Lookin’ Great and Feeling Sexy: Broke Doesn’t Mean Fat

December 3, 2013

By Erica Schwartz
@ericasalviati

Stocking up the fridge with the healthy goodies bought from Shaw’s./PHOTO VIA Erica Schwartz

You are a college student, living off of a college student’s budget. So what sounds more intriguing, a $2 McDonalds cheeseburger or a $14 5 Napkin Burger cheeseburger?

I get it. For some odd reason, the world works in a backwards way: fast food (otherwise known as really fattening food) is usually cheaper than its healthier counterpart. To buy a proper meal, such as grilled chicken with some vegetables and white rice, you would have to spend at least $10 more than you would just buying a taco at one of those food trucks that roam around BU campus 24/7.

And let’s face it: we are college students. We no longer live at home with our financially stable parents and we certainly do not want to waste our scarce amount of money on food (well, most of us anyway).

The trick is to recognize that there ARE other options. I, for one, hate spending my money and only eat my meals at the dining hall in Warren Towers. While there are many unhealthy options in the dining halls, there are also salad bars, turkey slices, chicken without the sauces, egg whites, etc. It is possible!

I also buy groceries at Shaw’s Supermarket, which I leave in my micro-fridge in my room for whenever I need to munch on a healthy snack. From vegetables to hummus to protein shakes, I never go hungry in college and don’t spend that much on icky restaurants like Subway or Canes (don’t even get me started on Canes’ fried chicken). Going grocery shopping once a week or so is a good way to start finding a healthy routine and learning to avoid other more costly and more carb-y places.

Many people wrongly intertwine the terms “fat” with “broke.” While, yes, there is some correlation, it’s not an inevitable fact. Just as you can find a designer dress at the Goodwill if you look hard enough, you can just as well find healthy foods that exist within your budget.

Written by freepblog Posted in Lookin' Great and Feeling Sexy Tagged with broke, chicken, Erica Schwartz, fat, groceries, healthy, salad, sauces, Shaw's, unhealthy, warren towers