From fad diets to MyFitnessPal, college students explore all kinds of ways to foster a healthy relationship with food. But in actuality, many of these methods turn out to be unhealthy due to their short-lasting effects and through perpetuating a skewed mindset in students toward their own bodies.

Nutrition professor and personal nutrition consultant Lee Murphy said a college student’s relationship with food is all about finding a “happy medium.” This compromise looks different from person to person, and it might vary for you from day to day, as college students’ schedules can be chaotic.

But the happy medium allows students to engage in healthy eating habits without feeling ashamed or discouraged when they don’t meet a certain goal due to a lack of time, money or energy.

Here are five tips for how you can achieve a nutritional lifestyle on a college budget while balancing the busyness of college and your overflowing to do lists:

Eat more fruits and vegetables — a little more is still more

Murphy’s self-proclaimed soap box is simple: More matters. It’s the name of a national campaign that encourages people to simply eat more fruits and vegetables than they already do. Murphy urges clients to take note of how many fruits and vegetables they eat each day and decide to start eating just one more.

If you typically eat three fruits or vegetables every day, try eating four. If you already eat the recommended five fruits and vegetables a day, be an overachiever and go for six.

If you eat an average of zero fruits and vegetables a day, you’re not alone. According to a thesis by Ashley Citrowske at the University of North Dakota, 7.8% of college students reported no daily fruit or vegetable consumption. Start small and try eating one a day.

“The reason I focus so much on fruits and vegetables is because if you can fit those in, you’re at least having a foundation of nutritious foods in your diet,” Murphy said.

Fruits and vegetables contain dietary fiber which has benefits Murphy described as “limitless.” You don’t have to shoot for the recommended five to experience these benefits — just add a little more into your daily menu.

Find the healthier choice — ‘every little bit counts’

While eating healthy on campus can seem challenging, Murphy said there is “always a healthier choice.” It doesn’t have to be the most healthy option available to be good for you. Try customizing your order at campus restaurants to make them more nutritious by adding foods rich in dietary fiber or protein.

“Every little bit counts,” Murphy said. “Even like having extra vegetables on your pizza, like, that counts even though it’s pizza.”

If you’re getting Twisted Taco, add more lettuce to your bowl or burrito. At Union Deli or Subway, add one more vegetable or whole grain to your sandwich. For smoothies and bowls from Blenz, take a look at the ingredients before you make your selection, and try a healthier smoothie or replace your go-to nutella topping with extra bananas.

Hydrate — don’t die-drate

Hydration is a part of nutrition that can be difficult for students to keep at the forefront of their minds when juggling a full course schedule, a part-time job and extracurriculars. However, it’s one of the cheapest and most important parts of a healthy lifestyle.

Since it can be a challenge to keep track of your water intake throughout a busy day on campus, consider purchasing a water bottle with labels indicating how much water you should drink by a certain time each day. Don’t wait until the end of the day to try to catch up after being dehydrated all day.

“I think keeping it with you and kind of having habits of knowing when you need to try to have a bottle of water drank by, you know, after my first class or whatever, makes it easy,” Murphy said.

If buying a new water bottle isn’t in the cards for you right now, get a plastic water bottle and use it to set your own goals. For example, try to drink to the bottom of the wrapper by the time you get to your first class in the morning.

Look for good deals, buy frozen or canned foods

Getting more fruits and vegetables into your diet and finding healthy alternatives doesn’t have to be expensive. According to Murphy, there isn’t one store in Knoxville that you “should” be getting all your groceries from. If you’re on a tight budget, look for good deals on frozen or canned foods that will last longer and not go to waste.

“Fresh is generally best, but I would much rather you have canned vegetables than no vegetables at all,” Murphy said. “Even if there is a little extra sodium in them, I would much rather you have that.”

Frozen foods may be cheaper than their fresh counterparts, but when they’re not, try portioning your fresh produce and freezing a share of it to preserve for later. This way, you won’t find yourself wasting money on food that goes bad quickly.

Even though canned foods can contain larger amounts of sodium and added sugar, they can also be a cheaper way of adding nutrient-dense foods into your diet.

Focus on the habits you can change

When it comes to a healthy relationship with food, part of the battle lies in your mindset. On top of the emotional stressors of college, students often face mental health struggles. These are commonly accompanied by negative body image, negative self-talk and lower self-esteem, and they can involve disordered eating.

According to Murphy, your physical well-being and your mental well-being are directly related. She said it’s important to find a “happy medium” when building healthy eating habits so that you take care of your mental well-being as well.

Taking steps to accept your genetics and your body’s tendencies is something Murphy emphasizes when making recommendations to clients. She encourages them to focus on habits they can actively change for the better rather than fixating on their natural body type and genetics.

“We feel better about ourselves when our body actually feels better, and then you can do the things you want to do,” Murphy said. “And I think all of that goes hand in hand.”

She believes in giving the body what is good for it, and in turn, that will provide for the mind as well.