College Health

Everyone knows it’s hard to stay healthy in college. Whether it’s the inevitable “freshman fifteen” or the fact that your dorm is infested with bacteria, we’re doomed. Often times we’re so busy that we don’t focus on eating right, exercising, or even getting enough sleep. All of these are the most important things we need to keep our body functioning normally! It’s almost impossible to revert back to our normal high school lives where we had a schedule everyday and often played on sports teams and had good meals made. Now, it’s all up to us. Each small step will help, but we need to try. Our physical and emotional well-being is at stake!

Here are some tips I’ve complied about staying healthy at college:

1. Eat breakfast. Believe it or not, not eating breakfast not only hinders your ability to think and perform to your top potential, but it also contributes to weight gain! Starting your day off by eating something healthy is extremely important and will often determine how you feel for the rest of the day.
2. Stay hydrated. Most of the time, we don’t even know we’re dehydrated until we actually are. Just because you don’t feel thirsty doesn’t mean you don’t need to drink anything. I always carry a bottle of water in my book bag wherever I go. Water is obviously a good choice because it makes up most of our body and helps it function correctly, but if you need that sugar (like I always do), try something healthier like a Fuze or green tea. Many drinks made now contain important vitamins and minerals that are also important to the body…and taste good!!
3. Eat your meals! Skipping a meal is usually disastrous for me, because I revert to my junk food stash and it turns into a dinner of potato chips and cookies. It’s also been proven that college students gain the most weight from eating junk food late at night. NOT GOOD! Having three meals a day that are as complete as possible will help you stay more full for a longer period of time…giving you less of a feeling that you need to snack! If you snack a lot (like me), try to give yourself healthy options. My favorites are bananas, fruit cups, raisins, and low-fat pretzels.
4. Walk! Being on a campus allows you the option to walk to class. While some people prefer driving, if the weather is nice, why not walk? Walking is said to be the best exercise because it gets your heart rate up yet doesn’t make you feel completely fatigued. Take advantage of the opportunities you have to walk around! Maybe one day you can even take the long route. J
5. Organize. I know it’s hard, but you have to admit, it feels really good when you do it. I don’t go anywhere without my planner and cell phone. Both serve as reminders for me to get things done and know where I have to be. If you schedule things out, especially by time, you’ll find that you’ll be more confident in what you’re doing. And don’t forget to RELAX! Don’t bother worrying about the test you just took. What’s done is done, and you did your best (maybe). You have to put things into perspective and go day by day. Don’t overwhelm yourself by stressing out about the big paper you have due in two weeks. Instead, plan out one small thing you can do for it each day and before you know it you’ll have the majority of it done! Manage your time well.
6. Monitor your drinking. If you’re going to drink, remember that it basically has nothing good in it for you. It will supply you with a lot of calories, but that’s about all. It has been said to decrease the number of calories you’re capable of burning as well as increases your appetite for up to 24 hours afterward! Moral of the story: think before you drink! For more information on why it's damaging to your health, check out this website!
7. Stay clean! Be sure to always wash your hands in the bathroom, take a shower daily, etc. You’ve heard it all before, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t do it! And when you think about it, you live with all of these people and they touch things that you may touch, etc. etc. Eventually, you’re doomed to get sick. The best way to stay healthy is to keep yourself clean. I always carry a little container of hand sanitizer in my bag, just in case!
8. Get enough sleep! It’s true that when we’re busy, sleep is one of our last priorities. In all actuality, this is probably the worst thing you can do. Pulling and all-nighter to study for that test you have the next day is harming you more than helping you. Some people may be able to function on low amounts of sleep, but I know for sure I cannot! Having a regular sleeping schedule is extremely important and helpful to your body. Without it, it’s hard to function correctly. Taking naps may help, but tests have shown that naps are most effective when they are “power naps”, aka about 25 minutes. Sleeping for 3 hours in the middle of the day isn’t exactly a nap, seeing as how that is how much some people sleep at night. Sleeping for that long is necessary in some cases, but overall it may just prove to mess up your sleep schedule. It’s best to try and get the most sleep at night…when you’re supposed to!

...I know I'm not perfect, I struggle with these ALL THE TIME! Together, we can change!!

Exercise Your Stress Away!

