Eating Healthy in the Dining Center
More stories from Marisa DuVal
Being a college student means that you can be limited to the choices of what to eat on campus. Le Moyne however, provides many healthy options to choose from no matter if you’re eating at the dining hall, the Dolphin Den, or grabbing something quick at the Sea Store.
- Look for the Mindful Entrées
When it comes to eating a healthy meal, we think a salad or sandwich is the best choice. However, many students do not realize that the dining hall and Dolphin Den have easy options for making healthy choices.
“We have a Mindful entrée at every station. They are labeled by a big sign,” says James Suriano, the general manager of Le Moyne Dining services.
“Mindful entrees have less than 600 calories and are designed to be healthy options.”
On the Mindful entrée’s sign, it lists the calorie count, total fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbs, sugar, and protein in the entrée. Also if you use the Myfitnesspal App, you can scan the barcode on the sign, in order to calculate exactly what is in the meal. “You can look at it and say ‘hey I know I made a healthy choice’,” says Suriano.
- Choose wisely in the Sea Store
When you’re in the Sea Store in between classes, you are tempted to grab the first bag of chips you spot when you walk in. As you move to the back of the tiny convenient store, you’ll find many healthy snacks to choose from.
The best option to choose from are the to-go cups.
“My favorite healthy snack from the Sea Store is hummus with carrots or a cup of grapes,” says senior Cara Cawley.
“My favorites are the trail mix cups,” says Suriano. “You get the protein from the nuts, and the fruit has a little sugar in it to get that sweetness to it.”
In addition to hummus with carrots, trail mix, or a cup of grapes, the Sea Store has cups of fruit, vegetables, and yogurt covered pretzels. These cups are healthy, delicious, and easy to eat on the run or during class.
- Stay away from fried food at the Dolphin Den
Instead of grabbing mozzarella sticks and a burger at the Dolphin Den for an on the go meal, grab something from the dining hall and Sea Store instead. Both the dining hall and Sea Store have many options for healthy meals on the go. Cesar salads, tuna salad on wheat, and turkey and cheese sandwiches are the main options available at the Sea Store and the to-go station at the dining hall.
“My favorite meal from the to-go station at the dining hall is the chicken cesar salad because I love salads,” says sophomore Nicole Cerrone.
However, if you don’t like any of those choices from the to-go station or the Sea Store, you can get a meal from inside the dining hall and take it with you, thanks to the new reusable containers.
This year, the dining hall has introduced the new option of choose to reuse containers. You pay $10 to have a reusable container under your account for the entire year. With the container, you can put whatever you want in it. You could grab one of the Mindful entrées, or something from the simple servings station.
“The reusable containers have been popular and especially for the student athletes,” says Jim Suriano, general manager of the dining services at Le Moyne.
- Eat a smaller portion size
Portion size is very important when it comes to eating healthy.
“I suggest to eat small portion sizes,” says senior Cara Cawley.
Smaller portion sizes means that you know you are not over eating. On the government website choosemyplate.gov, it shows you what portion sizes you should have for vegetables, fruits, dairy, protein, and grains for each meal. They also tell you how much vegetables, fruits, grains, and protein you should consume each day as well.
