As a student on a college campus, you have inevitably felt the stresses that come with trying to balance it all: the social life, the schoolwork, and even just taking time for yourself. Each task just keeps piling on one after another, until it feels like you are drowning in an ocean filled with tasks and jobs that you still need to accomplish. While it may feel like you have no time to put yourself first, that, my friend, is where you are wrong. Keeping yourself and your body healthy is one of the most important tasks to prioritize during college, yet is more often than not overshadowed by the piles of work and tasks that need to be done. So, here are some tricks to keep your body healthy and energized each and every day.
1. Get your heart pumping!
Getting a workout in, at least once every day, is a great way to keep your body and your mind healthy. While it may seem like the walk up to the Chemistry Building or to Putnam Dining Hall already seems like a workout in it of itself (going up the hill is a killer), this cannot be considered your workout of the day. It is important to take, even 10 minutes out of your schedule, to do focused exercise, where your intention is to get your heart beating rather than getting to your next class or getting food for lunch. Research has shown that those who exercise regularly not only have better mental health, but also have better emotional well-being, and are less likely to have mental illness in the future. Furthermore, it is also so important to make your workout your own! Just because your friend runs on the treadmill for an hour every morning does not mean you have to do so as well to get your quota of exercise for the day. There are a variety of workouts that you can try, like running, swimming, following along on workout videos, to even jump-roping for 10 minutes before you go to class. Making your workout something you enjoy doing will motivate you to exercise each and every day. It is so important to get your heart pumping so that your body stays healthy!
2. Balance Your Food Options
Options, options, and more options. This is what the eight dining halls on campus give us, lots and lots of options. From cereal to a salad bar, to pancakes, bread, omelets, French toast, to all the sodas and drinks that you can think of. As a student living on campus, you have all the freedoms to eat what you want, whenever you want. While this is exciting, it is also important to balance your diet and try to eat healthy when possible. According to WebMD, a balanced diet includes consuming foods in the following categories: vegetables, protein, grains, and fruits. This, in no way, means that you cannot indulge on French toast, and blueberry pancakes one in a while. This more so means try to watch what you are eating and make sure you are hitting each of these categories every day, so that your body gets the nutrients and the energy it needs to help you throughout the day.
3. Get a Good Night’s Sleep
While the idea of pulling an all-nighter seems like a fun experience to have while in college (and it is probably fine to do it once just to be able to say that you’ve done it), it is important to try to sleep at a good time, so your body is ready and has the energy to take on another day. If you sleep really late each night, your body can get over-exhausted and can make you feel sluggish and with a lack of energy for the days to follow. Try to set goals for yourself each day, as to what time you want to be back in your dorm (or apartment) and start getting ready for bed. Try to keep time for your bedtime routine, so that you are feeling your best self before you go to sleep, and in the days that follow.
4. Take Breaks Between Your Work
It is really important to take small periodic breaks between large blocks of studying, so that you are giving your mind time to relax and think about the information you are learning, and to give your body some rest from doing work. I would recommend setting goals for yourself throughout your study time. For example, tell yourself that you will take a 15-minute (or 10-minute if you have too much work to do) break after you finish this one assignment, or after you do an hour of focused work. This method works even better when you are studying with friends. If you tell each other the goals you have for the hour, then they will hold you accountable for that hour and will make sure you take a small break after that hour finishes. My friends and I used to set time goals, and then would play hangman during our breaks, where each of us would take a turn coming up with a word. Taking breaks will let your mind rest periodically (which will help with your mental health) and will help you be more productive than doing work straight for a large block of time.
5. Take YOURSELF on a Date!
This is one of my favorite ways to stay healthy mentally and emotionally while in college. That is, carving out some well-deserved time during the week, and taking yourself out on a date! I would recommend scheduling time in your busy schedule to do things that make you happy and put a smile on your face. With the hustle and bustle of college courses and extracurriculars, we tend to put our own self-care on the back end, and we shouldn’t. Even if it means taking a couple hours on a Friday night to go to your favorite eatery on campus, or to read your favorite book/watch your favorite movie near Mirror Lake, all that matters is that you are doing something that is separate from schoolwork and makes you feel happy and puts you in a positive mindset. This will not only give you something to look forward to every single week, but it will help your mind stay healthy and ready to take on another week of grueling coursework and tasks that need to be completed. Tom Haverford, from Parks and Recreation, sums it up best: Treat Yo Self!
Hopefully, some of these ideas will help you stay healthy and keep your body and mind energized, and ready to take on each week during a college semester. Just remember to put yourself first, because at the end of the day, a healthy mind and body will last you a lifetime of opportunities, experiences, and memories that you do not want to forget.