It’s so easy to let your healthy habits fall by the wayside, especially with studying taking over as exam season approaches. There are some things that everyone can do to make small, easy changes to their diet and improve their health, starting today!
Switch to Wholegrain!
You may already eat wholemeal bread – and that’s great! But did you know that you can also get wholegrain pasta and rice as well? Pasta is quick and easy to cook, so it’s a go-to meal for a lot of students. Switching to wholegrain pasta and rice is an easy way to start improving your diet.
Have more calcium!
So maybe you don’t like milk – maybe you’re like me and gag at the thought of drinking a glass of milk. However, there are still plenty of other ways to get more calcium into your diet: aside from the obvious yoghurts, smoothies, and cheese, salmon and almonds are also a great source of calcium. And a surprising addition to this list is leafy greens – like kale, peas, and broccoli, which are packed full of healthy vitamins and minerals, as well as calcium.
Fruit, glorious fruit!
IT’s an inexpensive and tasty snack, and fruit is full of various nutrients that can help improve your diet. Next time you’re out shopping for food, add in some apples, bananas, pineapple, whatever takes your fancy – and next time you want to grab for a chocolate bar, have some fruit instead; the sugars in them will often satisfy your sweet tooth. (And did you know that apples are actually a good source of caffeine? You can switch another cup of coffee for an apple and reap the health benefits!)
Every little helps! (Yes, I’m talking about exercise.)
Taking the stairs instead of the lift and walking to town instead of taking the bus might seem like obvious and maybe insignificant changes to make, but remember that every little helps. On its own, three flights of stairs might not do much. But if you’re doing that a few times a week en route to lectures, and walking to town once or twice a week, then altogether it’s going to make a difference. Adding in more exercise to an already busy schedule doesn’t have to be hard!
And everything in moderation!
When you think ‘healthy eating’, do you think no cakes, no crisps, no yummy and probably not-so-nutritious snacks? It really doesn’t have to be that drastic, don’t worry! Sure, three chocolate bars every day isn’t going to do your body any good, but one won’t hurt you. Take a good look at what you’re actually eating – try to keep a food diary for a week, and be brutally honest (that handful of biscuits? Yes, that counts too!) and then you can step back and see what you could cut out of your diet to make some changes that will give you a healthier lifestyle.
See? It really doesn’t have to be too difficult to make small changes here and there in your diet to lead to a healthier lifestyle, and a healthier you!
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