Health and education are side-by-side and equally important. But what if you spend so much time achieving flying colours in your results and end up ill? The 21st Century is the era of competitiveness; there is competition in everything: business, fashion, science, and technology. Similarly, college students are really burning the midnight oil to ace the results.
Many college students, amid classes, homework, meetings and maintaining a social life, forget to maintain their health. In college, physical education and team sports are not built into the daily schedule unlike when they are in high school. This means that it’s up to the students to start building their own fitness and nutrition habits. It can be difficult because there will be never-ending opportunities to make excuses and you will need to consistently choose your own health.
Healthy Living Tips for College Students
In such a hectic routine, students do not care about themselves. Here, we are sharing some simple tips on balancing health, social life, and academics.
1. Healthy Diet
Having a healthy diet is the key to healthy living and successful life. Unfortunately, these days, students are more intent to eat junk and fast food. Their day starts with burgers and ends at tacos. A healthy diet not only improves immunity but also catalyzes your lazy junky neurons. Taking fruits and vegetables with meat would be a healthy diet as these are full of vitamins, carbohydrates and proteins.
Choose Nutrient-Dense Meals And Snacks
When it comes to choosing what to eat, it is important to focus on the combination and quality of the foods. Go for minimally processed and nutrient-dense foods as much as possible. Think of chicken, eggs, avocado, vegetables, fruits, steel-cut oats, brown rice, etc. Look for healthy fats and protein foods
Breakfast
- Make Breakfast burritos in bulk and freeze them to reheat them later.
- Make steel-cut oats with almond butter. Also, you can microwave oats.
- Plain Greek Yogurt with Nuts and Berries.
- Boiled Eggs with Fresh Fruit.
Lunch or Dinner
- Grilled chicken with a large salad, blueberries, and sliced avocado.
- Canned tuna or chicken with whole wheat crackers or carrot sticks. Mix them in mayonnaise or mustard condiment packets to make a tuna or chicken salad.
- Quesadilla stuffed with your preferences or anything in the fridge such as leftover cheese, beans, turkey, beef, cooked chicken, etc. Also, you can use steamed or frozen vegetables.
On-The-Go Snacks
- Half A Sandwich.
- Store-bought snacks with simple ingredients.
- Fruit and cheese stick.
- Homemade trail mix such as your favorite popcorns, dried fruits, seeds, nuts, etc.
- Roasted Chickpeas.
- Edamame: A high fiber and perfect protein in Japanese Cuisine.
2 Visit the Grocery Store
It’s also a great idea to stock your dorm room with healthy snacks such as fruits, vegetables, and nuts. These foods can help you in managing your metabolism and keeping your nutrition on track. Aside from that, buying healthy snacks from the grocery store will also help you save money and manage your dining hall meals. These snacks are also better and healthier compared to ordering take out or reaching for unhealthy food at the dining hall.
3. Have an Exercise Routine
College is a great time to figure out the kind of exercise you enjoy. It can be running, swimming, yoga, or workout classes. Try to see what exercise you enjoy the most and get in a routine of doing it a few times every week. You can use it as your study break or something that you can do when you wake up in the morning.
Another way to exercise is to walk to class but this depends on your class schedule. There are also many colleges that offer physical fitness classes and intramural sports programs which you can take advantage of for a fun way to exercise.
You can also find some work out buddies and turn work out into a hangout. Try to find some running buddies or maybe people you can go to the gym with you. It is a great way to get physically fit while spending time with a friend doing a healthy and productive activity.
4. Drink Lots of Water
As a college student, you can pick up a habit of carrying water with you everywhere. If you are attending a function, you will have water at hand but bringing your own will naturally entice you to drink more than often. Staying hydrated is as important as nutrition and diet. As you know, water cleanses the body and carries nutrients and vitamins to give you energy.
Also, water is beneficial for most common mental health challenges that students face. Physical health, especially joints, skin, and muscles can be kept healthy by drinking lots of water. It is important to always stay hydrated because it can help your concentration and keep you from overeating as well. Drinking plenty of water can also replenish your body and give you more energy throughout the day.
Therefore, always bring some water with you while you walk to class and always choose to drink water instead of soda.
5. Proper Sleep
“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man; healthy, wealthy and wise.”
If you don’t want yourself to be a clumsy head falling here and there, then you must take proper sleep. According to research, the best sleeping hours are from 10p.m till 4 a.m. But students these days are other hitting the books at these hours or are found in pubs and bars. Therefore, either way, they exploit their health, which has a more prolonged impact on their lives.
Many people often get psychological effects because of disturbed sleeping patterns, like depression, fatigue, stress etc., so students must have good sleeping patterns.
