For salads, make your own dressing by buying Good Seasons Packet Italian and get their hour glass mixing bottle one time. Mix vinegar and olive oil and packet together.

For breakfast eat all the bacon, sausage and eggs you can.

Lunch eat the chicken with real butter on it and eat the fatty skin. If steamed veggies are available at noon, slather then with real butter. Watch out and make sure it is not margarine.

Dinner eat that fatty meat...double or triple servings, and veggies again slathered in butter. Have an apple or melon for desert.

You will find that you will begin to lose weight and you will find that you will be satiated because of all the fat you will be eating. And you won't crave the carbs you used to eat.

Fish oil pills. If you can get the Costco Signature Brand fish oil gel caps, they are the most reasonably priced http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11072245 Two a day is enough. It does require membership. Find a family friend that has a membership.

One other thing is you need to supplement with Vit D3...around 10000IU to start for 6 months and then back off to 5000IU. Vit D3 supplementation will increase your immune system and will ward off all the viruses going around the campus. A good D3 is Now Brands 5000IU per gel cap available from http://www.swansonvitamins.com/NWF182/ItemDetail because the carrier is olive oil and not soybean oil.

You are going to have to fuel yourself adequately with meat and fat so that you don't fall into the trap new paleo fall into...ie they get tired easily because they don't eat enough fat. But when you start losing 5-10 pounds a month and you have a lot of energy, the lack of food choices will become a non starter because of your results.

I am sure your college has a weight room. Get with an instructor to do some slow reps with adequate weight to failure only a couple times a week.

Good luck. I commend you on starting your paleo journey so early in your life. You will reap rewards down the road by not screwing up your body with sugars and wheat products early in life. Socially it is hard to not have pizza and beer and all the other neolithic health destroyers that are available on campus.

You say some of the other protein options are fatty, as if that is a bad thing. Learn to embrace the saturated fat. So your n-3:n-6 rations might be screwed up for a while. It probably won't give you cancer while you are in college. You'll have a lifetime to make up for it.

are you able to tell the cafeteria that you are gluten intolerant, and need some GF options? they might be able to accommodate you by putting aside some meat and veggies without the breading and sauces. i would give it a shot and talk to the cafeteria manager.

Here's a trick that I learned from the teacher who introduced me to paleo about the meal plan. Does your pasta line have a bunch of veggies to choose from? A couple meats? Some sauces? Well, what you do is order a bowl of as many veggies as you want, even asking for extra; choose your meats, and then when they ask what kind of pasta, tell them you don't want any. Same goes for sauces; ask if they can just use water or (if they have it) real butter. Congratulations: you now have the closest you are going to get to a paleo stir-fry.

I would usually get carrots, onion, broccoli, bell peppers, and squash with chicken or sausage, and then put parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, and some real butter on top.

Can you find a way to afford sardines, or coconut oil, even if you have to save up for them? Can you cook where you're living? If so, liver is cheap and very paleo. How about a steak once a week? I bet if you think about it, you could find lots of ways to sneak inexpensive paleo options into your budget and diet, even if you do it on a rotating basis...sardines one week and liver the next...for example.

My Great Aunt is having your delima but in her retirement home. She has gained weight since moving there. I also gained weight in college. I think its the cafeteria food & being on the meal plan doesn't give you a lot of options. I think you are on the right track of supplementing fish oil omega 3. With the food you are offered sounds like your omega 3/omega 6 ratio would be bad, being too much of the Omega 6. And the fruit probably isn't that great either being full of sugar and canned.

I think you will have to stick with the chicken, if that's the only protein offered for lunch and dinner and like you already know stay away from the pasta, cereal, and breads.

Is cream available? You could add some of that to tea or coffee.

I completely understand your situation; I would not have been able to buy Omega 3 Capsules while I was in college. Hopefully you can get some canned meats and fresh liver (live Helen suggested) once in awhile and cook in your dorm.

I actually eat less food and spend less now that I am paleo. I think this is because I am satiated from higher fat that I eat (no processed or fast food)

You're not going to be able to eat perfectly paleo on a meal plan at college, unfortunately, but you can take steps to come close. I'm going to disagree with some of the advice above. In the end though, you are on the right track by eating un processed foods however you can make it work!

In the cafeteria, eggs are your best protein source, so eat lots. Bacon and sausage are ok, just remember that sausage typically has added sugar and bacon is high in omega 6. I'm not saying don't eat it, just choose eggs first. If they have an omelet station this is an awesome way to get veggies in at breakfast.

As far as the fatty meats, you are right to avoid the fat. I'm assuming your cafeteria isn't using organic meat, and since hormones and pesticides are stored in fat, you should trim the fat. Yes, fat is good for you, but in this case I'd stick with lean meat. (see below for fat source) If they have beef grab it over chicken.

For snacking in your dorm, I'd recommend coconut flakes, coconut milk and coconut butter over nuts. High in omega 3 and a fantastic fat source. You can bring coconut milk with you and put it in your coffee in the cafeteria. If you want to occasionally eat nuts, go with macadamia. If you have money, you may want to get a protein powder. I personally don't use protein powder, but in your case I think it may be a good option, for variety if nothing else! I do not think that 2 fish oil pills a day is enough. A liquid form will be easier for you to take the amount you need, but it's pretty expensive, so that may not be an option.

For salads, go with oil and vinegar or better yet, oil and citrus juice if you can find a lemon or lime.

Don't be afraid to play the gluten intolerant card. After all...it's true!

Regarding support...just show your friends a few pictures from paleo blogs and that will shut them up ;)

For the times you absolutely can't get anything good in the cafeteria (pizza day), get a big crock pot (~$20 at your favorite big box store) and learn to make pot roasts with cheap cuts of beef or pork that are on sale.

You can make scrambled eggs in the microwave, too.

In the cafeteria, what akd said about telling them you're gluten-free.

If you're got no Costco membership and a local Trader Joe's, their fish oil is a good value. Get about 1g/day of EPA and DHA (that's about 4 of those pills) and you'll most likely be fine.

I am going away to college next year, too!

I already told them I am gluten intolerant and received a letter from Disability Services or some such department. They really do want to help.

My school allows students to choose their meal plans. I chose the least expensive one, with one meal a day provided by the school.

That way, I can eat their crap just once a day, and then make my own food the rest of the time.

I already know I will be going to ALDI to buy butter, and that will have to be my main source of fat/calories. I can buy some meat and cook it in a toaster oven (microwaves are dangerous), then eat it in the butter.

I know I will have little variety in the meals I plan for myself, but maybe the school food will make up for it somehow.

At our age though, I think getting enough sleep might be even more important than what we eat.

Also, properly chewing everything makes you feel fuller and more satiated (and less indigestion in case you have to eat something questionable from the college).

Regarding weight loss- I think I am 20 lbs overweight after almost of year of paleo. I barely lost weight (partly because I have something like an eating disorder) but I clearly gained muscle and feel a lot stronger and have more stamina. I think true weight loss may be much more difficult for those of us who are female and overweight at a young age. But that may be the result of psychological food issues.

Good luck at college!