Weight-Loss Where to begin?

[Ethan1]

I'm currently 18 years old, and I'm in college and looking for ways to lose some fat and add muscle. I've currently been eating 2-3 large meals a day, and often they're not very healthy. I've heard that it's best to eat 4-6 smaller sized meals per day, but I only get about 15 meals a week through the university. I have a small refridgerator in my room which will hopefully fill in the gap.

So, my main question is, what should I buy? Yes, I know fruits and vegetables are good, but are there any that are better than others? What are some small meals that I could make myself, keeping in mind I have limited space and just a fridge/microwave. What are some good snacks that I can buy?

Also, when I go to the cafeteria to eat, what are the things that I should look for? Unfortunately, they have a lot of fried food, and I try to avoid it. They often have chicken, rice, pasta, or other types of meat like beef products. They have a good salad bar which I get lunch from sometimes, but I never know which dressings are healthy.

Any other eating/drinking advice would be great. Thanks!

 

[Jeanette401]

The leafy greens are always a good choice. Broccoli is good, I personally love asparagus although it is a diuretic. I personally love onions - although partially because they taste so well Peas, carrots, potatoes are starchier and are more calorically dense than some others so they may not be your first choice. Some diets allow you unlimited amounts of salad greens because they're so low cal. Celery is like fiber and water which is good

Avocados are like a super food. Berries are also very good. I buy pounds of apples at a time.

For snacks, almonds are great. I like celery & hummus, or celery and guacamole. Or string cheese and an apple. Or greek yogurt with some strawberries tossed in. Or sometimes maple & brown sugar "weight control" Quaker oatmeal. I like cottage cheese with fruit, too.

For dressings, sadly unless you're going with oil & vinegar you have no way of knowing what's in there. Oil & Vinegar is probably your safest bet. If you can find lean meats at the cafeteria that'd be a good choice. Battered and fried, not as much. If they have whole grain pasta or brown rice, that's a step above their white cousins. If they have roast chicken, that's pretty safe.

Also, I wouldn't stress too much about the 6 meals a day thing. I lost 70 lbs eating 3 meals a day, so it's more about what works for you. There's a sticky about the Importance of Meal Frequency which is worth a read.

Also, the following are standard pieces of advice for your diet here on WLF
1) Try to get 1 gram of protein for every pound of goal weight. If you want to weigh 150, shoot for 150g of protein. (Not 150g of chicken, but the actual nutritional content)
2) When choosing your carb sources, whole grains, legumes, vegetables & fruits are greatly preferred to bread, pasta, rice. Not saying never eat the latter, just try to favor the former.
3) Don't try to go too low fat - healthy fats like avocado and olive oil are good for you, and you shouldn't neglect them because they're 'fat'
4) Try to work in a strength training plan - it will help you to lose more fat than muscle when you diet. And this is rather important if you don't want to end up 'skinny-fat'

Hope this helps!