Dining services is educating students to count the amount of colors and variety of foods on their plate as opposed to worrying about calories.

Campus Dietician Natalie Stein orchestrated the free lunch for students on Jan. 17 to show them how to put together a healthy salad.

“Too often we get bogged down with calories and macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fat) and it takes the joy out of eating,” said Stein. “No one should feel guilty for eating.”

Stein wants students to be more mindful of the types of food they are eating and what to add to their diet such as fruits and vegetables, as opposed to what they should limit.

At the event, flyers from the USDA explained how to “liven up your meals with vegetables and fruits,” and “smart shopping for veggies and fruits,” to help make eating healthier foods a cheap and easy thing to do.

Some suggestions for livening up your meals were stir-frying veggies, mixing them into an omelette and topping your pancakes with extra fruit.

Tips for buying on a budget included shopping around for savings, plant your own vegetables and buy the store brands for extra savings.

“You can achieve a healthier weight by incorporating more fruits and vegetables,” said Stein. “By doing this you can eat more overall while still eating less calories.”

Stein and Dining Services offered students a free salad bar in the Roost lobby, featuring: beans, multiple salad dressings, avocados, quinoa, spinach and examples for building the perfect to-go salad.

The Dining Services department is dedicated to helping students live healthier lives no matter their budget. Even if you are eating a-la-carte everyday, they try to give you options.

“Dining services tries really hard to have a healthy option everyday,” Stein said. “There are many opportunities to eat healthy here at Eastern.”

With the completion of the PUB coming up this fall, Stein says Dining Services has plans for making healthy eating even easier.

“There is going to be healthy to-go options students can grab and go,” said Stein. “We are going to try out different kinds of grain bowls and sandwiches students will be able to pick up.”

Making the transition to healthy eating can be hard, dieting is not always going to go smoothly, and Stein knows this.

“There will still be times where you will have chicken tenders,” said Stein. “That’s life. I ate pizza last week.”