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#43 Your Campus Guide to Nutrition · College Is Fine, Everything's Fine

I'm Dr. Sarah Olivo and I'm Dr. Liz Seidler and you're listening to College is Fine, Everything's Fine.Okay. Hi, everyone. , I'm really excited for today because, you know, Sarah, I like to keep some people in my back pocket, like colleague, colleagues, and I think I've been actually mentioned mentioning this person's name for a while. That I've had the pleasure of really collaborating with has really helped me as a clinical psychologist and my practice working with teenagers and young adults, , around issues regarding eating, because that is not my area of expertise.Um, so why don't we get started? So Raina, could you introduce yourself?So, good morning. Thank you guys for having me on your podcast. My name is Reena Bruckman. I'm a registered dietitian and a nutritionist. I specialize in the treatment of weight and eating disorders. I've been working with mostly college students for about 20 years. So I'm so excited to contribute to this episode.And I've been hearing your name from Liz for so long, so yeah, you really do have some great Folks in your back pocket.Step it up, Sarah. Step it up.What's happening? Yeah, seriously But Rina, first of all, I'm jealous of your name. It's a really cool nameThankSo just for the record Rina and then the other part is that I you know to Liz's point, you know, we yes There's a lot of things that people who are in psychology know how to do But really once I'm ever working with somebody who has a nutritional question or a sort of a health question or what should I eat?Or it comes in and says, I'm eating clean. And I'm like, well, that, what does that mean? Um, I always, I have, I have my go to nutritionist too, because there's so much knowledge that, you know, knowing about the body and the chemical aspects of, you know, where I'm like, yeah, my brain doesn't have room. So thank you so much for existing. And I know we're really focusing more on kind of the, the, just your, some of your basic nutrition and health management questions when it comes to things like, When you go into the dining hall, and suddenly you have to be in charge of your own housing. I get these questions all the time. And even as a clinician, I'm sort of sometimes think, okay, what, , what language is really a good way of talking to yourself about food?So, , I'll stop now, but I'm just really grateful to haveSo, and I will say, I say this to all my patients, I would probably lose 50 percent of my practice if people ate better and slept better. So the relationship that food has on our mood is something that I really hope anyone who's listening today leaves this episode and feels like, okay, what are some things that I can do when I'm on a college campus?to nourish my body better that might impact my mood in a significantly positive way and not give up because I do think a lot of college students are just like waiting till they go home to get a good meal and to eat better. But that's a lot of time, and days where they might be not nourishing themselves well.And The last thing I'll say before we actually ask some questions, Serena, is that, , we are well aware that college is a breeding ground for eating disorders to develop, and that is definitely something that deserves a whole episode, , and Raina is an expert on eating disorders, and we will share a lot of resources that she recommends in our show notes, but today we really want to You know, do what a lot of people have asked us, which is like, how do we navigate eating on a college campus?And how can we maybe develop some better nutritional habits? And what are some of the pitfalls that Raina, maybe you've seen that, you know, I know not everyone that walks in your office doesn't have an eating disorder, but they might have some problematic relationships with food and their body. So You're welcome. Why don't we start with that, that I think that the most daunting thing that college students will say to me, they will say the food sucks on college campuses, and they're just not eating. I mean, I'm always shocked. Sarah knows this. This was sleep too. When someone tells me that they eat one meal a day, I, I like start to, I start to sweatbreaks my heart.And, and now.Um, it might be like door dash, um, until their parents get mad at them. Right. So, you know, like what are just some things like when thinking about, you know, it's a new semester, college students are on, you know, maybe they've, um, are willing to make some changes, but like, what, what do you see that they struggle with in terms of eating on college campuses and what maybe are some tips that you might have to avoid some of the common pitfalls of the nutritional diet of a college student?Okay. MmOkay. So to get started, you know, I think we have to just start out by saying that nourishing your body is kind of a learned skill, ? So when young adults launch to college, they may or not, they may or may not have learned that skill from their family. And Yeah. It's a learning curve. It really is a learning curve, right?There's two major things that are different. You're not in a routine schedule, the same schedule every day, like you are through all of high school and you have to go seek out your food. It's not coming to you. So if we talk about the pitfalls or