Personally I’ve been trying to sick to 3 smaller meals and 2 snacks. Mostly Protein shakes for breakfast and Chicken, Fish, Corn, Broccoli, Asparagus and occasionally Brown rice for lunch and dinner. Snacks are carrot sticks with a light dipping sauce (although I’v gotten use to eating them with out the dip) and fruit (Granny Smith Apples are my favorite).

As far as the bad stuff goes…I think you can do it as long as you don’t abuse it! I ordered a Cheese pizza last week…and it was GOOD! Plus Chicken wings and Beer(Equally as good!). I just try not to gorge myself like I use too! The next day, I do alot of cardio! LOL!

For the healthfully-inclined, there is a healthier alternative – almond butter. Almond butter has slightly more calories, but contains more calcium, less sugar, and less sodium than peanut butter.

My use of peanut butter in my diet started when I was a vegetarian. As a veggie, you have to get your protein wherever you can! Today I love adding it to pretty much anything to ensure I get the protein I need in my diet (I’m still not a big meat eater). It’s easy to add a tablespoon to a smoothie or a waffle or some apple slices and it gets the job done. That’s the life of a health-conscious convenience eater!

As to cheese, I love it too! I eat it once a day, in moderation. I actually eat a 90-calorie serving every day (snack-sized chunk). I’m a fan of goat cheese, which is easily spreadable onto some multigrain crisps, and it has half the calories and saturated fats of your average hard cheeses, like cheddar.

As to pasta, I’m a fan of that as well. Ask your dining hall if they have whole grain pasta as an option. If not, request it through your school. I personally can’t tell the difference between the two, except that I actually prefer the taste of the multigrain. Maybe it’s a mental thing. The closer the tomatoes are to whole, the better they are for you. They can add a lot of sugar to tomato sauce, so keep your eyes on that Sugars label. Alfredo in particular can be high in calories, but as long as you keep it light (i.e., don’t drown your pasta) and add some veggies like broccoli to it, then I think you’re OK.

I’m off the mind that the more processed your food is, the worse it is for you. That’s why I no longer eat white bread or rolls – it’s been super processed! That’s why all the foods in my diet seem so simple – raw fruits, raw veggies, whole grains – they are less processed and so they retain the most nutrients naturally occurring in them.

The point is not to give up the things you love entirely, but find out what’s unhealthy about them, and change it to healthy. I love hamburgers. So I get either a black bean burger or a turkey burger on a whole wheat bun with spinach instead of lettuce plus healthy tomatoes. Try substituting turkey meatballs in place of your beef, faux chicken tenders from MorningStar Farms, and load your breakfast taco with veggies and egg whites instead of scrambled with sausage.

Hope that helps!

My personal problem is that after eating a steak or something, I don’t feel particularly bad. In fact, I feel quite good. I mean if I eat from McDonalds I don’t feel well mentally and physically, but there are some foods that may not be 100% healthy that I feel all right about: White rolls with low fat butter, a quesadilla, lightly fried chicken tenders, a homemade breakfast taco (they don’t come in stores round these parts), meatballs in red sauce, and more.

I do tend to stay away from greasy brekfast sausages, pizza, fried chicken patties (I like marinated better anyway), burgers, the like. But I guess this long post (this tiny box doesn’t let me see how long it will be increasing chance of rambling) is for three questions.

1) What’s with peanut butter?
2) I love cheese. Is there a healthy way to go with this?
3) I eat a crapload of pasta (how can the dining hall go wrong?). Do you know the health stats for that and red sauce/alfredo sauce?

You may not be a dietician, I’m just wondering if you’ve heard anything about this.

good luck and take care.