About
Me:
Are you having a hard time transitioning
into college? Ever miss your mother’s delicious, home cooked meals? Have you
wondered how easy college would be with your parent’s telling you exactly what
to do? If you’ve answered yes to one or all of these questions, this blog is
worth taking a look at. Amy On the Go
follows my journey transitioning from Los Angeles to Santa Clara, California,
where I now attend Santa Clara University. Starting school in the fall of 2014
was no easy transition. My diet became unbalanced, my academics were hard to
maintain, and like many first year students I became extremely homesick. Going
home for Thanksgiving and Christmas break felt like all of the weight was
lifted off my shoulders once my mom told me what to eat and how to go about my
whole eating schedule. The problem is, my mom doesn’t go to school with me. She
can’t tell me what to avoid, and most importantly she cannot tell me what to
eat everyday.
I created this blog to show not only
college students, but myself that creating your own schedules and eating habits
should not have to be that difficult. I want to bring some lessons my mother
has instilled in me throughout my high school years and apply them to my
college experience here at Santa Clara. I am not going to lie; it will be hard.
College students have to worry about their academics, eating healthy, staying
fit, and navigating through their crazy schedules. Amy On the Go, follows my college journey and the obstacles that
come with being more that 350 miles away from home. But with research and
experimenting for myself, I am sure that I will be on the pathway to being in
control of my own schedule. Finding a balance and creating healthful habits
will be my ultimate goal. But I am not an expert, I will be on this journey
with my readers toward an easier college experience. I will serve as a source
of education to surviving college without our parents. Hope you join me along
for the ride.
*My lovely mother and I*
“Tienes
que desayunar,” you have to have breakfast, my mother continuously reminded me
all throughout high school. Lars Lien from the Institute of General Practice
and Community Medicine and Institute of Psychiatry discuses the importance of
breakfast for young people in his piece, "Is
breakfast consumption related to mental distress and academic performance in adolescents." Lien states that, “regular consumption of breakfasts cereal [has] been shown not only
to lead to being in a positive mood, but also to improve memory and driving performance,”
and “has been linked to reduced stress and reduced infection rates…” (Lien 422).
Breakfast not only improves overall
performance throughout one’s day, but it also helps lessen the poor health that
may result from crazy college schedules.
http://www.wellingtontutoring.com/researcher-offers-simple-tips-to-help-college-students-fend-off-freak-outs/
Looking back to my high school
experience, it started off very similar to my first quarter here at SCU. As I
was busy with homework, extracurricular activities, and taking on endeavors
that would impress college admissions, breakfast never seemed like the most
important meal of the day. I stayed hard at work, making it difficult to make
time to have a decent meal. At least for me, sitting down to have breakfast was
never really an option.
As luck would have it, running on no
sleep, having a busy schedule, and of course not having the best options are a
few of the daily struggles many college students deal with when thinking about
having breakfast. I probably had breakfast once my first quarter of freshman
year. Yes, I had breakfast one time, and I’m pretty sure it was a power bar
that I only had half of. It was a poor choice. Lien also states that breakfast
is so important that, “eating [it] regularly is associated with less mental
distress and improved academic performance in a dose-response manner among
adolescents” (Lien 425). Breaking away
from these poor habits would be key toward bettering my personal “mental
distress” and “performance” in all my classes. I saw my sleeping habits become
irregular, my homework not being completed to the best of my ability, and a
constant exhaustion that followed me throughout my day. I knew things had to
change during the winter quarter.
http://blog.bpm-latam.org/2011/03/harvard-business-review-blog-acerca-de.html
For my first post I’d thought I would
keep in mind the number one lesson my mother gave me in high school: always
have breakfast. Seeing as I wanted to improve my second quarter of freshman
year, I thought, why not give this advice from my mom a try? Starting on Friday
January 30th, my plan was to put Lien’s and my mother’s facts to
work and analyze my behavior after having breakfast for two days. I wanted to
improve my diet, and performance in class,
and hope that with this daily boost I’d even be happier during my time at SCU. But
as Gail Rampersaud suggests in his piece, "Breakfast
Habits, Nutritional Status, Body Weight, and Academic Performance in children
and Adolescents," the nutrition that one’s breakfast contains is as
important as having breakfast itself. He states that breakfast should “include
foods from a variety of food groups (eg, whole grain, fruit, and dairy) to
ensure that [individuals] receive a variety of nutrients and fiber” and a high
intake of dairy products because, “a decreased consumption of milk products could
result in low consumption of other nutrients such as vitamin A and riboflavin”
(Rampersaud 754). Keeping this in mind I knew that I would not just have
anything for breakfast. My first meal of the day had to be well balanced and
contain a good variation within the food groups.