the obstacles that I see for college students to nourish their bodies, definitely what you had said before, right?Like a food rut. They don't know what to eat, so they end up eating, you know, pizza, french fries, chicken tenders, and then all of a sudden they don't feel great.hmm.They don't have time to eat. And another thing I hear is that not everybody's comfortable eating alone. And that occurs in college because everybody's on their own schedule.And if you want to eat with peers, you also have to be outgoing and ask people to meet. And find a place to meet. So those are the most common things that I hear. Do you want me to address them in any specific order?No, I think those are all really great things. I think I would start with the, let's start with the food rut, because I really do think, I hear all the time, like, the protein stinks. Have you seen the chicken on my campus? right, right.Can I just tell you I went in coming? I did. I was somebody who did not have the background and there was a Burger King was the only like, and so I think I had Burger King and then I had. Domino's for essentially like most meals because it was the easiest, it was just there. And I didn't have a sense of like, Oh, you should, I just didn't have that built in sense of like maybe a vegetable should, you know, happen today.And then I finally went to Lean Cuisineoh my gosh.thinking like, well, look at me go. And my roommate, I was a, gosh, I was a junior. And my roommate was like, how many of those do you get to eat a day? Do you know how much sodium is in there? And I was like, wait, what?Or how small they are. They're so small. How could that nourish a growing brain?Right, so I think, yeah, like what are some just basics? Like you get there and anybody who's a freshman needs to know, you know, what are some basic rules to start with or some basic tips?Okay. So first the food rut, and then we're going to go back to the basic tips. The food rut is that I believe is that the cafeteria is completely overwhelming. It's busy. Right there now cafeterias have stations. So there are so many options and you may be in a rush Or maybe you have to put your stuff down at a table and then go get your food But your food is really far from where your stuff is Cafeterias and dining halls no longer have trays.I don't know if you're aware of that No?so many years back, dining halls had trays where you could walk around and take different plates from different stations and put them on a tray. But because of food waste, dining halls now just give people plates because they don't want to take too much and not eat it. So all of a sudden you feel like compelled to make a decision about what you can carry,Right.right? So all of a sudden you're down a few items. There's not as much variety. So I think what's really important is to Take a moment and look around your dining hall, like your first week at school or when you get back, or look at the menus online and get a sense of what is available to you. Always note where the salad bar is because that's a great place to fill in. So if you want chicken tenders or if you want pizza, by all means have it. But find something from the salad bar to put on your plate, whether it be fruit or vegetable or legumes or hard boiled eggs or whatever it may be. You know, I think you have to do a certain amount of research and see what's available to you.You have to be proactive. kind of map it out.Exactly. I also think that It's okay to look around and see what other people are eating and be like, Oh, that looks good. Where did you get that? Because everybody's in the same boat. Often, the dining hall, their food isn't that attractive. Some colleges have amazing food, some don't. But most colleges have many different eateries.Many different places to find food, not just the dining hall. one of the many obstacles that I hear is time. I didn't have time to get food because leaving your dorm or your apartment or your house and going to the dining hall and then getting to class, well, all of a sudden, that's not just grabbing a quick bite, you have to allow a whole nother hour to do that, plus walking time in between classes.And I think that's where skipping meals gets in the way of proper nourishment. Transcripts provided by Transcription Outsourcing,and your social life is planned. When you look at your schedule for the week, you need to figure out if I have to be at North Campus or the north end of campus for a 155 class, then if I'm going to the dining hall, I need to leave my dorm at 12, or I have to find an eatery that's close to my class.And if I truly don't have enough time to do this, then I need to find a place to get a smoothie on the way, or something on the way to hold me over until after class, or I have to grab something from my dorm room or my apartment and take it on the go. Once again, it's planning.So, let's say, um, asking for a friend, that you're not a great planner, and this is a skill set that you know you need, but you're not quite there yet.Mm hmm.What would be some have it in your dorm on the ready kind of snacks that you think? Cause I'm the kind of person I'm like, well, I'll just have a kind bar, but then I have like seven kind bars.Right.maybe what is sort of a variety of things that you think just to sort of give yourself the opportunity for the days where you didn't plan, but