You wake up in the morning with barely enough time to shower and make it to class. Classes are back-to-back until early afternoon and then it’s off to work.

Your evening is less than relaxing, consisting of attending a meeting and lots of reading.

There is little time in this schedule to fit in three well-balanced meals. Breakfast is a can of pop, lunch is express Chinese food and dinner is a delivery pizza.

This may sound like a rather unhealthy lifestyle, but in reality it describes the daily eating habits of thousands of college students around the country.

These factors can lead to weight gain and the loss of fitness.

But local health experts said college can be one of the best times to start building fitness habits that could carry into adulthood.

“I really do love to cook, so I make meals whenever possible,” said Amy Thelke, junior in English. “There are many times, though, when it is less of a hassle to order carry-out or make a frozen pizza.”

Ruth Litchfield, instructor in the food science and human nutrition department, said there are several reasons for the lack of nutritional balance in students’ diets.

“It is a combination of issues and societal trends,” Litchfield said. “Part is the time issue, part is the convenience and part is the social acceptance of fast food as a norm.”

Gregory Welk, assistant professor of health and human performance, said eating healthy food is hard.

“It is easy to get inexpensive, high fat foods and hard to justify spending more money preparing healthy foods,” he said.

Campustown has several fast food restaurants that receive the majority of their business from students.

Campustown Burger King manager Ashok Taten said the summer months are very slow for sales.

More than 24,000 customers patronize the restaurant each month during the regular school session, but in the summer they only serve about 10,000 customers per month, Taten said.

The sales at the West Hy-Vee also reflect the eating habits of college students.

“There is absolutely a decline in sales [during the summer] on particular student-popular items, such as Ramen noodles,” said Hy-Vee store director Tom Gard. “Any college town is the Ramen noodle capital of the world.”

According to a Journal of American College Health article, college students consume higher quantities of fats and sodium, while eating inadequate amounts of fruits and vegetables.

The article also reported that students have poor exercise habits.

Litchfield said a positive way to start changing an unhealthy mindset is to focus on the size of food portions rather than changing food choices.

“Every food has some nutritional value, but a lot depends on how much and how frequently you eat it,” Litchfield said.

She suggested setting a goal to cut portions by a set amount and committing to regularly scheduled physical activity.

Welk recommends a similar approach.

“Physical activity needs to be [as important as] dietary restraint,” he said. “Even a little physical activity each day helps the body to keep up its metabolism and maintain its weight.”

The Student Health Wellness Center provides fitness assessments and nutritional counseling.

Kaycee Colbert, an intern at the center, said she finds many students exercise to improve their physical appearance rather than for health benefits.

Colbert, senior in community health education, said there are small things that can be integrated into daily routines that will improve health, such as making a conscious effort to take the stairs instead of the elevator.

“People think they need to exercise three days a week for at least one hour,” Colbert said.

“If you still think you need to work out for an hour, you can break it up into several smaller time periods. And do something you like so you will stick with it.”

Welk emphasized that students can lead a healthy lifestyle even when constantly on the run.

“These problems are not unique to college students,” Welk said.

“But now a lot of [students] have started doing the right things and they are already thinking and feeling better.”