Starting a college means crucial changes in the life of many young adults. Independent life away from parents’ care, totally different daily routine, new responsibilities, new activities, and friends --- all this can be both exciting and health-threatening for a student.
What can you do to stay healthy at a college and even improve your health? Firstly, it’s necessary to understand the threats and then figure out the ways to face them.
Being away from home and different daily routines often changes the students’ diet. Lack of time for cooking and lack of money to eat out often make students eat more junk food than they usually do. So some gain their “freshman’s 15 pounds”. Here are some tips on how to keep to a healthy diet that can help you to stay healthy and even put off weight.
- It’s important not to skip meals and especially breakfast.
- It’s necessary to drink enough fresh water to keep a healthy metabolism. But, of course, you need to avoid sugary, carbonated, and caffeinated drinks.
- You should watch your portions and vary your meals.
- It’s also advisable to eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and also have healthy snacks at hand.
- Avoid fighting stress with food and ask for professional help if you have already got eating disorders.
Another problem that might influence students’ health badly is the lack of healthy sleep. This problem can appear when students are bad at their time management and so often postpone doing tasks till late at night. Besides, college life offers a lot of temptations, like different social events, which students would like to attend.
But it’s necessary to understand that lack of proper night sleep can cause depression and even mental disorders. To make your schedule healthy and to get enough sleep you should consider the following tips.
- Try to get at least seven hours of night sleep. To fall asleep quicker, it’s a good idea to keep your room quiet and dark and to create a bedtime routine.
- Remember that working all night through might be ineffective and besides, you will have problems with your concentration the following day.
- Taking a short nap during the daytime can make a miracle to your productivity and concentration.
Doing sport is an essential part of a healthy way of life. It’s great if you can become a member of some college team. But what if you aren’t fit and in addition have limited money and time resources?
- Walking and cycling whenever possible can give you enough physical activity.
- Find a complex of small exercises you can do during the breaks of your studies.
- Don’t forget to warm up before exercising.
- Consider starting yoga that you can do even in the open spaces at the campus. A person of any age should be careful about his/her health issues. Nobody else, even your close ones, can know the signs your body is sending to you. So, to stay healthy you should watch your health.
- Follow all hygiene recommendations for your body and your living environment. Washing and disinfecting hands, wearing a mask, and keeping a social distance save lives during pandemics, like the present Covid -19 one. Keeping your items, bedding, clothes, and your room clean and organized also help you not to get infected. Personal items are called this way for a reason, so don’t share them even with close friends.
- Little discomforts and aches are signals you shouldn’t ignore. Ask your doctor and follow his/her advice.
- If you are sick, stay in bed in order not to infect your friends and also follow your doctor’s advice.
- Many accidents can be avoided by just not getting into a dangerous situation.
- College life is known for being rather stressful and too much stress can cause severe health problems. If you are under stress, follow the advice of the blogger Tim Ashley and “pay someone to do assignment that was due yesterday”.
- Have your vaccinations on time and don’t forget that regular medical screenings and special tests can help to diagnose cancer and some other dangerous diseases early enough to cure them.
- Young people are sometimes shy to ask for a doctor’s help when they experience some sexual or mental disorders. This is a wrong concept as hiding a problem won’t cure it.
