Persuasive Speech Eating Healthy with a College Lifestyle Essay

Specific Purpose: To inform the audience how to make nutritious eating choices when you’re strapped for time and on the move. Central Idea: Packing a lunch, choosing a restaurant and meal wisely, and keeping nutritious snacks available can all provide for nutritious eating habits even with an on the-go college lifestyle. Introduction: I. The average college student is often pressed for time. A. As a student are you typically under a lot of stress? B. Do you often find yourself eating on the go? II. I myself am a college student and find it difficult to avoid bad habits like skipping meals or frequently visiting fast food restaurants. III. But eating a healthy diet can help you feel better, cope with stress, and perform better in the classroom and on the athletic field. It really isn’t that hard to get started. IV. Packing a lunch, choosing a restaurant and meal wisely, and keeping nutritious snacks available can all provide for nutritious eating habits even with an on-the-go college lifestyle. (Transition: Let’s start by looking at packing your own lunch.) Body: I. Packing or preparing a lunch can really be a great way to start eating healthier. A. You have healthier options to choose from than you would eating out. B. As explained in the article â€Å"Coffee, Lunch Spending Tops Tax Refunds† packing a lunch is usually less expensive than eating out. The average spent on lunch alone is $37 a week, or $2,000 a year. C. Many convenient options available so you don’t have to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich everyday. 1. If you love sandwiches, use a variety of whole-grain breads, pitas, and wraps. 2. Extra food from dinner make great leftovers to bring for lunch, expert Connie Diekman, RD, president of the American Dietetic Association suggests â€Å"Leftovers are the perfect food to pack and take for lunch because you can control the portions and calories in the meal to ensure it will be nutritious, filling and delicious.† 3. Produce that can be cut, bagged and stored until lunch time: carrots, celery, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, sweet red pepper, sugar snap peas, apples, blueberries, grapes and melon. D. Bagged lunches can be  prepared the night before and can be made in a few minutes. for convenience so it is easy to eat healthy. (Transition: Going out for lunch is a common way to meet up with friends.) II. Making healthful and delicious choices in restaurants is also easier today. A. Restaurants are incorporating healthier choices into their menus with more options in portion sizes, preparation methods and menu items. 1. Choose a small or medium portion. This includes main dishes, side dishes, and beverages. 2. Order steamed, grilled, or broiled dishes instead of those that are fried or sautà ©ed. 3. Ask for whole-wheat bread for sandwiches. 4. As a beverage choice, ask for water instead of soda. One 20-ounce can of soda has approximately 22 packets of sugar. (â€Å"How Much Sugar Is In One Can Of Soda†) B. You can easily choose healthier items on the menu. 1. Ask them to hold the mayo and other fattening sauces. A tablespoon of regular mayonnaise has almost 100 calories! 2. Many fast-food chains now offer healthy sides in place of French fries. Take the healthy option. Even though they are made from potatoes, which are technically a vegetable, these are the biggest offenders. They are deep fried to the point of removing all nutritional value. In the opinion of physician Dr. Mercola French fries are one of the top 5 absolute worst foods you can’t eat. C. More and more restaurants are appealing to the demand for healthier menus. 1. Subway and other deli-style fast-food chains where you can order a sub or sandwich on whole wheat bread or a wrap, a lower-fat and lower-calorie option than fried food. 2. Between the breakfast and lunch menus, there’s only one entrà ©e at Chick-Fil-A that breaks 500 calories, and that’s the 530-calorie Sausage Biscuit. Chick-Fil-A received the highest rating fast-food restaurant in the â€Å"Eat This Not That! Restaurant Survival Guide,† by David Zinczenko. (Transition: Now that we have looked at bagged lunches and eating-out, let’s turn to snacking healthy.) III. Keeping healthy snacks easily accessible keeps hunger away. A. Make  it a habit to eat a piece of fruit, a bowl of cereal, or some low-fat yogurt before you set out to run errands. Regular eating can help you feel full and avoid temptation B. Blend a fruit smoothie or drink to take with you on your commute. C. Stock your car with bottled water and healthy snacks. Have a small snack before the cravings hit and you’re less likely to pull into that drive-through fast-food outlet. Conclusion: I. As we have seen, there are several options for eating healthy on the go. II. I have focused on packing a lunch, choosing a restaurant and meal wisely, and nutritious snacks. III. Healthy eating habits living a busy college lifestyle is possible with these points in mind. Bibliography: David, Zinczenko. Eat This Not That! Restaurant Survival Guide. Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2010. Print. Kim, Susanna. â€Å"Coffee, Lunch Spending Tops Tax Refunds.† ABC News. ABC News Network, 23 Jan. 2012. Web. 07 Jan. 2013. â€Å"How Much Sugar Is in One Can of Soda?† How Much Sugar Is in One Can of Soda? N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2013. Mercola, Joseph. â€Å"The Five Absolute Worst Foods You Can Eat.† Mercola.com. N.p., 18 Oct. 2003. Web. 07 Jan. 2013 Adams, Mike. â€Å"Five Appetite Control Foods That Suppress Cravings without Adding Calories.† Five Appetite Control Foods That Suppress Cravings without Adding Calories. Natural News Network, 20 Jan. 2005. Web. 07 Jan. 2013.