you still want to make sure that you're putting some fuel in what's maybe like five, I don't know, however many, um, that you think have it in your dorm for those days where it is really tough.Assuming that you have a refrigerator in your dorm, which I think most students do. I think the individual cheeses with some crackers are great to have. The individually wrapped cheeses like Cracker Barrel, Cabot, whoever makes them. Stop and shop around. It doesn't matter. Okay? Individual containers of hummus and pita chips. sofor it. That includes stolen muffins. I shouldn't use the word stolen.take extra as opposed to put them in your pocket and don't pay. That's right.You are paying for it. The dining halls I don't believe that they care. I think they account for that, but definitely having some fruit, some granola bars, trail mix. Some of my clients keep a loaf of bread and peanut butter and jelly. A PB and J could live at the bottom of your backpack for a few days.No problem.  It has protein and it has some heart healthy fat and it has carbohydrate and you need all of those for brain function.Love that.And being a student takes an enormous amount of energy, even if you're not physically moving your body that much, which college students typically do.Cause you're typically putting on a lot more steps. Then when you come from a suburban area, or a rural area where you don't walk anywhere. Right? So, you know, you college students do put on a lot more steps. And your brain needs a lot of energy.So I do think that it is important to look at other eateries.I want to get back to that because it's very easy to quickly grabbasic, thatfried food and the pizza and the burgers because it tastes good and you're familiar with it and that's what you smell when you walk into a dining Most dining halls do have bowls now where you can kind of build your own bowl.Okay. I mean, they're on trend. Dining halls are all on trend. They want to please. This is a business. Sometimes you have to look for it. They'll have burritos. They'll have make your own sandwich station.I'm trying to,They will have bowls, some may have smoothies. Some may have a panini press. Plus they'll have like a hot entree of that day, but all of the menus could be checked online.Always the night before. I believe that colleges give menus like a month ahead of time, which I think is very helpful if you're a picky eater, or you're not, or you haven't been exposed to many different types of foods. That's another reason why a dining hall could be overwhelming. If you haven't been exposed to different ethnic foods and you've been eating the same rotation of foods in your home, then it could be anxiety producing to get something new. So I think in terms of the rut, I think it's good to enjoy your favorite foods. And have them a few times a week and try to branch out on the other times.That was one of my questions is, at a certain point, college is all sorts of, you know, sometimes it feels chaotic in a good way. You want to say, like, I just don't want to feel so rule bound, you know,, and you have some people who aren't eating enough and then you have, I think the other extreme of people who've never had to have it kind of regulated.So, at my end, Stems where I ate too much of the wrong thing, you know? And I, I would say, okay, you know what I'm gonna have, I just enjoyed the idea of I could have a whole pizza and not have to worry about it. I just ordered it to my dorm room and there was no one watchingYeah. like, just picture me now. I do think that can be the opposite extreme too. And I'm just curious where you help people find that balance as well. What cues do they need to listen to so I think eating regularly helps to develop your hunger and fullness cues. And I think what happens in college is that students skip meals because they sleep too late and they don't plan. They don't allow enough time. So that kind of backs us up to, you need a backup plan at all times. You need food in your dorm to walk with.Okay. But if I were to say one thing that you have to do in college, and for some reason, no one thinks they have to do this. You have to eat breakfast. I don't care if you wake up at noon and breakfast is at 1230. I don't care if it's breakfast food. You have to eat. To get fuel in your body to get your day started. Hunger is cumulative and you may not feel it if you're really busy, but your body will start to decompensate. Your mood will tank. Your attention will tank. You can become agitated and irritable and short circuited with a roommate, right? You're just developing new friendships. It takes energy. So I think you have, I know you have to get food in that is.That's a must. And for some reason, people think breakfast is, uh, eh, I don't need it. And once again, it doesn't have to be the perfect breakfast. It doesn't have to be oatmeal with peanut butter or pancakes and eggs and bacon. It could be a granola bar and a banana. But you need something in you to get the day started.Because if you skip that meal, that hunger is going to build and build and build and build. And at the end of the day, you will most likely overeat. This has nothing to do with binging, but your body is starving.  