Hi, Hoyas — welcome to wellness! 

As a freshly formed gym rat, I’m here to give you the inside scoop on group fitness classes, eating healthily with DIY recipes and taking care of yourself mentally. I will single-handedly attend every workout class and scope out the healthiest food on the campus meal plan. Whether you’re looking for a starting point to wellness at Georgetown University or you’re a seasoned gym-goer, look no further! 

My goal is to demystify wellness for the “non-athlete athlete” at Georgetown. I’m interested in writing for those who care about wellness, those who’d like accessible eating tips and those who want to exercise despite Yates imposter syndrome. 

To start off this wellness journey, I will cover the best Georgetown breakfast tips, including healthy DIY recipes I’ve discovered and my favorite nutritious eating spots within the meal plan. As a disclaimer, I’m vegan, but take these tips with a grain of salt if you have allergies to items like nuts or soy! Even if your diet is not plant based, feel free to alter these tips to fit your specific meal plan. 

First, The Table at Leo’s has “Plant Power,” a completely vegan station that offers endless choices of meals. The variety is perfect for someone with an expansive food palate, but if one of these meals isn’t your favorite, you’re out of luck for that day. 

My recommendation for “Plant Power” is to look at the menu online before going to Leo’s. If you’re an “Oatgurt” person, you can check when “Plant Power” offers yogurt for breakfast and grab a few containers to go. Otherwise, you can always make yourself a bagel with vegan cream cheese — potentially from Call Your Mother — or head upstairs for Whisk’s vegan pumpkin bread or banana bread. 

For bagel fans, I recommend Einstein Bros. Bagels on the second floor of the Car Barn. I like to use a meal exchange to get a strawberry-banana smoothie and a bagel. However, they don’t carry vegan cream cheese, so I use my own. 

For smoothie lovers, I have recommendations for you, too! First, The Corp’s Uncommon Grounds has a variety of fruit smoothies. However, if you’re someone who loves green smoothies or creating the perfect, personalized concoction, I would strongly recommend investing in a blender or adding one to your holiday wish list. I got one, and it changed my life! 

My favorite smoothie recipe includes one cup of frozen spinach, one banana, half a cup of mango, half a cup of pineapple and one cup of almond milk. Somehow, the fruit cancels the spinach flavor out to form a delicious and beautiful green mixture that leaves you feeling healthy and accomplished. 

Let’s say that you’ve gotten your blender. How do you get your ingredients?

The first option is to journey by foot or GUTS bus to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods or Safeway and purchase your ingredients. If you want to stay on campus, I have another option for you. This one requires you to be resourceful: you can buy almond milk and fruit from Vital Vittles. If you’re in a pinch, you can substitute water for plant-based milk. 

For vegetables, you can find spinach, kale and all your other typical smoothie vegetables at either Leo’s or Epicurean and Co.’s salad bar. At Epi’s, you can fill your container — covered by meal exchange — to the brim with these vegetables and freeze them. For bananas and other fruit, keep a lookout for when downstairs Leo’s has bananas, and recruit your friends to grab extras for you. Then, you can cut them up and freeze them. You can use this method for any other coveted fruit that your smoothies require. 

My last healthy breakfast DIY recipe is overnight oats: You can buy the ingredients from Vital Vittles, or buy it pre-made at various Corp locations. As long as you have measuring cups and a container, you can make yourself breakfast for a week. If you’re feeling generous, perhaps you could share with your roommate and “pay” them back for grabbing extra bananas!

I hope these tips gave you some healthy eating inspiration. There are plenty more to come; with this column, I hope to document my entire wellness journey. Feel free to follow along as you take yours! Happy healthy eating.