At NSU, eating healthy can be quite difficult, as well as quite expensive. Most of the food options don’t offer readily available nutritional information to students and tend to charge high prices for items that appear to be healthy alternatives. So here are a few tips that will save you money and keep your waistline in check:
Watch out for Denny’s Fresh Express. They might offer some of the cheaper items at NSU, but the majority of them are excessively high in sodium, fat, and calories. Some of their meals carry as much as 1300 calories. If you do get something from Denny’s, get the Fit Slam (scrambled egg whites with spinach, tomatoes, plus two turkey bacon strips, an English muffin and a side of seasonal fruit). It will cost you 390 calories, but it has only 12 grams of fat and offers 27 grams of protein. Be sure, though, to wash it down with lots of water because the Fit Slam carries a heart-stopping 850 grams of sodium.
Don’t order sodas. Order water (even if the soda is included in the combo meal). The typical soda served at NSU is 32 oz. and will cost you 400 calories and give you 100 grams of sugar and that’s just one drink. Drinking two or three sodas per day will quickly add to your waistline.
Don’t order meat at Greens Etc. Instead of ordering chicken, order beans. Beans are filled with nutrients and protein. They’re rich super foods that will do any body good. Also, ordering beans in place of chicken will save you the $2 charge and give you the same nutrients.
Outtakes can be your friend. Next time you stop by Outtakes get two Chobani yogurts and a StarKist tuna lunch. The total cost will be around $6 and you will consume roughly 500 calories and almost 50 grams of protein. Top this off with a free water from any of the campus dining locations (don’t tell them I told you that) and you have one of the healthiest, most affordable, meals on campus.
Don’t order chips with your sandwich. This applies to both Subway and the West End Deli. A bag of chips will generally cost your body close to 200 calories and your wallet $1- $2. Chips make healthy sandwiches unhealthy. A $5 foot-long turkey sub at Subway that comes out at 550 calories will jump to 700+ calories with the inclusion of just a bag of chips. As an alternative, order fruit, like an apple, banana, or pear, from any of the locations at NSU.
Whenever you order food, don’t be afraid to ask for the nutritional information. It will help you make informed decisions about what you’re about to eat. No one can make you eat healthy; you must make that choice for yourself.
