First off, YAY for Kristen! She turned in her dissertation proposal last week!
Now on to the show… 🙂
We all have a lot on our plates, but it’s not always the right thing…
This may seem like a more trivial topic, but eating, or not eating, is a part of everyone’s day to day. However, it is hard to make time to plan to eat and/or to meal plan. It’s easy to grab what is close and easy over what is the most nutritious.
I asked the rest of didactic trio how they balance (or don’t) healthy eating practices with their crazy schedules.
- Zach mostly eats well, but he found that having a roommate to share food with is really helpful. It also helps to be finished the dissertation, because he was a snacker! Zach has been on and off of the Taco Bell* wagon for YEARS.
- Kristen uses meal prep, and she is really good at it! She even avoids coffee shops so she isn’t tempted to eat the yummy scones, muffins, and cookies (though I did drag her to a coffee shop with me two days this week. Whoops!). She also uses Plan to Eat, an app that works as a recipe organizer and meal planner.
- I drink WAY too much coffee, and have a weakness for a good latte. When I am working, I tend to forget to eat and then make all of the wrong choices later (which is why I would write my dissertation at Panera to eat ALL the salads).
Here are the web sources I referenced:
This report by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (with the CDC) says:
- student participation in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) School Breakfast Program (SBP) is associated with increased academic grades and standardized test scores, reduced absenteeism, and improved cognitive performance (e.g., memory);
- skipping breakfast is associated with decreased cognitive performance (e.g., alertness, attention, memory, processing of complex visual display, problem solving) among students; and
- lack of adequate consumption of specific foods, such as fruits, vegetables, or dairy products, is associated with lower grades among students.
This short article by BestCollege.com is a quick resource for student. The article:
- discusses basics on nutrition given the change in environment, hours, etc. of college students, and
- covers such topics as Dietary intake, Mastering the Dining Hall, and Dorm Room Cooking.
A similar page from South College in Atlanta, GA provides a resource for their college-level students.
- “ ‘You are what you eat!’ We hear this phrase all the time, but have you ever thought there could be some truth behind it? What you eat and how active you are factor into your overall well-being, which in turn affects your academic success. Being a busy college student can make it difficult to eat healthy, from having a tight budget to working a job and doing homework. When you spend your day running around from school to work or vice versa, cooking for yourself can be the last thing you want to do. One way to get around this is to meal prep. You can prepare your meals a few days in advance so you only have to do minimal preparations the day of. This will help you eat healthier and save money on eating out!”
The article “Three Healthy Eating Habits for Academics” from Stylish Academic says:
- “Being an academic is demanding. There are classes to teach, papers to write, research meetings to attend, and conference presentations to prepare. To do all of that we need sustenance. The irony is that with all of these responsibilities, we only have a limited amount of time to prepare any meals.”
- The author, Dr. Chioma Ihekweazu, recommends:
- Meal Prepping
- Low Effort Meals
- Always Pack Snacks
Self-Care:
For this week’s self-care segment, Kristen and I made chocolate chip zucchini bread. It may not be the healthiest of options, but it basically a vegetable, right? I love baking for others when I have time, and I found that this recipe is a hit on campus.
Ratings:
- Kristen 10/10
- Rachel 10/10
- We didn’t share with Zach, so he can’t give a rating.
What are your go to recipes when you get bit by the baking bug?
Well, that’s all for this episode. Thanks for listening, all. Until next time, keep on surviving!
Rachel
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*Taco Bell will never sponsor us, but we talked about them a TON.