Eating Healthy at Texas A&M

Let me start by saying that I love this University. I couldn't imagine going to school anywhere else and I've met so many amazing people. I ginuinely look forward to the next 3 years that I'll spend in College Station and the privilege of being apart of the Aggie Family forever. With that said, the one downside to living on this beautiful campus is having to buy a meal plan. It is required for all on campus freshman and includes a combination of meals and dining dollars.

Above is a map of all of the dining choices on campus. The stars indicate where you may use meal trades and all restaurants listed will accept Dining Dollars, credit/debit cards, or cash. My personal meal plan for second semester included 90 meals and 300 dining dollars (with 170 more rolling over from last semester). In total this plan cost $1,190 and breaks down to $9.80 for each meal trade. The unfortunate rip off here is unless you go to one of the dining halls you are paying around $1-$2 more for each meal by using a meal trade. Additionally, meal trades only include certain entrees, sides, and drinks. If you want to learn more about these options visit http://www.dineoncampus.com/tamu/ but take my word for it, by the time second semester rolls around you start to get sick of getting the same things every time you eat somewhere.

So if you have read my post about eating healthy on campus you know that I am attempting to find all of the healthy options on campus over the next month. Ratings are based off of the value of food in terms of money and health. I have just finished my first two days on this mission so here is the update...

Monday

Breakfast: Starbucks oatmeal w/ half fruit and nut + half brown sugar & coffee- 285 calories/ $6

Lunch: Zatar Mediterainian Grill Pita Bread/ Beef Kofta/ Tatziki/carrots + water and a banana- 450 calories/ 1 meal trade

Dinner: (event with organization at On The Border) Border smart combo + water- 350 calories

- Today was a good day except the oatmeal I had for breakfast didn't keep me full for long. By noon I was in need of lunch and I snacked a little more than I had originally planned. My meal trade for lunch was one of my favorite meals on campus, but the only fruit choice they had was bananas and half of them were bruised so I had to hunt for a good one.

- Rating: 4/5

Tuesday

Breakfast: Sbisa english muffin with honey, cheerios with blueberries and soy milk, apple + water and coffee- 300 calories/ 1 meal trade

Lunch: honey roasted peanuts from the Aggie Express and (3/4) Smoothie King Vegan Chocolate Banana- 400 calories/$7

Dinner: burrito from the Aggie Express and chocolate cake I already had in the dorm- 400 calories/$3

-Breakfast at Sbisa is delicious but if you want to be healthy you're kind of limited. A mini muffin is 180 calories and omelettes can be up to 550 with cheese and potatoes. My smoothie was super filling but I wish if you added a power bar it would be a meal trade because just a 20oz will run you around $6 and I feel like this would be a place you got your money's worth for a trade. Dinner was kind of thrown together, but I do have to give props to the Aggie Express for having some good healthy options like fruit, nuts, and frozen dinners.

-Rating: 3/5

-Megan