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/diabetes2/subsection.cfm?SubSectionID=14
Friday
January 30th:
On Thursday, I immediately went to
Safeway to buy foods to make sure I could start my Friday morning with a
wholesome breakfast. I woke up earlier so I could boil some milk in my Mr. Coffee kettle and prepare my
oatmeal before my 9:15am class. Using this plastic cup, I put in a small cup of
oatmeal, couple cups of boiled milk, a small packet of sugar, and added bananas
for it to taste better. It took me a total of about ten minutes to prepare my
oatmeal. Altogether I received more than 25 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of
fiber, 5 grams of protein, about 3 grams of fat, and 10% of my daily value of
iron from the oatmeal. It is also rich in many other minerals. In addition to
my oatmeal, the banana included about 50 carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber, 2
grams of protein, and 1 gram of total fat. Overall it was a delicious breakfast
that was easy to make and included various amounts of fiber and nutrients to
get me through my Friday.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/194851121352546794/
Saturday
January 31st:
Waking up Saturday morning I craved
a tasty bowl of cereal. I had two choices in my dorm, Cocoa Puffs or Honey
Bunches of Oats with Almonds. Seeking a more wholesome option, I went for the
Honey Bunches of Oats that included about 2.5 grams of fat, 26 grams of
carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 2 grams of protein, 15% Vitamin A, 60% iron,
10% Vitamin D, and even 25% of riboflavin. I knew this cereal would be a better
choice because of the whole grain wheat, oats, and almonds it contained. I was
also able to include my diary products with adding non-fat milk to my cereal.
The milk also included 32% of calcium, 10% Vitamin A, 4% of Vitamin C, 1% Iron,
and 9 grams of protein. Not only was I able to include some grain and oats, but
also the milk definitely helped boost the vitamins and protein I received from
the meal altogether.
http://onesweetappetite.com/apple-crisp/
I would my trial having breakfast in the morning was a success. Friday being my first day having
breakfast was hard. I was not hungry at all, but I made sure I finished my cup
of oatmeal for the sake of seeing the difference compared to days where I
didn’t have breakfast. Usually I tend to be sleepy during my first two classes
on Fridays before I have lunch. But surprisingly on Friday I didn’t feel as
tired, and I was even productive during my break in between my 10:30am class and
my math class at 2:15pm. I usually want to nap or just hang out during my
break, but on Friday, I decided to work on math homework for the following
week. Then on Saturday it was a bit different. Having cereal with milk did help
me initially wake up, but I noticed I got hungry before my usual lunchtime. I’m
not sure if it was because maybe I had a small bowl of cereal, but I did notice
how soon I was ready for another meal. Both days taught me valuable lessons
about the importance of breakfast, but most importantly the significance of
what I include in my breakfast. These meals have to be nourishing and help me get through my mornings until lunchtime. One cannot simply slack off on
what I've now come to see as the most important meal of the day. My goal is to continue
this and make having breakfast a habit. I need to break away from my poor
habits and structure my eating schedule now. Along with having breakfast every
morning, I also hope to explore my morning drinks. Stop by next week to read
about my decision to look into eliminating coffee with more natural options that
will give me the same energy coffee does in the morning.
https://zero2sixtyevents.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/never-skip-breakfast-again/
http://weheartit.com/entry/134505711
Works Cited
Lien,
Lars. "Is breakfast consumption related to mental distress and academic
performance in
adolescents?." Public health
nutrition 10.04 (2007): 422-428.
Rampersaud,
Gail C., et al. "Breakfast habits, nutritional status, body weight, and
academic
performance in children and
adolescents." Journal of the American Dietetic
Association 105.5 (2005): 743-760.
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