9 Clever Healthy Eating Tips For Students When Ordering Food Delivery
The pandemic has transformed the off-premise dining in the restaurant industry. Social distancing and stringent health laws have driven off-premise dining channels from a portion of sales to the new reality for many of us. While the words “pizza’s here” are an excellent start to the weekend, those cheat days have turned into cheat weeks and months. Despite the temptation, with our healthy eating tips for students (or anyone!), you can learn to eat better while staying safe.
Studies indicate that restaurant deliveries aren’t quite as health-conscious as you’d hope. Fortunately, there are a couple of tricks you can use to stay healthy when ordering food from your favorite joint. From science to tricking your brain, our healthy eating tips will give you the pointers to avoid those extra calories.
1: Focus on Plant-Based Foods
For the first of our healthy eating tips, don’t forget to eat your veggies. Nobody’s taking your steak away. However, it’s difficult to ignore the importance of plants, fruits, nuts, and vegetables in our diet. Check the menu and ask yourself about the variety, quantity, and quality of these components. Overeating meat and dairy products can also be a common issue, so exercise some restraint, but remember to “treat” yourself once in a while to remain balanced.
2: Manage the Minimum Order
Many third-party delivery services and some restaurant operations expect an order minimum for off-premise orders. Since you have to spend at least a certain amount, fill the order with your preferred dish and something fresh and healthy for later. The pandemic has caused a rise in comfort food snacking, so plan for your habits by stocking up healthier dishes.
3: Ask for Sauces on the Side
Not all sauces are healthy, although your favorites may be loaded with preservatives and not-so-fresh ingredients pack on the calories. Unless it’s necessary to the meal, get them on the side. This way, you’ll be able to control where to add them and how much.
4: Half-and-Half Larger Portions
For the next of our healthy eating tips, consider the volume of your meal. Is the food place you’re ordering renowned for its extra-big servings? Then think about dividing the meal into two portions, one for now and one for later. Portion control is a critical component of healthier eating. In fact, eating more times a day speeds up the metabolism, which generally benefits weight loss and health.
It’s also a clever thing to do economically and productivity-wise: you’ll save some money and have more time to study. More precisely, by going light on your digestive system, you’ll keep fresh and stay active. You’ll be able to continue your assignment writing project instead of falling asleep in a deep siesta.
5: Vegan/Vegetarian is (Probably) Cheaper
Often, veggie-oriented restaurants have lower prices than regular places. Vegetarian/Vegan eateries feature wholesome food that’s prepared in-house. Sure, they might use many spices, but things like curry, Curcuma, and paprika have many health benefits. Even if an eatery isn’t vegetarian or vegan exclusively, they often have those options on the menu.
6: Use Mobile Apps for Details
Ordering online is useful because you often get to see the menu and ingredient list, especially if you view the restaurant’s website directly. Avoid processed foods, meals with artificial sweeteners, refined sugars, colorants, other additives, preservatives, deep-fried, grilled, or broiled food, agave nectar, etc. Some restaurants add short descriptions to their dishes. Get as much information about the food and read as many reviews as you can before ordering.
7: Eat Local
Shopping locally is a great way to support your area’s economy. For many local restaurants, locally sourced ingredients are a fixture of their operation. Not only does that help support environmental initiatives, but eating locally provides you with a higher likelihood of getting fresher ingredients. If you order something in your town, ask if the restaurant has a subscription plan. You’ll eat from them on a regular schedule and get discounts.
8: Don’t Order When You’re Hangry
Science indicates that the relationship between stress and hunger can lead to overeating. So this healthy eating tip is good advice even when grocery shopping: never order food when you’re starving. This way, you’ll make wiser decisions and get ahead of being hangry, or the genuine phenomenon of being angry and hungry at the same time.
9: Skip the Soda and Deserts
For the last of our healthy eating tips, we turn to sugary things. Skipping soda and deserts is a great way to keep fit and healthy. Excessive sugar intake can lead to heart problems, altering the gut biome, and leading to kidney and liver issues. Sweets are addictive, which is why so many people consume way too much sugar. It’s important to treat yourself now and again, but moderation is key, like most things.
Healthy Eating Tips For Students Conclusion
Eating healthy is difficult, but not impossible. Remember that proper nutrition can help your mind, allowing you to focus on your education and other responsibilities. Do you have any more healthy eating tips to add? We’d love to read about them. Let us know in the comments below.
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