Hi y'all,

I'm a 20 yr old student and I'm trying really hard to stick to my 1200 calorie a day plan by doing 300 for breakfast, 400 for lunch, and 500 for dinner. The tricky part is that I eat at dining halls, so my eating times and choices are controlled by them. I woke up today at 10(sleeping in for the first time this week) and realized there is no way of getting food on campus between 10 and 11. Furthermore, if I do breakfast at 11, then I can only eat again between 5 and 7 and that has to be my final meal. Anyway, I have cleared my room of most food so that I am not tempted and the only things I have left are apples and mini candy bars(they are to calm down my always crazy best friend). So do I skip breakfast and not have that "most important meal of the day" or do I eat an apple and a candy bar that while isn't that bad calorie wise(as long as a stick to a certain quantity), has no nutritional value(no protein at all)? I usually do an english muffin with 3 egg whites and some tabasco sauce for breakfast to get me going for the next few hours. So do I just skip breakfast all together next time I wake up late or go for the horrible choices?

An apple is a great fruit to eat, and the fiber will help tide you over. The mini candy bar won't hurt if your following your calories, the fat will help tide you over too. Skipping breakfast is worse than not eating, as it will throw you out of wack for the rest of the day. And it's not like you are eating one of those McDonald's "mcgriddles" with 1000 calories (or however many are in them).

Honestly, there is not much difference between a candy bar and all those granola bars, once you look at the calories & fat & fiber, etc. And snickers bars actually have a little protein in them.

My problem is, I can't stop with just one serving... :)

LOL. Thanks jezebel. That's the way I thought about it too, I just wasn't sure if that was the sugar-addict side of me talking, though.

I'm in college too, and definitely have the same problem (definitely can never manage to wake up in time for breakfast haha). The solution I found for myself is that the dining halls sometimes have apples, bananas and/or small breakfast muffins. All 3 of those options seem to be pretty filling for me. So, when I see that they have them I stock up for the whole week!

Also prepare yourself for next time! Go to the store and get yourself some instant oatmeal or other types of fruit or bars. Be careful of the bars you get though, granola bars tend to be lower in calories but not have all that much nutritional value, energy bars on the other hand have lots of nutritional value but tend to be quite high in calories. I've found that Luna brand bars are a great balance, most of them have around 200 calories and also have lots of fiber and protein packed in, they're also yummy!

And don't forget, you don't always have to have traditional "breakfast foods" for breakfast, you can change it up by having a Healthy Choice soup cup or a frozen diet meal, Lean Cuisine makes different sizes of their frozen meals and they have small ones that would work for your 300 calorie breakfast. And neither of those things will go bad in your dorm room so you can keep them around for a while for emergencies (as long as you have one of those little fridge's with the freezer compartment up top).