After hours of studying, Melissa Luna is leaving the Library Building in Baruch College. As her stomach growls, she overhears a group of students deciding on which restaurant they want to go to eat. One student declares this is the last time they go out to eat because they've been doing this everyday and this isn't the way to live. Melissa smiles and makes her way to the cafeteria to microwave the food she prepared from home.
Melissa Luna, a senior in Baruch College, joins the revolutionary path of many students who have changed their spending habits and diet purely by making the switch to bring in food from home.
For students who attend commuter schools, such as Baruch College, most eat food the same way - finding a restaurant around campus. According to the USDA Food Plans of May 2017, an average college student could spend about $20-25 for breakfast, lunch and dinner a day. Combine that with the average of spending four days on campus in Baruch, that equals about $100 a week. Without knowing, with one week at a time, your spending on food skyrockets once you enter college.
One unique habit that is taken upon once students start to bring in their food from home is being organized and time-efficient. Melissa Luna spends her Sunday nights preparing her meals for the week. With five containers sitting in her refrigerator by the end of the night, her mind is at ease from the indecision of what she would eat for the week.
Before Melissa started to bring food to school, she and her friends would spend unnecessary time discussing and contemplating where to eat. This would cut into her lunch break. By preparing meals ahead of time, the stress-free Melissa simply heats up her food in the cafeteria and heads back to her friends to engage in the hottest topics of the day.
The enhancement of time management and organizational skills display one of the many pros to bringing in homemade food as opposed to purchasing food from restaurants/delis.
The change of diet from take-out to homemade food also influences daily nutritional intake. By bringing in homemade food, students are more easily able to track and monitor what they are eating. Being disciplined and more health-conscious becomes a habit.
Melissa Luna reflects the changes in her lifestyle once she began preparing and eating food she made at home. With the MyFitness App, she utilizes the function of calorie tracking.
"To be conscious of how many calories is in the food you eat is key to a healthy diet," says Melissa Luna. "By updating my dietary habits everyday, I become more health conscious and aware of the food I'm eating."
Melissa has also taken upon the chef's hat. By finding many recipes online and through friends, Melissa channels her inner Gordon Ramsey.
The revolution of healthy eating has soared and the days of greasy and oily foods are long behind us. Packing food everyday not only saves you money in the cold outside world of pizzas and overpriced food, but it also promotes a healthier living for you today and tomorrow. Change the way you live today.