Thread: Student Slimmers

Hi I'm in my first year of uni and already I can feel my creeping up! Mainly due to freshers week I think and my last few weeks before I get my loan iv resorted to cheap yucky food. This term I want a game plan to kick any nasty habits and I couldn't see a student thread on here so I thought id start one. Hopefully there are a few other students out there who can help and support.

Is there anything you've found works? Or is there anything I should avoid like the plague?
Examples of shopping lists could be helpful too :-) :-)

I'm a student as well, but unlike many students I'm a mature student and grew up in a house where everything was cooked from scratch. We only used to have take away on someone's birthday or New Year so that's a grand total of 5 times a year. My thought of take away now is a store bought pizza you can throw in the oven, so I'm pretty good at not wasting money on cheap take aways or cheap food in general.

The thing that I will need help with is lunches to bring to uni. I usually stick with sandwiches that I've made myself, as my thermos isn't that great for keeping things hot for super long periods of time. I travel 2 hrs to uni so I'm out of the house just after 6am so hot soup from that time till about 1 or so doesn't last that long. I guess I should get used to medium heat soup and get on with it. Any advice for lunches that don't need to be heated or hot would be great as for some odd reason my ice pack lasts longer then the thermos!

I use a slow cooker all the time, just throw everything in it and come back hours later to something amazing so you don't have to slave over a cooker, it's my best friend! The other thing is depending on how big your freezer is making things in batches such as a simple meaty/meat free sauce to make into spag bol, chilli, jacket option etc that way when you leave for the day you can take it out and defrost it in the fridge and throw a couple of things into it when you come back again another time saver for cooking.

It depends on how big your freezer is and how much time you want to spend cooking when you come back.

I'm also classed as a mature student but I'm only 21 some I don't really feel like it :-) that is them same with takeaways. My mum always cooked from scratch and while I do cheat sometimes with jars of bolognese mostly I make my own.

I'm guessing you've tried salads and such? Prehaps cold tortillas?

I'm a student as well. Although I'm a mature student on a healthcare course so I also have placements to contend with!

Personally I find making up batches of stuff and freezing it works really well. Like the other day I made a massive portion of super speed soup. Split it into a meal I ate then as well as 3 containers of 3 meals which I froze. If I plan on having it over the week I take out a container and defrost it and I have 3 meals ready and waiting. Plus its a lot cheaper than buying ready made soup. I'm planning on doing the same with a bolognese mixture which I'll use for spaghetti bolognese, with mash and various other things. My real life saver though is the tinned spag bol and ravioli which is really low in syns and great if I just cba. Also packets of pasta such as mug shots are fab if your short on time and money. Can be pretty good for uni as well if you have a coffee machine that does hot water.

I might have to give a different thermos a go and see if I can bring soup with me or heat up some pasta/sauce and the like and shove it in there. I also will probably try things like cold pasta salads. I might also try something different like loads of fruit and yoghurt and veg sticks with houmous.

What plans are you guys on? I'm on green

I do mostly green with some EE days as I rarely eat meat.

Im doing nursing at uni and its hard going from planning for uni days to planning for placement, at the moment im on holiday so i have a big pot of veg soup on the hob.. I found it best to make loads of food and either pop it in the fridge or freezer so that i dont have to worry about cooking after studying/13 hour shift on placement! I buy loads of quorn mince when i find it on special (asdas one is a bit nicer and cheaper) and one bag does me and my bf two meals each, i go to farmfoods and stock up on frozen veggies- they usually do two for £1 on mushrooms and onions, otherwise its a pound a bag, i stock up on chopped tomatoes and that means whenim desperate i have spag bol or chili or mince and pots with veggies in pretty cheap xx

Hi:-) I'm in EE I'm going to start planning and preparing meals as well. Hopefully being organised will keep it simple :-)
I still need to stock up on herbs and spices. I also need to invest in a blender too for soups :-)
Is there a campus cafe? Maybe they would let you useful their microwave or kettle?

X

In my uni they charge 50p for hit water and I grudge it lol x

Wee Miss, we might go to the same uni. I'm originally from Glasgow myself, but living in Edinburgh. I'm at Caley which is why I doubt they have a kettle or microwave for student usage.

We could be bumping into each other and not even know it

Originally Posted by weemissnaughty

In my uni they charge 50p for hit water and I grudge it lol x

I'm in Uni too (very mature student at nearly 41) and hate the fact they charge so much for everything! My college was cheaper and healthier for meals and the cheapest thign I can buy hot is wedges.. (I'm veggie). It's really hard to juggle.

Also I commute to uni 110 miles a day so for me hot food is something I have to go without till maybe 8pm at night and it kills me!

I had thought of a food flask and to go to my car to eat from it (would feel daft eating in the canteen) So I'm thinking i may do that with pasta.. at least I'd want to eat it.

Loads of people eat hot lunches in the cafe at my uni, me and my friend go so far as to get a plate if weve brought in pasta etc, were lucky the soup is unsually lovely and its only 1.20

Lemon blondie i used to go to cally but im in uws in hamilton for my nursing i found having to drive into town and pay parking was making me skip classes lol and i hated paying to park what is it your soing? X

Honestly, I've seen people all sorts in the canteen from take away to things in thermos. It's a place for someone to eat regardless if they buy it there or not. It's not as if it's a restaurant where they don't let you bring something else in because if you get sick from it you can say you ate it at that restaurant and all hell breaks loose.

My mates are in Hamilton, I can see why driving and paying for parking would put you off going to town. I'm a doing a post grad in Psych

Originally Posted by Cupcake.Addicted

I still need to stock up on herbs and spices. I also need to invest in a blender too for soups :-)

X

I just bought a hand blender in asda, 12 pounds reduced from seventeen. It's brilliant. I made a yummy soup today. Really cheap because marrows and swede etc are less than a pound each.

I'm a student too. Mostly I take cold couscous, either a plain one mised with cherry toms and ham and tabasco, or half a pack of the falvoured (31p tesco, lemon and thyme) with fruit and muller lights.