sense because because when I'm anxious, my appetite goes away, you know? So yeah, if you have a test, I could just see you just not even paying attention to it. And then at the end of the day, when you're sort of calmer, then suddenly your body's like, wait, hi, other, other emotion, other physical thing going on here. So that makes, that makes complete sense that you might not notice how hungry you are.correct. And also something to note is that late night eating is normal in college and it's okay. The days are longer. It is fun when you're visiting with people and getting to know people to bring out some snacks or order in or go to these late night eateries. You may be out for the evening and everybody's coming home at the end of the night at one in the morning and everybody stops at this one pizza place and that's normal and fine and good.But if you didn't eat enough during the day, you'll end up overeating late at night and then you could have. Disruptive sleep, you could develop some GI issues, and then a cycle starts again where you're not feeling great the next morning, you're in a rush, there's no instant oatmeal in your dorm room, and you wake up, and you're late for class, and there's no time to go to the dining hall, and then class ends at noon, andYeah.it's, it's a cycle, and this takes practice.This is not easy. It definitely takes practice and intention.Um, I love if I could summarize a little bit, some things that you were saying that might be helpful for listeners that I really love this idea that don't get stuck on like the timing of the day around your first meal. You know what I mean? That like, Oh, I missed breakfast because I didn't eat it between nine and 12.That really it's about like, Let's say within an hour of waking that you should have had something in your body, , to kind of get your metabolism working, those hunger cues, all that stuff happening. , and then to make it a priority, , there are a lot of things competing for your attention in college, , and that if this is not really on your radar, , that It ends up being like the low man on the, the totem pole, this and sleep sometimes.I just feel like it's like, wait, I could study for an extra 45 minutes or go get food. You know what? I'm going to study for 45 minutes, but not thinking about like, how efficient is my brain working? What are the consequences in the longterm? You know, if I, if I skip this meal, and the other thing, and this is something you've said with a lot of. Clients we've worked together, but something you just said about like the late night eating, which I think a lot of college students then have a lot of shame and guilt about. And I remember you saying, maybe I'm not quoting you right because I quote people about this all the time.I say this like not giving you credit, but. that like food has two functions, like for nourishment and joy. And I do love that second piece about the joy part that I mean, some of my best memories are eating like a grilled cheese at one o'clock in the morning with my friends in our house, you know? So to not Forget that, that you want people to be able to eat normative foods that you would eat in college and have normative food experiences. But that sometimes, getting to what Sarah asked, that they, you might overdo it and get stuck in this cycle because you haven't nourished your body throughout the day.You summarized it beautifully and it's very hard to get a nourished, balanced meal sometimes, and that also takes time and intention. So it's okay to think, okay, I'm going to try to get in two pieces of fruit today, and I haven't had a salad in or vegetables in 24 hours. So I'm going to try to get one today.Not every day needs to be perfect. But we want to look over a span of few days, kind of practice that gentle nutrition, where you're eating for joy and considering nourishment at the same time.a little bit ofAnd sometimes food is just fuel. And if you forgo the fuel piece,and show youyour immune system also tanks in college. So if you, if you talk to the students that are constantly sick,the, uh,food and fuel combined with stress.I think keeps people repeatedly getting sick,lack of food, lack of sleep and increased stress and anxiety really contributes to that.youSo there's so many reasons why fueling is important.day.And what you stated before, Liz, about how we don't need a firm timeframe of when our meals are. It is important to eat, though, three to six times a day. So if you're only doing one or two meals, you're not doing your body justice. When I say your body, I also mean your brain.I don't think I would have put together nutrition, I mean, I know in sort of obvious ways, right? Like big sort of deficits, but I don't think I would have put together kind of your nutrition and your immune system because no one wants to be in second college. domain, then you, you either miss out on some fun stuff or you might miss a test and, but you still have to make it up, you know?So I think that would, that would have been a good incentive for me had I known that back in the day to stop eating all the lame cuisines, that I could get at Kroger. Personally, I remember having strep throat four times my freshman year, you know, lack of sleep, lack of nutrition or misnutrition, not nourishing your body well. There is access to good food on campus. Some campuses you have to look a little harder than others. And that's really important to find eateries that are close to your classrooms.Not every campus you have to attend the dining hall. There's