Sometimes in college we get so caught up in the craziness that is work and friends and clubs that we forget to take care of ourselves. Here are five tips that you can implement into your life immediately so you can be a healthier person. Even if you just try one or two of these tricks, those little changes will add up over time and leave you with a little added pep in your step!
1. Get in Some Zzz’s from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Turns out the hours from 10 p.m. – 2 a.m. are the most rejuvinative hours to be sleeping. Even if you go to sleep at 2 a.m and sleep until 2 p.m. the next day, it still won’t be the same quality of sleep if you sleep from 10 p.m. – 2 a.m. Getting optimal sleep each night leads to decreased stress levels, higher energy levels, increased immune system, and so many more benefits! So even when finals start to get crazy, try to keep in mind when the most optimal hours for sleeping are!
(how yummy does this bed look)
2. Eat Food in Optimal Order for Digestion
The order in which you put food into your body actually makes a difference on how it digests. When you eat your food from lightest food to heaviest it prevents what celebrity nutritionist Kimberly Snyder calls a “traffic jam” in your digestive system. Eating light to heavy allows your body to use less energy for digestion and more for other processes, leaving you feeling healthier and more energized! Use the chart below to help you! E.g. Fruit should always be eaten before any other food group to decrease bloating and improper digestion.
3. Stand More
We sit in classrooms, libraries, and coffee shops all day long. Even if you exercise, sitting is very detrimental to the body, especially when you’re sitting for the immense amount of time we do today. Trainer Jillian Michaels, (#tbt to her being tyrannical but v entertaining on The Biggest Loser) says, “Stand whenever you can. Standing burns 1.5 times more calories than sitting. Stand when you’re at the doctor’s office, when you watch TV, even when you work at your computer—I put mine on the kitchen counter. Just stand.” If you have time in between long classes, try to walk around the halls for ten minutes, or when you make phone calls, stand instead of sitting!
(Little Lohan is excited to be standing)
4. Alcohol for Optimal Health
Rubbing Alcohol that is. Take some rubbing alcohol on a cotton pad and wipe down your phone, your sunglasses, your keyboard, and anything else that you’re constantly touching or put near your face. This will help prevent you from getting sick and keep the acne away!
5. Make Time for People Who Give You Energy
Think of someone who, when you leave them, you leave feeling drained, salty about life, and like you want to take a nap. Now think of someone who, whenever you leave them, you leave feeling energized, happier, and ready to take on whatever comes your way. I’m sure people on both ends of this spectrum came to your mind, and then there might be people in between. Start to take notice of who those people are. Start to distance yourself from those who leave you feeling duller and make more time for those who leave you feeling brighter. You will start feeling more inspired, more energized, and overall happier.
(don’t hang out with these people)