Hopefully my last blog will have helped you avoid, or at least survive the dreaded Freshers’ flu, and
this one will help deal with another problem that rears its ugly head at the beginning of term: the
Freshers’ stone. Yes, this is the big worry, that having spent all summer trying to keep that summer
body that you’d only just about managed to get to, you hit university and get fed on carb-heavy hall
meals (jacket potatoes with your pasta, anyone?), or try to feed yourself for the first time and live on
junk food and takeaways. Not to mention all the unfairly calorific alcohol that you end up consuming.
Hopefully these tips can help you make some healthy swaps, so you don’t need to change what you
eat drastically, but you can still see the effects.
Choose wholegrain over refined
This most obviously applies to bread (wholemeal or granary over white), but also applies to pasta,
rice, anything that is made from grains. Wholemeal food has a lower Glycemic Index than the refined
stuff, which means that you get less of a sugar spike when you eat it, as the energy from the food
is released more slowly throughout the day. The large amount of insulin that is released to deal with
the more easily processed refined bread tells your body that you have plenty of energy and that it
can store more food as fat. Wholemeal causes a smaller spike, so gives you energy over a longer
period of time, leaving you feeling fuller for longer, and less fat is stored – a winner all round!
Grab some fruits
This is probably the most predictable, swap a biscuit for some fruit. Although that sounds boring,
once you start looking for different types of fruit, rather than just apples and oranges, you might
discover how exciting it can be! Decide whether you prefer the slightly furry skin of peaches (which
is better than it sounds!) or the smoother nectarine, or treat yourself to a mango and pretend that
you’re back on summer holidays.
Bake your own
This is my favourite healthy eating tip, because it is a tip that involves cakes. Who thought that
healthy and cakes could go together? Well, in a way, they can. Instead of buying chocolate muffins in
Starbucks, why not bake your own? Although they will still be sugary and chocolaty, not foods that go
hand in hand with healthy eating, they won’t have any of the unnatural preservatives and colourings
that most packet treats are full of, keeping your body that little bit healthier. I’m not advocating
eating cakes for every meal of the day, but as a treat, eating your own rather than one from a packet
is certainly the healthy choice. You can even experiment by adding Agave Nectar, a natural, low G.I
sweetener, avoiding the energy spikes of sugar, or maybe even combine tips and use wholemeal
flour!
Hopefully these tips will give you a bit of inspiration as to ways in which you can make easy changes
to your diet which will help you try to avoid that anxiety-inducing Freshers’ stone.