Natalie Ismert Journal Entry 4

Natalie Ismert

English 1000

12 October, 2016

Journal Entry 4

What you put in your body is what you get out. A saying that many may neglect and forget about. Most of the time neglecting this saying is not an option, you just don’t see a way to fulfill it. We’ve all had those days when we say we’re going to start eating right, but going to the store and looking at the prices of the food that is good for you and not filling versus the bad food that is makes you want to choose the wrong route. The money problem is another big one that many actually can’t get around. You have to do what you have to do with the money you have and that usually results in buying a bag a Lays over a bag of carrots.

On a regular day for me I’ll force myself to finally get out of my bed being so tired I can barely open my eyes, make coffee while half asleep still and rush to class. I then think of all I need to do in the week and the tests I’ll need to study for and shortly make a list in my head of what to do, but I never end up following it. I rush to eat lunch before my next class, which varies from nuggets, to greasy chinese, to cheeseburgers, etc.. It’s either that or I could get a salad and be hungry in an hour I tell myself. I shove the food in my mouth and then hurry to class and then the library, but stop by the student center where I could get pizza or any other unhealthy food in the mizzou market. I push the thought of working out until late at night which usually backfires because I can never go to sleep when I work out late. Trying the have a healthy lifestyle with a busy schedule is a very difficult task.

I found a source online that gives a list of ways to eat healthy in college while on a budget. Realistically for me not many of those ideas were helpful. I don’t have a kitchen, I can’t make my own food which is the main reason I get the prepackaged junk food. The parts of this list that could be helpful were the ones that said always go for the fruits and the vegetables. I thought that was an obvious one, but it is true. It’s better to eat a whole bag of carrots than a whole bag of chips. One thing I find helpful is soups. It’s a good meal that fills me up and doesn’t contain all the bad things I could be putting in my body. Another tip would be to avoid too much dressing or sauces. This is where people go wrong when they think they’re eating a healthy salad except that every piece of it is drenched in ranch. At that point you might as well have chosen the macaroni. Finding a plan and sticking with it is the way to go. Stick with the basics and go from there.

Some new questions to ask would be “what are the ways I can stick to health and a budget at the same time?”. A way Mizzou could make this easier would be by incorporating healthier foods into the dining plans and maybe making certain foods off limits in the foods systems here. People may choose the pizza over the turkey wrap, but would they be able to if pizza wasn’t served at every meal. Creating additions to the meal plan would benefit the students at Mizzou and help us to substitute bad for good.