other options on campuses that are not fast food. Campuses now have sushi places, as I mentioned before, panini places, bowl places. They have areas that serve ethnic, different ethnic foods, wraps, smoothies. There are plenty of options. But I think that's important to case out and maybe do it with a friend or a roommate if you're too nervous to do it on your own.But it's important geographically to figure out. Where food is close to your classes. I do want to mention one thing. Well, three things that I think really play into hunger and not getting enough food or end up eating too much food. And that is caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. And I know thesethree things don't necessarily seem directly related to food.really strong opinions aboutBut caffeine and vaping. And I think cigarette smoking is kind of coming back a little bit. They're all appetite suppressantsvery strong opinions areand that makes it really challenging to eat. So caffeine, it's all campuses now have so many fabulous places to get coffee drinks and they're really good at making your hunger go away and keeping you awake and alert. But some of that is smoke and mirrors. So you will stay alert in the moment, but you're not giving your body or your brain nourishment. Unless you get a latte, which I do recommend. I think a latte at least gives you milk, and that gives you some protein, and some fat, and that'll, you know, that'll sustain you a little bit longer.But caffeine can really upset your stomach and suppress appetite, and disguise appetite. So you may not feel hungry and push off food, but then once again, that hunger is cumulative. And coffee has always been used as an appetite suppressant. So that's something to keep in mind. Nicotine, especially in vapes,uh, uh,Really disguises appetite and makes it very hard to figure out when you're hungry, sometimes a complete loss of appetite and alcohol is a little tricky because sometimes I find students do a lot of something called pre gaming now where they, you know, they drink before going out and sometimes that happens instead of food.would like to state for the record that I did pregame, so it's not so new.Okay.But you're right, Rayna. It's like, it's,So I'm aging But my point is right, no, but you're right, like it'syeah, it was like a dinner time, right? Instead of dinner, that's happening.yeah.Exactly.hmm. Mm hmm.  Three things that are important to consider are your use of caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine, and I'm saying this without judgment, just to be considered, because they often interfere with eating.Right, and so I think to kind of list your point, there are going to be times we're going to come back to this topic for people who are doing it purposefully because they know that that happens. And so that's a whole different topic. But there are probably a lot of people. Right. Listening who, like, you know, like for, again, for me, you know, sort of like, Oh, so if you are going to pregame, maybe think about that and put some nutrition in your body and make sure that you're not, that the alcohol isn't going to impact that part of it.Uh, Reina, something we talked about earlier and I'm mindful of time. I want to make sure we get to this is that you said one of the other obstacles is the eating alone part. And, I think this comes up a lot. There's the anxiety of. Yeah, just eating alone. I mean, even adults, there's plenty of adults that can't saddle up to a bar at a restaurant and eat their meal alone due to anxiety.Just, let'smuch rather eat with somebody, but it's just not always possible in college, right? Everybody has different, um, class schedule and you're developing friendships. Once again, sometimes it's just hard to access people in the moment. So. If you could exert, you know, challenge yourself and practice eating alone.I think that's a learned skill and a really good one to have. And if you can do it, there's like little things you could do to try to make yourself more comfortable. You may need to, once again, decide. What you're eating that day, maybe that day you don't want to walk all around the cafeteria and you know, you're just going to get the pizza, grab an apple, maybe grab a chocolate milk and call it a day, but maybe plan on having something with you, take out your planner, FaceTime, a friend from home or a family member, or take out a book or some light schoolwork that doesn't require a lot of concentration.If you can do that, that's wonderful. By the way, if you sit in a cafeteria or a dining hall and you look around probably 50 percent of the students are eating alone, but that doesn't mean it's easy for you. Right. That's still, it's still challenging for some people and we want to be respectful of that.Another option is dining halls often to go containers. You could go in and take your food back to your dorm, or sit on a bench, or go sit in one of the study buildings. Most of the academic buildings have tables, like in the, in the hallway, or on the back patio, or, and you can bring food. I mean, food is allowed all over college campuses, unless it's a laboratory. So you could always take your food with you into another academic building or a student center and eat where a lot of people are alone or back to your dorm. So there are options, or you could just avoid the dining hall completely