Clemson Dining Services, Healthy Choices and You

If you "Googled" healthy choices, about 4 million hits are brought up.  If you refine the search to, making healthy food choices, about 3 million hits are brought up.  Needless to say, there is an overwhelming amount of information about what a healthy choice is and how to make them.  This section of the website is dedicated to bringing you accurate, concise and practical nutrition, food and physical activity information, which you can utilize everyday and feel confident about doing so. 

Make sure to check back with us for new information.

Remember, make healthy choices today for a healthier tomorrow!
 


Make the Eat Well Plate, Your Plate! 

New Initiative for the Spring 2012 Semester "The Just4U Eat Well Selection" 

This new initiative mirrors the new USDA "My Plate" (replaced "The Food Guide Pyramid Approach"), where the focus is making healthy food choices at every meal by building a plate around the proper portion of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and low-fat dairy products.

Every day, a menu suggestion at each dining hall will be featured for lunch and dinner.  This "Eat Well Suggestion" will be displayed at the display plate section of each dining hall.  The menu suggestion will be approximately 600 calories, contain approximately 20 g of fat or less and contain approximately 600 mg of sodium or less.  Posts will be made to the Clemson Dining Services Facebook fan page each day reflecting these choices.  The menu suggestion will reflect the plate only - so do not forget to add some fruit and a serving of dairy (if necessary) to finish off your meal!

If you have any questions about this new initiative, please feel free to email me at nutrition@clemson.edu and I will try to answer your question as quickly as possible.  You can always post your questions, comments or concerns on the Clemson Dining Services wall through Facebook and they will be answered as quickly as possible as well.

Click here for Schilletter dining hall's Just4U Eat Well Suggestion for the week.

Click here for Harcombe dining hall's Just4U Eat Well Suggestion for the week.

If you need some help in choosing healthier items throughout the dining hall, here are some tips you can use at each station!

Click here for the Healthy Eating Survival Guide.



One of the most important steps when you are striving to live a healthier life is to "Know Your Numbers".  What numbers...?  Your Body Mass Index (BMI), your daily caloric needs, how many calories you burn during your daily exercise routine....those numbers!  Check out the following links, as they will help you to "Know Your Numbers".

BMI Calculator - your Body Mass Index (BMI) is a reflection of your weight compared to your height.

My Pyramid Tracker - will help you determine the quality of your diet, give you information on your physical activity status and provide helpful advice to get you to your goals.

My Pyramid Plan - click this link if you are interested in finding out how many servings of each food group you need everyday.

Physical Activity Calculator - find out how many calories you burn during your daily exercise routine.  This link also gives you information how many calories you burn doing your day to day routine, like grocery shopping, working on your computer and walking to class.



Looking for your healthy options on campus - look no further! 

For a list of all the healthy items on campus, click here!



Snacking can be one of the biggest challenges when you are striving to make healthy choices. 

Click here for some information about healthy snacking. 

If you have ever considered going vegetarian or vegan, click here for some helpful hints.


 
Portions, serving sizes, calorie levels, food groups - all of the necessary lingo one would need to succeed in
making a lifestyle change.  However, all this terminology can be overwhelming and sometimes confusing. 

Click here to get a better handle on all these terms and more.



Learn how to read a food label - and have it make sense!  Click here for the tutorial.



The American Dietetic Association (ADA), one of the premier authorities on food and nutrition, maintains "there are no bad foods, no good or bad times to eat and no magic bullet for maintaining a healthy weight."  The fact is, living healthier involves a total diet approach.  It's your overall eating pattern that should be focused on and no single food or meal will ruin your healthful diet.

Click here for an example of a healthy eating pattern based on a 2000 calorie diet.