6. Get a Flu Vaccine
To avoid flu and stay healthy through the winter, it’s important to get a flu vaccine. There are many colleges that offer flu shots and screenings for cheaper prices. It is better and cheaper in the long run compared to getting the flu later.
7. Avoid Coffee and Other Sugary Drinks
Caffeinated drinks like coffee, soda, and energy drinks can be helpful when studying or doing late-night homework. However, these drinks can be very harmful in the long run. It’s because the combination of caffeine and sugar in these drinks can cause you to crash and feel bad after. If you need some energy boost, you can simply eat foods that are rich in protein and fiber.
8. Avoid Smoking
Many college students smoke even though they’ve headed the many life-threatening risks smoking poses. In fact, even smoking occasionally can still put you at risk of illnesses such as lung cancer, heart disease, and emphysema. If you are smoking and you want to quit, you can go to your student health center for programs that can assist you.
9. Always Wear Sunscreen
It’s important to always wear sunscreen, especially during spring break when most college students go to the beach. Spending time under the sun is not bad, but you need to make sure that you protect yourself. Always wear sunscreen daily, especially when you know that you will be spending lots of time outside. You should also avoid tanning beds because that can put you at risk of skin cancer.
10. Have Time to Relax
College students are usually pretty stressed with lots of classes and exams. But you also need to relax and have some down-time to stay healthy. When you are always stressed, it can cause you many problems which can adversely affect your health. Try to create a routine and give yourself regular breaks. You can do this by reading a book, watching television shows, picking up a hobby, and hanging out with friends.
11. Stress Less and Laugh More
Education is undoubtedly essential and vital for a happy living, but your mental health is. College students take so much stress that this affects their mental health. A trick to enjoying college life is to stress less and laugh more. The more you take things easy, the more it will help you ace your exams. Always have leisure for yourself and your family. Enjoy your weekends and spare time to do what you love most, watch a movie, read a book, bake your favourite cake or enjoy an outing.
12. Study Smart and Save Time
Many people say that horses and donkeys belong to the same breed, so there’s no significant difference. But there is a considerable difference that people don’t know! A horse does smart work, whereas a donkey does hard work. Hard work itself is not bad, but doing hard work without any strategy is wrong. Always do smart work with a proper study timetable for yourself, which would save your time and help you learn quickly.
13. Avoid Late-Night Studying
Once in a while, it is okay to stay up late and finish the task but making it a habit can be effective on your health. Staying up late not only increases the stress levels but also affects the work progress. You will notice that you are unable to complete the work or work at your best during late hours.
Sometimes, you stay up late to complete a task but it is not up to the mark. Instead, you could have used time smartly to complete the assignment or any other task. So, make a calendar of homework due dates so that you start assignments ahead. Hence, you will not be doing your work at the eleventh hour.
14. Clean Your Living Space
Cleaning your living space regularly is a good habit. Small things like doorknobs, surfaces, keyboards, mouse, tables, etc. require cleaning and they can go a long way to keep the living space hygienic. Also, make sure that you clean the bathroom and linens regularly because they have germs that make you ill.
During the winter, air circulation in the rooms can be poor as you keep the doors and windows closed. It means more dander, dust, and other sneeze-inducing particles are trapped inside the room. You can try green cleaning in your home, room, or hostel. It might be an embarrassing thing to spend the hard-earning cash on cleaning supplies such as vacuum cleaners but the necessity to keep the living space clean will pay off.
15. Have A Party Strategy
Social gatherings, dances, sporting events, and other forms of nightlife are the outings that come with being a student. Going out on the weekends can be fun but there is often a tipping point where it can be unhealthy. It can be a night that ends at 11 p.m. instead of 1 a.m., be smart about whom you socialize with, stay hydrated or use intuition to avoid situations that are dangerous or inappropriate for you.
The impact of staying out late itself can harm your routine of sleep, mental clarity, immunity, and overall energy. The combination of other behaviors of going to a party can be even emotionally and physically consuming. It is important to find a balance between social gathering and studying periods and to listen to your body.
College Student – Adapt Few Things and Be Healthy
College life is indeed challenging because of the loads of work and responsibilities that you have to face each day. However, those things should not become hindrances in healthy living. College brings out the feeling that you are an adult now, and with this feeling comes significant responsibilities and challenging study schedules.
A healthy diet, cleaning your living space, going out on the weekends, staying hydrated, sleeping for 8 hours, etc. can keep you healthy when you are a college student. Also, being a bookworm, every time would only stress you out and lead you to mental fatigue and illness. To spend a content college life, one must maintain equilibrium between health and studies because there is nothing left in life without fitness. Hope our tips will be helpful!