<p>My D lives off campus & we put money in her account every couple weeks for groceries. However, she has been buying the very cheapest things possible ( from my observations) and using the money for concert tickets etc.</p>
<p>I take her to the grocery store about every couple months( she doesn’t have a car) when I try & get her to buy enriched soy milk ( she doesn’t usually drink dairy), instead of plain, & buy better quality produce as well as gluten free products, but trying to explain that taking care of your health by eating better is more cost efficient than eating crappy & then getting sick, isn’t really getting through.</p>
<p>I am about ready to start sending her magazine articles by snail mail. * like that would work*
I looked into sending her groceries through Amazon fresh- but no service- maybe Safeway. ( nope that doesn’t work either)</p>
<p>Buy her grocery gift cards instead of putting money in her account? No guarantee that she’ll use them to buy healthier/more expensive food and I guess she could always sell them for cash but it would make it that much harder to spend the money on non-grocery items!</p>
<p>I agree with the grocery card idea. But, I do believe your D is not unusual. You can lead a horse to water…</p>
<p>She will come around. Give it time, and don’t make too much of it, and I would suspect that her body will start dictating a healthier diet in the nearish future. </p>
<p>If she doesn’t have any real health issues, I’d back off on even mentioning her food choices. She’ll come around to choosing healthier eating habits a lot faster if she isn’t trying to prove anything to her parents.</p>
<p>Maybe pray that she get roommates and close friends that are health conscious and eat healthfully? Sometimes, the same thing heard from peers or even a respected adult will have much more of an impact than a parent. Poor diet => poor energy and health is not instantaneous so the connection is not made. Same with unprotected exposure to the sun. On me, the damage didn’t really show up until my late forties. All at once. Good luck!</p>
<p>Be glad she didn’t overspend… If she bought concert tickets, I’d bet she’s not going alone, just be glad she has a social life. I wouldn’t make a big deal about this, Ramen Noodles won’t kill you, and neither will a social life. Let her enjoy herself, you only live life once, and that includes the college years.</p>
<p>She does have health issues and was sick quite a bit last winter resulting in having to drop most of her courses.
She also is wheat sensitive and was identified as a middle schooler although she only refrained for a year or so ( too hard to be different)
I was pleased earlier this year when she stopped eating wheat on her own & she was so happy with how she felt that she talked her sister into trying it- now however she says it is too expensive to eat that way, something that concerns me as I suspect it is the reason why I have osteoporosis despite no other risk factors.
Not really something I want my daughters to get.</p>
<p>She is going to be rooming with 5 other girls and I have no idea how they are working out their meals- I am also thinking of getting a punch card so she can eat some things on campus- I don’t want her to always have to run home when she is hungry.</p>
<p>My D also cooks for herself, in her on campus house, though is the only one in the house to do this regularly. She does have a minimal meal plan, which helps with the social aspect of meals, as she can go to the food court with friends periodically, and eat a salad or something minor. </p>
<p>Does your D have access to Trader Joes? Their frozen foods are so easy, healthy and diverse that combined with a bag of salad greens, cooking is not much of a chore, yet far cheaper than the food plan. </p>
<p>I looked for a delivery service in WA state a while back when she had mono, and couldn’t get out for food. Found nothing. </p>
<p>My son lived on cajun rice and bean mixes as a college student. Cheap, filling, and gluten free. Hummus and cut vegetables or rice crackers are another no brainer staple.</p>
<p>A neighbor recently told me that she has the local grocery store deliver the staples to her son in AZ once a month. You could pop for some of the pricier healthy options this way, and she might just feel inclined to eat them since they are already there. Deduct a little from her allowance and maybe she will have the best of both worlds…freedom to spend as she chooses with her cash budget, and the safety net of having some groceries show up every month without her having to spend “her” money on it.</p>
<p>Safeway (Vons) and Albertsons are two West coast markets that deliver. I know they are associated with other brands across the country.</p>
<p>unfortunately Safeway doesn’t deliver in her area-but I did find a Trader Joes- that I don’t even think she knew about- I will try & stock up her freezer when we head up there Tuesday to help her move.</p>
<p>Her sister lived on campus all 4 years ( although technically off senior year, since they lived in a townhouse with a full kitchen), so I didn’t have to worry so much with her. Plus she had a Trader Joes within walking distance and IMO a pretty nice cafeteria.</p>
<p>( helping D2 stock up is also a way I get to see her, even though she races through the grocery store)</p>
<p>Im a recent college grad, and I got pretty serious about eating “healthy”, but more so stuff that would keep me lean and promote muscle growth, with less emphasis on some of the things you emphasized like gluten free and soy enriched. I took a multivitamin and tried to get my vegetable servings when I could, but my main criteria for food was that it was 1.) cheap, and 2.) high in protein, and only moderate amounts of carbs/fat. Buying organic and things like that was out of the question due to the cost.</p>