How to Stay Healthy While Going to School No one suffers from the superman complex more than college students. They are young, strong, energetic, and ready to take on the world. While it’s true that most students make it through alive, the consequences of their lifestyle will take a toll. As boring and adult as it sounds, staying healthy in college sure has its benefits! Check it out.
Exercising It’s not like you didn’t know that exercising is important for health. But what can you do as a busy college student to get in a proper amount of exercise? If you know your schedule, find a time to set aside for exercise. If exercise is scheduled in as solidly as your classes are, it will be much easier to work out each day. If you really are way too busy, many colleges offer sports classes. Enroll in one each semester. It’s a great way to get regular exercise AND learn new, fun sporting skills. Another neat mind-hack is to sign up for a 5K or a triathlon. These races cost money, and after signing up, you suddenly have motivation to train for a goal.
Eating There seem to be two extremes when it comes to college diets. The first: eat every piece of junk food you can get your hands on. The second: eat nothing but rice cakes. Alright, so those are a bit extreme and naturally there are variations in-between, but the principle remains the same. It’s important to eat normal meals; not dieting or junk-binging. Don’t let every meal come from a can or box. You need fresh food, a variety of foods, and the proper portions as well.
Drinking Avoid alcohol, caffeinated drinks, and sugary drinks. Water is your best friend. Water will help you stay hydrated (which helps with mood, concentration, energy levels, etc.). Carry around one of those great un-breakable water bottles and stay hydrated all day long. It will also give you a nice, little distraction when you are sitting through a boring lecture.
Sleeping Do everything you can to set a regular sleep schedule. If you can go to bed and get up around the same time every day, your body will get the rest it needs and be able to handle the demands of the day. Of course, that won’t happen if you consistently go to bed at 3 and wake up at 6. Most people need at least 6-9 hours of sleep per night to function properly. Lack of sleep will wear down your body in the long term as well as the short term. Don’t put your body through that unnecessary stress.
Hygiene Another thing students tend to forget about ishygiene. Hygiene is not just for looks (although that’s true too). You need to keep your body and your apartment clean to ward off the swarm of germs, viruses, and bacteria that like to invade. Wash your hands often and clean your apartment – especially the kitchen! As a healthy, strong college student, you will be ready to experience all the fun and exciting things the education at Fort Collins Colleges has to offer! Photo Credit: Dr. Abdullah Naser, Nicolas Mary