With the turn of every New Year, we all make promises to ourselves to be better with resolutions. Unfortunately, 80 percent of people who make resolutions break them by February, according to U.S. News. Keeping up with these resolutions can be an even harder task when you’re in college and have a million other tasks to concentrate on. Internships, homework, socializing, and jobs can all get in the way of remembering to drink eight glasses of water a day. But keeping your promise is not as hard as you might think. Check out the tips below on how to stay on track with some of the most popular resolutions.
1. Eating healthy
This resolution might be the hardest one to keep up, especially if you have a meal plan and your only option is to eat on campus every day. But there are good options on campus that won’t have you inhaling sugar and sodium. The healthiest options on campus to use a meal swipe are Freshii and Global Fresh. You can also go to the dining hall and make yourself a custom salad at the salad bar! Does anyone else find it wrong that you have to walk past the dessert bar before getting to the salad bar? I do. Anyway, my biggest tip on how to eat healthy on campus is to buy healthy snacks. We all know that a lot of our meal swipes and money goes towards getting snacks at Eagles Nest and other small snack places. But by buying healthy snacks that you can keep in your backpack, the temptation to buy a quick jar of edible cookie dough from the Dav is gone.
2. Drinking more water
It’s easy to carry around a water bottle all day in your backpack but remembering to actually drink the water is the tricky part. Plant Nanny is a phone app that lets you pick out a type of plant and you keep it alive by telling the app how much water you drank that day. So in order for your plant to live, you have to drink water. It’s a great idea for anyone who needs some higher stakes when it comes to remembering to drink water.
3. Working out more
The answer to this gif is, no. This resolution is one that millions of people make every year, but once life gets busy, it’s hard to find the time to make it to the gym as often as you said you would. Fortunately, there ways that you can stay fit that don’t require much of a time commitment. Sworkit is another phone app that lets you do five to 60-minute workouts in the comfort of your own home. Many of the workouts don’t even require equipment! You can target specific areas for the workout or even do yoga. Try it once you get too busy to go to the gym and see how it makes staying fit easier.
4. Go out and explore the city
When classes really kick in and start to take over your life, it’s hard to go out and see new places. Luckily with the UPass, it’s free to get around the city and find new places. If finding time is the problem for you, try planning out a day that you don’t have classes a week in advance and keeping that as your day to go out. Finding a friend who also has the same day free will definitely make this process easier because you can push each other. Want some ideas on where to go in D.C.? Check out our article: The Ultimate D.C. Bucket List.
5. Save money
Before the New Year, your bank account might’ve felt like it was this gif. But after the holidays is the perfect time to start budgeting your money again. Saving money in college can be hard, but learning how to do it wisely will help in the long run (aka when you have to pay loans). My biggest advice is to open a savings account and actually put some of the money from each paycheck into the account. Even 20 dollars every two weeks will add up quickly. If you don’t have a job, try cutting back on Ubers, ordering out less, and maybe not buying more clothes for your wardrobe (terrifying, I know).
I promise you that sticking to all these resolutions is possible! It’s the little changes in your everyday routine that will make the biggest difference at the end of the day. Good luck!