The Freshman Fifteen

a.k.a The 15 pounds you are supposed to gain from eating on campus in your first year.

Campus food is wonderful. Right now I'm blogging from a gourmet burrito place called zteca AND BOY CAN THEY MAKE A GOOD BURRITO. So in honour of this I decided to make this chapter of the survival guide about residence eating.

TIPS

Do your math: Your meal plan doesn't last forever, but at the same time you want to make sure you can suck every penny out of it before it expires for the year. York makes it mandatory to purchase a $3000 dollar food plan which lasts till April. I did a little divison and I figure I have a little more than $15 a day to spend on food. Therefore $5 a meal. Sounds tight but there are ways to spend more a meal and keep within the 15.

Healthy can be expensive, but also cheap: There are places on campus that make nice vegetarian meals but they go up in price very fast because all the food is "Fresh". Lost of places also have a vegetarian version of there food which can also save you a dollar, but I'm not much of a grass eater. The best thing you can do to be healthy is make sure you pick some at some point during the day. Some places on campus even give you a free banana or apple if you buy from there store.

You don't always have to eat out: One thing I do for breakfast is I buy cereal from the general store and keep it in my room so I can have a quick, somewhat nutritious breakfast in the morning. Campus general store stuff can seem pricey, and not on your food plan, but remember it can also last you a few meals, totalling under $5 a meal on average.

Buying off campus: I don't mean eating out off campus, but buying food off campus at Walmart of No Frills can be very beneficial, especially if your commuting somewhere anyways. Transit in Toronto is cheap ($2.60 if you have a presto pass and it lasts for 2 hours). One thing I dislike in Toronto is that milk costs $4.25 for 2 litres, but it is still a better deal than what you can get for a tiny carton at the campus store. You can also get fresh produce like cheese and fruit there as well and at the end of the day, it is very affordable. And again, this can last your for quite a few meals. Make sure you gets your hands on a bowl, a plate and some cutlery to do this :P

Dont starve yourself: It doesn't benefit you or your studying if you do.

I'm not going to lie, its hard to resist the temptation of eating pizza 3 meals in a row, but eating healthy is essential to feeling your best and being ready for classes. Keeping a banana or something in your pack is also a good idea because some profs give breaks for longer lectures, and right now I find all of this stuff very interesting so I need to be on top of my game.

Hope this tidbit of information helps you freshies out there who are looking for advice. Just remember 15 is the magic number.

Though in my case, it wouldn't be the end of my world if I had an extra 15 pounds. I would be a little less of a twig then :P

Till next time.

PJ