Is cafeteria food unhealthy?

I have been eating lunch at the cafeteria every day for the longest time until Monday when I had to skip it because of so much work. I was wondering why I felt so good whole day, so full of energy and I realized how many bad choices I usually make at lunch with all the fried and unhealthy foods there and how it badly affects my body. Even when I picked the healthiest choice on the menu (which I seldom have the option to do because most of the times the meals are fried served with heavy sauce), I do not know what the ingredients are and how it is prepared. Tummy aches and bloating are some of the common side effects that I have during the day and in the evening (usually when I have lunch at the cafeteria).

I know someone who lost a lot of weight recently and he is so fit and healthy now. He did it by eating healthier, not going to the cafeteria, preparing his own meals and exercising regularly. No magic trick.

I know someone else who is taking pills for high cholesterol (he’s below 30) but eats fries with fried meat and sausages most of the times for lunch at the cafeteria, just because it’s so yummy and salad is so boring, instead of sticking to natural healthy food and regular exercise to get healthy.

Everybody can make their own decisions and I don’t judge and preach but…

I sometimes wonder what we are doing to our bodies. All this unhealthy food that we are putting into our bodies is not proper fuel and it is going to come back and slap us in the face in the future. Instead of taking care of ourselves now, we abuse our bodies and rely later on magic pills to fix everything.

I think for me the cafeteria is a red flag in my otherwise healthy nutrition so I decided today to make a small experiment: I will prepare some snacks and salads that I can eat at my desk or in the small coffee kitchen every day and I will skip lunch at the canteen completely. I will do this for the next days, weeks and perhaps even months to see how I feel.

Example meal prep for Tuesday: cottage cheese with carrots, oatmeal protein pancakes and kiwi.

I will do a follow-up post after I finish this little experiment.

I would really love to hear your opinion and experience. Example lunch options would be greatly appreciated.