{"id":143221,"date":"2026-02-04T11:26:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T11:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/143221\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T11:26:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T11:26:06","slug":"usf-nutrition-director-urges-students-to-focus-on-healthier-eating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/143221\/","title":{"rendered":"USF nutrition director urges students to focus on healthier eating"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>USF director of nutrition Lauri Wright said students should focus on building healthier eating habits. ORACLE GRAPHIC\/KEATON DUKE<\/p>\n

While personal goals vary among individuals, some USF students said their goals for this year focus on eating healthier.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But for students beginning their journey to a healthier diet, navigating between resources, food plans or paths can be hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, USF provides students with food and wellness services that can help them achieve their goals.<\/p>\n

The university offers students free meetings with registered dieticians<\/a> for dietary needs, planning or general advice and information, according to USF Wellness Education<\/a>.<\/p>\n

USF\u2019s Feed-A-Bull pantry provides food to students in need and offers a list of affordable recipes, according to its USF webpage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lauri Wright, the director of nutrition programs at USF, said there are a few ways students can strive toward a healthier lifestyle \u2014 starting with food.<\/p>\n

Wright said students should start by building better habits and practicing patience, as it takes time for bodies to adjust to new foods or exercise levels.<\/p>\n

Related: USF\u2019s Feed-A-Bull completes expansion, opens more cold storage<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said too many people view diet change as a complete restriction and an immediate transition \u2014 when it should be a lasting, more impactful approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what that might look like is perhaps adding a glass of water every day, or maybe it\u2019s adding protein to your breakfast or perhaps it\u2019s adding a piece of fruit as a snack,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n

Wright said she has three main pieces of advice for healthier living \u2014 finding an accountability partner, making small changes and avoiding an all-or-nothing mindset of success.<\/p>\n

Wright said today\u2019s dietary trends go \u201cin and out\u201d of style as they circulate online, and said most advertise abrupt dietary restrictions for quick results.<\/p>\n

She explained that these diets often lead people to believe they need to eat less, which can be \u201cdetrimental\u201d to the metabolic rate of a person\u2019s body.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The metabolic rate is the rate a person\u2019s body converts food into energy, according to Cleveland Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Wright said there is no \u201cmagic weight\u201d when it comes to individual health and diets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Therefore, Wright said dietary changes should not be extreme.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead, students should make mindful choices to replace or substitute unhealthy foods with healthier whole foods \u2014 such as replacing fast food with meats, fruits and vegetables.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t tell you how many iterations of the keto or carnivore diet I\u2019ve seen,\u201d said Wright. \u201cIf it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The keto diet is designed to eliminate carbohydrates while maintaining varying protein levels, according to UC Davis Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A carnivore diet is a diet based solely on animal products and excludes most or all plants, according to the National Library of Medicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wright said cutting carbohydrates through these diets is ineffective because it fails to maintain proper nutrients for bodily functions.<\/p>\n

Related: USF students urge dining services to address food theft problem<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Raul Garcia, a senior biology major, said he is working to build muscle through new routines, including improved diet habits and a more protein- and carb-dense diet.<\/p>\n

Garcia said he is motivated to stay healthy because it keeps him in mental and physical shape.<\/p>\n

To do so, Garcia said he uses the on-campus gyms at the Tampa<\/a> and St. Pete<\/a> campuses, which are free for students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I don\u2019t perform best when I\u2019m not healthy [and] it also gets my mind off of school and work,\u201d Garcia said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anna Catalina Kettlewell, a senior business analytics major, said she has had a successful journey finding a nutritional balance.<\/p>\n

Still, the process has required her to be a more mindful eater.<\/p>\n

Kettlewell said she grew up eating whole foods with her meals \u2014 including lean protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables.<\/p>\n

She said she believes these minimally processed, nutrient-dense foods are an important part of staying healthy and maintaining an active lifestyle.\u2019<\/p>\n

Related: USF students weigh in after a semester with new dining provider<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kettlewell also said she has developed a habit of following the 80\/20 rule when eating.<\/p>\n

\u201cEighty percent of the week I\u2019m trying to eat as healthy as possible and hit my protein goal, and the other twenty percent I can eat whatever,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

This guideline allows her to maintain a healthy eating balance without worrying about enjoying the \u201coccasional treat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kettlewell said she believes USF provides strong support for student well-being and nutrition.<\/p>\n

\u201c[USF has] the REC open for good hours with personal trainers [and] compared to other schools, we have good health services and a medical center,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"USF director of nutrition Lauri Wright said students should focus on building healthier eating habits. ORACLE GRAPHIC\/KEATON DUKE…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-143221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}