The Grad Student’s Guide to Healthy Eating

Set aside one day a week to plan meals, grocery shop, and prep. If completing all these tasks in one day does not fit your schedule, plan and shop on one day and meal prep the next. Numerous meal planning apps exist to help you organize your menu and grocery list and to keep track of your favorite recipes. Streamlining your meal planning process can establish a rhythm of meal planning, especially once you’ve done it a while, and can quickly fill out your menu with staples from past weeks. For example, a rotation of favorite balanced breakfasts like oatmeal, eggs, nut butter on toast, yogurt and fruit, and cereal can quickly be placed on a meal plan each week.

When choosing a menu, prioritize foods that make you feel your best and that compose a balanced diet. Use MyPlate as a starting point, then gather your list of meals and place them on your calendar. Choosing meals that build on one another allows you to cook once and eat twice. If you’re making grilled chicken tonight, for example, use the leftover grilled chicken tomorrow on a hearty salad for lunch. Planning meals helps manage your grocery bill by creating less food waste and saving you money. If you are not sure where to start, try the healthy meal prep calendar and shopping list below. It’s free and removes uncertainty and guesswork.

1-Week Meal Plan Template +

Our bodies need fuel to survive, but they need nutrition to thrive. Good nutrition improves your overall physical health and positively affects your energy levels, mental clarity and concentration, immune system, and even your sleep. Simply put, when you eat better, you feel better. When you feel better, you think better, and the ability to think clearly and concentrate for long periods is crucial for success in grad school.

Healthy eating is not always easy, though, especially in a culture filled with drive-through windows and processed convenience store snacks. Navigating the ever-changing health guidelines, trends, and claims is challenging and requires diligence. Knowing where to start, learning to maximize your time, and spending wisely combine to make healthy eating more sustainable. To help in that effort, this guide provides healthy eating basics, meal prep steps, and healthy eating hacks to make healthy eating easier for even the busiest grad student.

For busy people, meal prep containers make eating on the go sustainable. You can invest in microwaveable meal storage containers, mason jars, bento containers, or reusable baggies based on what suits your needs and preferences. Microwaveable containers work well for storing and heating pre-prepped meals or leftovers. Stacked salads, soups, and overnight oats can all be stored and transported in mason jars. Bento containers are visuals reminder to vary what you’re eating and often have built-in silverware. Reusable baggies work for transporting healthy snacks like pre-cut veggies, fruits, homemade trail mix, or your favorite crackers. Using your prep day to cut up vegetables and pre-cook portions or entire meals saves you time throughout the week. You’ll also likely use fewer ingredients that require cooking to speed up the process. Salad greens, for example, split up into ready-to-grab containers with toppings in a reusable baggie make a great grab-and-go lunch option.

With intuitive eating, dieting is not the mindset. Enjoy your favorite restaurant occasionally. Plan for it and write “Dine Out” on your meal plan for that night. If you are planning to eat out, balance your food choices earlier in the day to account for the fruits and vegetables you might not have with your pizza and wings that night. Keep healthy eating basics in mind and enjoy the pleasure of a meal out knowing you have fueled your body in healthy ways throughout the day.

• Overnight oats with berries, chia seeds, and Greek yogurt. You can make these in a travel container such as a mason jar and stick it in the fridge. Tomorrow morning’s breakfast will be ready to grab and go when you are!
• Breakfast protein box: Think hard-boiled eggs, cheese, fruit, raw veggies, and hummus. Mix and match your favorite easy finger foods for an energy-packed breakfast that won’t result in a huge crash.
• Smoothies are endlessly variable. Make them with protein powder, fruit, and/or veggies. They can be assembled as needed, or you can pre-pack freezer bags with all the ingredients for one smoothie, label it, and quickly make your smoothie in the morning.
• Freezer breakfast sandwiches, like these from Tastes Better from Scratch, are easily customizable. Choose a protein (e.g., ham, turkey bacon, bacon, sausage, egg), then add your favorite cheese. Wrap sandwiches individually for easy reheating in the microwave. Add minced veggies to your eggs before cooking for extra nutrition.
• Make on-the-go parfaits by filling a mason with yogurt and fruit. Keep your granola or other crunchy toppings separate and add them right before eating. Parfaits are great because you can prep multiple ones at once and can vary the yogurt type and flavor as well as the fruit and extra toppings.
• For a much quicker version of pancakes, try this 2-minute pancake bowl from the Jordo’s World blog. Add fresh fruit as a topping or protein powder to the mix for a more satiating breakfast.

