As a student (and an avid pasta eater) staying healthy in this crazy semester has been a real struggle for me, but this past week I have gotten back into going to the gym on a regular basis and it has really helped me in more regards than just having more body positivity (although that is the reason I started in the first place). Not only have I been working out, but I’ve been trying to change my eating habits as a new owner of IBS that is caused by gluten and meat at the same time. Talk about stress!
So here I was, a broke college girl with IBS and a need to get moving again. I’ve come to find that there are so many different ways that you can work out or just have some kind of physical activity even when it’s cold out. The Student Rec Center on campus is a great place to start, espicially if you don’t have any kind of gym membership and are like me (I don’t like to run around outside in the Winter). My friends all really like to rock climb, and even though my wrists and hands can’t handle it for long, it is actually fun (don’t tell them I said that). There are plenty of intramural sports like soccer, softball, or tennis, and if you want to really get into it, there are even more club teams.
I have found that what works the best for me in staying healthy is to develop a workout routine of sorts and always make plans to go with a friend. This way, your friend can hold you acountable for actually hitting the gym and sometimes even for eating healthy (or in my case, not gluten and not meat). Accountibility is a big part of staying healthy because it helps (me at least) to not let down my friend. If I let myself down it’s whatever but my friends? No way.
It can be really difficult to stay healthy in college when you’ve got 100 assignments to do and about 10 minutes (it feels like) to do them. The key is to manage your time wisely and always leave enough time to do what you need to for school. School matters. Staying healthy can help you stay focused on your school work as well, and is a great stress reliever. Of course, after about the first week of working out and eating a little better you should begin to feel a bit better and hopefully less stressed (I know I do)!