You are what you eat, so watch it

  Gilda Gazor Gilda is a fourth-year
political science student and a master calorie counter. Please
e-mail comments and requests to ggazor@media.ucla.edu.
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Spring break is around the corner, but how are you going to fit
your winter body into that spring swimsuit? Don’t cancel your
trip yet ““ follow this nutrition guide and you won’t
even need to hide behind your beach towel.

People always joke about the “Freshman 15,” but
it’s not a myth. Based on the daily nutritional values, you
should not exceed more than 2,000 calories and 65 g of fat per day
to maintain a healthy diet. It only takes 3,500 extra calories to
gain one pound of fat. Broken down, that’s just 145 extra
calories per day ““ half a bag of chips or one soda ““ to
gain 15 pounds of fat over one year! (Arthur Ashe Student Health
and Wellness Center)

Considering all the calorie-laden foods on campus and in the
dining halls, this weight gain is inevitable.

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If you’re like the average UCLA student, you grab
breakfast on the go, or don’t grab it at all. The worst thing
to do is start your day off with little or no food because you will
have little energy to get you through the day. Also, the fewer
meals you eat in a day, the slower your metabolism works, making it
more difficult to burn what you eat.

Let’s continue with your daily schedule; during your break
on campus, you head over to Sbarro for a quick lunch. But the Baked
Ziti has over 800 calories. It’s not your fault; on campus,
you’re not given many healthy, inexpensive options. Have you
ever noticed that a salad at the salad bar in the Coop costs more
than an entire Panda Bowl? Having to choose between an inexpensive,
hardy lunch and a pricey, unfulfilling salad means you will make a
bad nutritional decision.

You don’t have to pack your lunch to avoid fatty campus
restaurants. Instead, ask the restaurants for their nutritional
chart to see what you’re eating. Rubio’s is probably
one of the healthiest restaurants on campus. They even have a
Health Mex menu with lighter options and they are always willing to
show you their nutritional chart ““ also offered online.
Whether you order from the Health Mex or regular menu, all the food
is cooked with canola oil, without lard, and the chicken is made of
lean, skinless breast meat. Just don’t get the side of chips
(145 calories, 7 g of fat) or sour cream and cheese (229 calories,
18 g of fat).

After lunch, you decide you want something sweet ““ maybe a
chocolate shake at Baskin Robbins which has 1,130 calories and 65 g
of fat ““ more than half of your daily values in calories and
your total daily values in fat. Or, maybe you want a chocolate
doughnut from Krispy Kreme, but you probably don’t think it
has 280 calories and 14 g of fat.

You don’t have to ignore your sweet tooth completely, but
instead of the chocolate shake at Baskin Robbins get the Rainbow
Sherbet, which has only 160 calories and 2 g of fat. Stay away from
Krispy Kreme altogether.

Dinner time rolls around, and if you live in the dorms, this
really means a feast. With all-you-can-eat burgers, pizzas and
other fatty foods, there is no doubt that you will make bad eating
decisions. But just because the dining halls offer many unhealthy
foods, does not mean you should consume them.

I’m not suggesting to stick with the salad bar for the
rest of the year either. If you refer to the nutritional
information for the dining hall menu that is posted online, you can
find out the calorie and fat content of each meal.

Surprisingly, there are several foods that seem fatty, but are
actually not. For example, the vegetable pizza and Manicotti both
have less than 300 calories and 7 g of fat. These are both great
options, but steer clear of foods like the beef lasagna, which has
884 calories and 54 g of fat.

Knowing the nutritional content to what you eat will be very
important for the rest of your life. If you ignore the
“Freshman 15″ you will end up like many people I know
who are struggling with what I call the “Senior
30.”

Poor eating habits will be harder to break as you become older
and more used to them. Ignorance just means extra poundage and no
lovin’ this spring break. So, put down those corn dogs and
leave the big beach towel at home.

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