• Lunch protein box: Deli meat, or something less processed like leftover grilled meat, cheese, crackers, your favorite raw veggies, and hummus.
• A faithful healthy choice, a salad can be topped with veggies and your favorite protein and toppings. Keep your dressing on the side until you’re ready to use it. Vary your greens, protein, and toppings to balance out your nutrition, and try mixing herbs into your greens for an extra kick of flavor.
• A sandwich or wrap with whole wheat bread, protein, and veggies makes a solid lunch for most people. Add fruit on the side for even more nutrient variety.
• If you like pasta salad, choose whole-grain pasta and add veggies and protein. In addition to the many varieties of pasta salad you can make as shown in this online roundup of recipes from Ree Drummond, fruit is a great companion to this cold meal.
• Leftovers are the easiest grab-and-go lunch. Store in a portable container after dinner and label with the date made. Add pre-cut vegetables or a piece of fruit on the side to balance out your lunch.

• Any of the above lunch recipes work for dinner as well.
• Pre-prep a protein, veggie, and carb, then pack it up. Eat it cold, or warm it when you’re ready. Choose dishes you enjoy heated or cold for best results.
• Make this quick bread packed with cheese and herbs from Recipe Tin Eats to serve as a side with any protein and veggie of your choice. Eat fruit as your dessert.
• These gluten and dairy free Salmon cakes from the Cotter Crunch blog made ahead are great hot or cold. They’re also a great protein topper on a salad.
• Breakfast for dinner is never a bad choice and whipping up an omelet with veggies, toast, and fruit is never a bad way to end the day.

• Avoid fried or highly processed foods and look for higher-quality whole foods and ingredients. Don’t be afraid to ask your server for suggestions or about ingredients.
• Choose water (or sparkling water if you like carbonation). Avoid soda and other empty-calorie drinks.
• Order a lighter side option like a salad or steamed vegetables instead of fries.
• Balance is everything. If you plan to join your friends for pizza and beer night, make sure you eat your fruits and vegetables earlier in the day. Plan ahead. The key is to make good choices most of the time while also being flexible, especially when socializing.
• Take home leftovers. Restaurant portions are often much larger than the recommended size. Stretch that meal into two by bringing home your leftovers.
• Order first. Don’t let yourself be influenced to choose something less healthy. When your server asks who wants to start, pipe right up. You’ll be less likely to waver in your healthy choice if you go first.

It’s hard to pause and enjoy your food, especially when you are eating on the go, so take the time to enjoy your food and rest your mind. This also gives your body more time to communicate fullness to your brain, which limits overeating.

Healthy eating is a habit. You won’t make the transition all at once. Let small steps add up to a big difference over time.

Avoid having a lot of highly-processed convenience food around. When you’re hungry, go to your well-stocked fridge of fruits and vegetables for a between-meal snack.

Depending on the number of people you have in your household, using all your fresh produce can be a struggle. Frozen veggies and fruit are actually packed at the height of the growing season and are a fantastic option for quality veggies, especially during the winter months.

Few people enjoy eating the same thing repeatedly, so plan for a variety of meals, flavors, and spices to keep your palate excited and your stomach full. Cooking your chicken breast with entirely different flavors, for example, helps avoid monotony. Follow this same principle with fruits, veggies, and grains. Don’t be afraid to experiment with new flavors and cuisine styles.

Make your own salad dressing by mixing up a batch of healthy vinaigrette like this simple recipe from Cookie and Kate to keep on hand. Make as much as you need, customize the flavors to your liking, and avoid highly processed salad dressings sold in stores

If you already have an arsenal of favorite recipes but many include fried foods, try baking or using the air fryer to lighten up your favorite meals.

Don’t skip meals because you’re busy. Plan for busy days by keeping easy-to-grab, healthy, and sustaining snacks like nuts and seeds on hand. Eating regularly keeps your metabolism going and helps avoid making poor food decisions when you’re overly hungry.

This signals your brain that you have shifted from working to eating. It also helps you be mindful as you eat and pay attention to your food and your body.

This may sound counterintuitive, but remember you are training yourself to listen to your body’s cues. Don’t force yourself to eat foods you hate because they’re “superfoods.” That said, if all you enjoy is pizza, you might need to branch out and try and find more foods you like. Variety and balance are key.