Exercise not only improves your health, but it also reduces stress! …And who doesn’t stress in college, especially as the semester is quickly winding down? Exercise has also been proven to relaxes tense muscles and help you sleep better.
While researching this on many websites, I came across a stress management website that actually gave exercising as a pertinent tool to reducing stress. In terms of actual body benefits, exercise is very important to the body. Firstly, it significantly improves blood flow to the brain, which brings sugars and oxygen needed when you think intensely…meaning exercise can help you perform better in school! Toxic waste products that form in the brain from intense thinking and use can cause foggy thinking and even make you feel tired. From this increased blood flow, you can speed up the movement and removal of these wastes from your body. Exercise also releases endorphins into the bloodstream to give you a sense of well-being, as well. Even if you don’t have time to exercise, stretching can also provide increased blood flow and circulation to many parts of the body.

To sum it up, exercise…

…makes you feel good! Endorphins are what make you “feel good” during or after working out. This is also sometimes called “runner's high”, but running isn’t the only way to obtain it. Any good amount of exercise can contribute to this same feeling!
…helps you relax! After exercising, I've found that I tend to forget about everything stressful in my life and just take in how my body feels. You will be so focused on your body's movements that's you'll actually get a break from stressing. Once you experience this feeling, it becomes almost addicting and sheds your daily tensions. The resulting focus and optimism can help you calm down and be more productive in your daily activities.
…& puts you in a good mood! Regular exercise increases self-confidence and lowers the symptoms associated with mild depression and anxiety. In time, you’ll find that your stress levels will be reduces and you will gain a control over your body and life that you never knew you could have!

All in all, instead of thinking as exercise as a waste of your time, try to think of it as beneficial. It truly does improve your performance in all your daily activities and will help you concentrate and feel better!

Getting the Motivation to Exercise

If you don’t have the inner drive to exercise, chances are you aren’t going to see the results you want. Lack of motivation and time is much of the reason why we find it so hard to exercise in the first place. With this, I believe in making exercising fun and convenient. If you enjoy running or biking, go ahead and do that. For others it’s much more difficult to find something they enjoy that actually burns calories. Here are some tips I’ve learned over the years about gaining more motivation to exercise:

-Make it a routine. Make exercising part of your routine instead of just something you do when you have free time. It will force you to incorporate it more into your schedule than you think. Try bringing a friend…or even your homework! I’ve gotten more studying done on the stationary bike than you can imagine! Try it!
-Try something new. Instead of going to the gym and spending countless hours on the treadmill and stationary bike, whip out something you haven’t done in a while. For example, buy a jump rope, go swimming, rollerblading, even play with a hoola hoop! By finding ways to have fun, you’ll soon forget you’re actually exercising!
-Bring an MP3 player. Find music that pumps you up to work out. Make a playlist with songs that make you feel good and encourage you to work hard. If you’re running, try picking songs with a faster pace so you can run to the beat…you won’t even notice how much faster you’re running! It's proven that music is a great inspiration, and there's plenty of resources on the internet if you're looking for great workout songs.
-Start slow, and build up. Don’t think you’re going to get on the treadmill and start running 5 miles or lose 20 pounds in a week. Make your goals small to begin with and as you accomplish each one, keep adding on. It’s more likely that you’ll accomplish smaller goals than one large one. Also, by achieving things one by one, you’ll give yourself a sense of accomplishment and more drive to keep on going forward.
-Bring a buddy. Working out with someone else often helps you work harder. Whether it’s because you want to impress them or not, there’s something about being with someone else or on a team that makes you work harder. Try bringing a friend to the gym or joining an intramural team of some sort. Even take up yoga, kickboxing, or dancing! Being with others is proven to increase motivation.
-Vary your routines. I learned the hard way that doing the same thing over and over again doesn’t help you! You can’t expect to see results by running or walking a mile at the same pace everyday for a year. Like this, you can’t lift weights the same way and same weight all the time. Muscle memory causes it to just become a routine and isn’t going to do anything for your body. If you only have time to run a mile, try doing it at a faster speed or adding some sprints into it. When lifting weights, add a couple pounds or decrease the pounds and do more repetitions. It’s scientifically proven that having the same workout routine will not help you, so try something new! Not only will it help your body, but it will keep your gym routine new and fresh instead of the same old boring thing.

Welcome!

Welcome and thanks for making me your choice for health and fitness tips! We all know the life of a typical college girl usually consists of eating too much, drinking too much, and not making enough time to exercise. With this blog, I’ll help give you quick and easy ways to make the most out of your workout as well as helping you think twice before you choose what to eat at the caf. Feel free to comment at any time and/or give suggestions about what you’d like to hear more about.
ENJOY!!