Student diet?

[sonja]

Hi, im 24, and a student. I have about 10lb's I NEED to loose (for health) or 20lb's I WANT to loose. I CAN NOT cook to save my life and it is hard to find afordable, fast and healthy foods. At the moment I only eat one big meal a day and then it is usually junk food or worse... varsity food. I live alone, so buying groseries and cooking for one person is difficult, the groseries go bad before I can finish it (seriously, even bread I can only get halfway through). So I want to know from every-one if you have some fast and easy snacks or "take aways" that I can opt for?

[gina13]

ok well if you are uying things and they are going to waste thats no good,, if you are trying to lose weight,, i would recommend,, you can eat tuna from a can,, but WARNING,, you should really only eat this twice a week,, sumone had previously stated on this forum that they ate it everyday for two and a half weeks,, NOT GOOD,, there is mercury in tuna,, ok,, so u can hav that,, you can also get canned vegetables,, which is always good,, and have that,, um the more vegetables you eat the better,,, you can always get those microwavable vegetables in a bag,, they are soooo good lol,, and actually have that as a meal,,, they also have those ,, um perdue chicken packs,, where they have indivdually packed slices of chicken,, it takes litterally not even five minutes to cook,, and slice that up with those vegetables that took five minutes in the microwave,, and thats a healthy meal,, or u could buy they have turkey burgers,, again,, a five minute cook in the pan and its done,,um i would suggest trying to stay away from junk food,, if you get hungry for sumthing,, get like bannanas or sumhing they can b filling,, also yougurts,, but try and get the light ones,, bc the regular ones have an extreme amount of unnecessary sugar,, i would reccommend staying away from sodas,, even diet sodas,, bc the aspartine in them also keeps weight on,, so if you must have sumthing bubbly,, then try drinking seltzer,,, its good and flavored,, yes i know not sweet but ,, its better for you,, drink lots of water,, and if you must drink juice such as,,cranberry juice,, then get diet,,, and if you dont like the taste of diet,, than get a cup,, fill it less than half way with the cranberry juice,, then fill the ret with water,, it gives yu a big glass,, full and you can still taste the cranberry sweetness lol,, um,, stay away from chips,, but again if you are craving chips,, try the baked ones,, or sunchips since they are lower in fat,, if you have ice cream alot,, i would suggest eating less of it or cutting it out of your diet totally for a while,,, but if you do have that craving again lol,, you can get the reduced sugar and rememebr to look for fat free,, there are three things to look for wen u are dieting,, well four,, they are fat content,, saturated fat,, sugar,,and sodium,, high amounts of any of these ,, will make you gain weight or keep weight,, now im not sayin to go crazy,,, but limit your intake of these items,, and you will lose wieght,, even if you dont excersice,, cutting out junk food is a BIG deal,,,, um ,, you can make yourself giant ssalad in a container,, and that will make three days of a meal,, there are so many healthy and quick options,, and you can still cheat every once in a while,, but for the first two weeks,, dont ,, be strict with yourself,, and you will se the difference,, i hope sumthing i have said,, will help you,,,

[gina13]

oh yea and one other thing i forgot to say lol,, was to stay away from eating too much bread,, bc that is also no good as welll,, i fyou must have bread,,, use it for one meal,, either your breakfast lunch or dinner,, dont go bread crazy lol

[Little]

The best thing that ever happened to my student, cook-for-one diet was being a vegetarian. Toast for breakfast is fast and you can eat it while you walk to school. Bread is only bad if you're eating it out of moderation. There are half-loaves of bread in most grocery stores, or you can freeze your bread. Usually I froze it and toasted it (it doesn't thaw that well.) Like gina said, yogurt can be a good, healthy breakfast on the go ... but I wouldn't recommend trying to fuel your day with just it. Yogurt and instant oatmeal was my breakfast for a while in college.
Dried instant milk was another thing I used (out of poverty) when I was in school. It tastes bad BUT you can make just enough to cook with and you won't be wasting a bunch of milk by letting it go sour. It costs about 1/5th as much as milk by the gallon. Again, it doesn't taste very good but if you are cooking it, you won't notice much difference.
Salad by the bag is a waste of money and sometimes nutrition, but they're fast, easy, and customizable ... just make sure you're customizing healthily. Try to stay away from iceberg lettuce, eat spinach or romaine instead.
I know how hard it is to eat a whole can of vegetables by yourself ... look for the mini-cans at grocery stores. Even the mini cans are usually two-serving but it's a big step down from the normal cans.
Shop more often and the big thing: PLAN YOUR MEALS. If you plan your meals right you won't have to let groceries go bad.
Tell us more about your living quarters. Are you in the dorm? An apartment? Do you have a stove, oven, microwave, toaster, etc?
I'll leave you with an easy, tasty, and pretty healthy recipe for acorn squash made in a microwave.
Cut an acorn squash in half (so that it makes two identical halves, cutting through the point) and take out the seeds. Put about 2 tbsp of water in the bottom of a bowl (a cereal bowl will do) and put the squash, cut-side-up, in the bowl. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic powder (if you have it) on the squash and put a small pat of butter in the hole. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave (about 5 minutes) until soft.
It's really delicious, and you can control the amount of calories you're intaking by how much butter you put in. One squash half is rather large.
I know what it's like being in college, pressed for time, and cooking for one. Let us know what your living conditions are and I'll give you more tips

[WildChild]

Frozen veggies are way healthier than the canned and you can take jusr what you want from the bag.

[sonja]

Hi, thanx, it already helps to get the creativity flowing. I live in an appartment (Super Small!). I own a kettle, microwave, toaster and one of of those small table-top ovens with two heating plates. I'm close to campus so its not to hard to come home for lunch if needed.