Eating well as a co-ed is hard. And why wouldn't it be? "College is a place where you're often set up for food failure," says Atlanta-based health coach Chelsea Hunter. For the first time in your life, you're on your own, making decisions about what you should and shouldn't eat. You're surrounded by salty snacks and sweets, you're almost always in a rush, and controlling what you consume without a kitchen at your disposal can be majorly challenging.

But college is also the place where you can start establishing good eating patterns that will last a lifetime (and where you can break the bad ones, too!). Here are 10 ways to improve your dorm-dwelling diet.

Stock up on healthy staples.

Yep, that mini-fridge is definitely not going to accommodate all the prepared (and expensive) options your Whole Foods has to offer. But that doesn't mean your dorm room needs to be filled with high-preservative, high-calorie snacks. Chelsea recommends buying healthy foods with a long shelf life, like nuts, seeds, dried fruit, rice cakes, and multi-grain crackers. Apples and citrus fruits can sit out for up to two weeks, and raw veggies and hummus are good options too.

Always take the fruit.

Your college dining hall probably doesn't encourage students to take food to go, but typically there's a fair-game basket of produce hanging out somewhere near the exit. "Take the fruit!" says Chelsea. "Always, always take the fruit, even if you don't think you want it." If you've got it in your bag, you're going to eat it, and chances are it will keep you from grabbing something less healthy on the go. Another reason to reach for that banana? You're paying for it—it's literally included in the price of your meal plan. So every time you walk past that basket, you're essentially leaving perfectly good, already-purchased groceries in the checkout aisle.

Eat high-quality junk food.

If there's one thing we remember about the campus cafeteria, it's that french fries and ice cream were readily available all day, every day. But if you're going to indulge in food you know isn't especially good for you, you're better off going with something a little higher quality and really savoring it. Love pastries? Find yourself one that's made with fancy ingredients. You'll feel more satisfied, and it will make eating a delicious, buttery croissant more of a treat than an everyday habit.

Think of the dining hall as a classroom.

You're at college to learn, right? Then take your education beyond your political science lecture: Get in touch with the cafeteria nutrition info and teach yourself something. This isn't about calorie-counting though! Determining where your food is coming from and what it's being made with is a step towards really owning what you eat, which of course can lead to making responsible, informed decisions about your diet. You can also reach out to the campus health department and take your questions about the dining hall food to your school's nutritionist—you might be surprised what you learn.

Listen to your body.

We've all heard that late-night snacking isn't a particularly smart choice, but if you're hungry, you're hungry. Denying yourself isn't going to change that, but rethinking how you're eating throughout the day might. Learn to eat until you're full so that you're not creating an opening for cravings later on in the day. Also, fullness comes in different forms! Eat foods that are sustaining (like oatmeal), and make sure that when you grab a salad, you're also including an appropriate (i.e. card deck-sized) serving of protein and not just a big bowl of greens that will leave you wanting more in an hour. And what if you spend the whole day eating well and you still want that late night snack? "Go for it," says Chelsea—but instead of packing away a piece of pizza at 1 a.m., pick something a little lighter like popcorn or even some dark chocolate.