Here is my problem.

Back at home I could eat perfectly. 6 meals a day, almost exactly 2000 cals/day (on cutting diet) and very good macronutrient ratios.

Now I only get to eat 3 times a day, and one of those meals is ALWAYS oatmeal for breakfast. My choices are pretty varied, and I can eat almost anything you can imagine, from cereal to pizza to steamed vegetables.

My question is, about how much should I eat to get my cals and nutrients ? Also, any suggestions on what I should eat? (I'm currently cutting)

Do you only eat 3 times a day because of time constraints? If you live in a dorm, do they let you have a microwave?

Here is my problem.

Back at home I could eat perfectly. 6 meals a day, almost exactly 2000 cals/day (on cutting diet) and very good macronutrient ratios.

Now I only get to eat 3 times a day, and one of those meals is ALWAYS oatmeal for breakfast. My choices are pretty varied, and I can eat almost anything you can imagine, from cereal to pizza to steamed vegetables.

My question is, about how much should I eat to get my cals and nutrients ? Also, any suggestions on what I should eat? (I'm currently cutting)

Well, the 3 times a day you currently eat, i'm assuming it's real foods that fit into your macro breakdowns, so really your problem is finding quick alternatives to meals.

I always keep bottles of water, cans of tuna fish, protein powder, individual packs of peanuts and cans of turkey breast around.

Just bring a bottle of water w/ protein powder, a pack of peanuts and a can of turkey or tuna in your bag and you've just added 3 more meals to your day, and think about the extra calories you'll burn by carrying an extra couple of pounds around all day :tu:

I'm cutting right now and in college as well, and I unfortunately have to stick to 3-4 regular meals a day, just because campus life does make things too hectic to head to a dining hall 6 times a day. Don't let the idea that eating 6 times a day will significantly make you lose more body fat than 3 "square" meals that we're all taught to eat. It can def. keep your energy levels elevated throughout the day by eating more ofton and having some source of amino acids available to you can help keep muscle retained/building while you're out of the gym. But, as long as your total caloric intake stays at where you want to be (and your body feels okay, not weak and tired), then I wouldn't make it too much of an issue to not eat a lot.

With that said, I still try to at least eat little small things in between the big 3 meals, even if it's just a couple of bites of something -- usually I'll take sandwhich bags with me into the dining hall and take out deli slices or cuts of grilled meat in my pocket (my DH doens't technically "allow" this, you just gotta be sneaky :) ) I get almost all my carbs in the breakfast and lunch meals (and the only simple carbs come in my PWO drink), and eat just meat/veggies for dinner. Take advantage of whatever salad bar you have available to fill yourself up on vegetables (I eat at least 2 huge salads a day, sometimes 3!) If you feel hungry in the late evening, then keep a storage of nuts/cottage cheese/whey protein in your room so you aren't going crazy with hunger attacks.

Now lastly... and I don't want to sound like a know it all lecturing you, but a lot of college kids who want to lose weight find it hard to abandon the party season. I don't know what type of nightlife you lead or if you even like alcohol, but I had to experience leaving behind booze. It can be a tougher decision than it sounds, mainly because some people hate stopping not necesserily the drinking itself but the social life that comes with it. I sure know that I miss the crazy long nights into the morning of being hammered stupid and dancing with dozens of hot girls! But then I think about the morning after, where I felt so shitty and hung over that I wouldn't move out of bed until 3:00 in the afternoon... is it really worth those few hours of drunken stupidity to waste away an entire week's worth of solid nutrition and exercise? Yes, alcohol alone can be that much of a detriment (I was once stuck on a plateau for a month, then removed only liquor from my diet and my fat loss immediately started up again). Right now I might have one or two beers once a week, but no more than that. When I start bulking again I'll slowly get back to having a moderate booze consumption maybe once a week, but if you want to be serious about your diet, don't let the party scene get in the way (even if your friends give you shit about it all the time like mine do).

Whew, I hope that wasn't too exhaustive, I just like to help out fellow college kids with their goals . Peace. :tu:

I have a similar problem, compounded by the fact that I don't have the time to cook for myself very often... well, other than small things like microwaveable meals. So I've had to be picky about what cereals and fast preparation foods I buy (thank God for the Whole Foods store nearby). Meals available on campus are horrible! They've renovated out the old nutritious meals and put in a series of glorified fried sandwich kiosks. I have to walk off of campus in order to find a restaurant capable of giving me a more balanced meal, and usually that's pricy (case in point: there's a vegetarian restaurant not far from me, but it's hard to eat for less than 10 dollars a meal).

I've resigned myself to just taking a good vitamin and then playing the rest of my meals by ear, trying to stear clear of the worst foods. The vitamin makes sure I get the nutrients I need. It's up to me to keep the rest of the bad stuff in check.

Oh, and ramen is not real food. Don't eat it.

You will get sick of oatmeal within a few months of eating it every day for breakfast. I suggest budgetting your calories to allow yourself to go to the campus caffeteria and get some plastic eggs every once and a while. Also, if your campus caffeteria is anything like mine was, then it should have cereal and milk dispensors... though not fat free milk.

Bread, Tuna. You have an extra meal.

If you have time to cook oatmeal you have time to cook a few extra eggs in the morning I'm guessing, they take about 5 minutes at most.