services and their attempts to ruin your health.
No one likes to listen to whiners and you will be dining alone on crappy dorm food if you can’t let it go.
BTW, what are you going to do when you visit overnight with friends’ families?
You will eat what they serve or will you be insufferable and demand special foods because of your self imposed rules?
Will you turn your nose up to ill prepared foods from a box or with canned ingredients?
Being a pleasant guest means adapting to the host family.
Not everyone over thinks their diet.
You are lucky your family can indulge and afford your high standards for food.</p>
<p>If you are this concerned about diet, I would say cooking for yourself is the best option (which isnt really possible i guess if your living in a dorm)</p>
<p>@austin4me, although dorm food might not exactly have choices that you would want, you still have control over what you eat. Don’t stress too much–it sounds like you’re pretty disciplined, so you know what you should and shouldn’t eat. As long as you don’t pick choices like pizza and fries too often (I’m sure you won’t), you should be fine. Best of luck in adjusting!</p>
<p>holy eff battlo, what’s your problem? the only whiner I see is you</p>
<p>@austin4me,
Unfortunately, I don’t think that any of the University food services can accommodate such a strict diet. In my experience, the cheaper cafeterias have offered more health-conscious food. However, most of the main dishes seem to use processed meats. Still, there are a good selection of vegetables (not fresh, though) and fruits (fresh).</p>
<p>Kin’s Market has a lot of fresh fruit, some vegetables, greek yogurt, and grilled chicken sandwiches. Kinsolving also has grilled meats pretty frequently - I’m sure there is a good chance that all the food there has preservatives and chemicals though. Most of the dorms do have kitchens, so maybe you could make large batches of food once a week to store in your freezer and heat up whenever you are hungry.</p>
<p>If you have family in Austin, you can preprepare a bunch of meals each weekend to store in your dorm room. There’s also a relatively new grocery store (it’s small) that I’m sure will have fruits and vegetables and oatmeal, or other healthy things that don’t require an oven.</p>
<p>The more I researched and thought about it, the more the idea of eating most of my food out of my dorm room appeals to me. I can keep fresh and frozen fruit and veggies, Greek yogurt, eggs and whole grain cereals and bread in the dorm fridge and supplement with grilled chicken and fish from J2 or JCL. However, I am thinking that I will probably need more fridge/freezer space than is available in the small microwave/fridge that is provided. Are there any UT policies that prohibit bringing in an additional mini-fridge to use in the dorm room?</p>
It’s one of the last things that’s listed as one of the appliances that you aren’t allowed to bring. </p>