and choose to go to one of those takeout eateries somewhere else on campus.And once again, bring it back to your room. But that is tricky, and I think that can make it hard for students.Yeah, we actually, one of our early episodes, we talked to somebody who was sharing her, her sort of relationship about being alone from freshman year to now, you know, I think she was in her sophomore year at the time and she's like, now I actually really love alone time because I'm with people so much, you know, my dorm, my, you know, my sorority, all sorts of things. She's like, but at the time I really just assumed people would look at me like I'm a loser. But the truth is, I think for this conversation people rarely assume that you can always just get something and walk. They don't know that you're walking cause you weren't eating with somebody.They think you're walking to class. Right. Um, and you know, as you're eating your wrap to go that we can also probably share some, you know, some of the notes or that episode, cause we really do talk about what are some of the ways. That our thoughts make us feel like people are kind of judging us in social situations when really yeah and this for this particular topic It's like work around it.There is a workaround, but I do think that is a barrier, and that is one of the obstacles. It really is. It takes a lot to even get out of your dorm room and choose to go get food on your own.Right.Yeah,You know, just having that plan. um, I know that we've already taken up so much of your time. This has been amazing. It's hilarious that I'm in my, I'm like raising two kids and in my mid forties and I'm learning all sorts of things about nutrition. So thank you.Thank I'm learning all along with you college students. Where can people, like, if they want to find either you or a resource that you think they want to find a bit more information about some of the topics you've talked about, do you have a website that you want to share?Yes, my website is ctthrive. com. That's the best way to get information.Easy! Very easy. Well, Reina, this was so great. Like I said, I feel like there's a lot that we didn't even talk about, but I really feel like There's some information about how to equip yourself better to be prepared for, how to ensure that you are feeding yourself properly when you're in school. And then also how to be a little bit more flexible in your thinking.Like I said, I hope anyone who's listening is struggling with eating on a college campus. I think being more flexible and problem solving more, I think, sounds like two really important skills to ensure that you're not just giving up. So if I could just add one more thing to wrap up a little bit. So I agree. Flexibility is a key word, as is adaptability, right? We are completely adapting to a new environment and a new schedule every semester. Sometimes new friend groups. There's so many players. There's so many variables, you know, in the college atmosphere that make it challenging and exciting.Right? Both. The other thing I was going to say is there are dieticians on campuses and they're typically part of the food service and they are available to meet with students. And if a student has a food allergy or struggling to find something they like or has questions, they can reach out to the food service dietician. That is part of their job, and I believe every college campus hasI didn't know that. That's great.So that's something that is useful to know. The other thing that I just want to mention, I know I talked about snacks, there should always be snacks in your backpack. Always. Because you're always going to be pulled in a direction and not have time, even if you have the best plan. There should always be food in your backpack. Nuts, dried fruit, I don't care if it's a Pop Tart. Fine. Granola bar, PB& J, something. There should always be something, because going to class hungry, and then being stuck for a few hours with no access to food, is just not a good setup for success.you can even start to feel kind of lightheaded,Absolutely. Be will cure prepared. right so can I just ask a last really important Question. How long should you, you know, how long can the peanut butter and jelly be in there before maybe, maybe don't eat it.  I think if you see mold on the bread, maybe that's not, I would say mold on themold on the bread. ButI would say twothe other important tip I'll circle back to, I feel like Rayna, like you said, like use your dining hall, make a PB and J to go like that. The bread and stuff is there so that maybe you're like,Right. Wrap it in a napkinit with you.And you could do that every day, right? So you don't have to worry about the one in the bottom of your You absolutely, yes, you can. You could absolutely do it every day. And I also think you could grab a muffin. Like, they always have those pastries, which you may not want at breakfast because you're trying, you know, you want something different, but take one to go. Make your parents happy because you're eating on campus rather thanThat's right. Get your money's worth and don't order DoorDash. Okay, Reina. Thank you so much for being on today andhopefully we'll connect again soon. We're so grateful. Thank you guys. I hope this was helpful. Thank you to our guests for sharing their stories and their advice. 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