It might seem like in college, you can only choose between health, friends, and grades. In reality, you can balance all three at the same time with a bit of practice. Below are eight ways to incorporate healthier living without sacrificing anything else!
- Prioritize sleep
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College students love bragging about pulling all nighters or drinking four cups of coffee to stay awake but really, this is horrible. Missing sleep makes it harder to pay attention in class, makes studying less effective, and makes assignments take longer to complete. Getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night will help you stay on top of your school work and will make you feel better overall.
- Check out the gym
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I get it, not everyone likes the gym, but giving it a try can’t hurt you. A lot of colleges offer classes on top of gym access, so if hitting the squat rack isn’t your thing, try a yoga class! There’s a lot of different types of workouts from weight lifting, cardio, and stretching. Doing just 30 minutes of movement a day can put you in a much better mood and help your body stay in shape!
- Carry a water bottle
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Everyone knows the saying ‘hydrate or die-drate’, but college takes this to a whole new level. Drinking water can help you stay awake in class, avoid the flu, and help you avoid headaches. Really, water is the cheap answer to almost any problem at college. Carrying a reusable water bottle will not only help you save the planet, but it will act as a friendly reminder to keep chugging.
- Swap out snack foods for fruit
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Sometimes, you just need something sweet, but snacking can lead to unhealthy weight gain if you don’t pay attention to what you put in your mouth. A healthy alternative is grabbing an apple, banana, or berry when you start craving a cookie. Adding nutella or peanut butter to the fruit will also make it seem less like a diet and more like a sweet snack!
- Look into counseling
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Although you might not believe it, a lot of students on campus go to counseling. You don’t need to be suffering from an extreme mental illness in order to go; even people that just feel stressed during the week can benefit from therapy! A lot of schools even offer therapy for cheap, sometimes even free, so looking into it is a great idea!
- Write stuff down
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Speaking of stress, staying organized in school can help prevent the feeling of being overwhelmed. Write down assignments, exams, meetings, or events on your phone or in a planner to help ensure everything is done on time!
- Set aside time to relax
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College is a lot of work, but only ever doing homework is a fast track towards burn-out. Make sure you spend a little bit of time everyday doing things that are fun to you. It could be taking a walk, reading, watching netflix, or hanging out with friends. Just make sure the activity you do refreshes you and makes you feel calmer!
- Find friends that prioritize their health too
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We’ve all had our parents warn us about ‘falling into the wrong crowd’, but honestly, they were right. If you have friends that eat pizza for every meal and don’t start their homework until 1 am, you are more inclined to fall into those patterns too. While that’s not to say you can’t be friends with certain people, it’s important you do have friends that prioritize their mental and physical health so they can inspire you to do it to!