Finals is a sad time, and if you don’t take care of yourself, you will unfortunately feel worse. So here we have collected a few easy ways to stay healthy during finals!
Exercise: During finals, of course it’s much harder to find time to exercise. However, it’s a great stress reliever and can refresh you to do… yep. More studying. Even if you don’t have 20-30 minutes to do a quick workout, you can always incorporate some simple exercises as you study. Examples: Planking while reading. Squats and flashcards. Burpees for every problem you don’t solve correctly (Just kidding! Unless you really understand the subject and won’t be over exerting yourself).
Sleep: This is a basic during the entire year, but is especially difficult to manage during finals. This is also assuming that you do not need to pull an all-nighter every night. If you drink coffee and take naps, drink the coffee right before you nap, and you’ll be more alert when you wake up! If you are just a napper, make sure you don’t nap for too long, otherwise it might work against you and make you lethargic.
Food: Obviously it’s super comforting to have food during a stressful period. To make sure you don’t go too overboard with junk, turn towards healthier alternatives. If you snack on fruits and veggies, you can eat more for the same amount of calories as a bag of chips. If you’re more of a quality versus quantity person, make sure you stick to the suggested serving size.
Other healthy snack ideas: Yogurt (filling and helps with digestion!), smoothies (still contain the fruit fibers as opposed to just juice), carrots & hummus, pretzel crisps & cheese spread (my favorite is the spicy pepper jack!), frozen berry medley, nuts.
If you’re cooking your meals, always include a side of vegetables, no matter how simple, to add some color as well as nutrition and help you fill up. One of my favorite quick meals is to make ramen with an egg and throw some broccoli or bok choy in it.
All-Nighter:
Alright, so we’ve all been here. Here are some tips to make it the most efficient and best all-nighter that you can pull.
First, take a nap to almost trick your body into thinking that you got your night’s rest. Make sure you avoid carbs, they are a sleep trap! Instead, eat proteins like nuts as a snack. Use caffeine as a last resort. You don’t want that crash early on, it’s difficult to get back up. Use your energy from the nap before until you are starting to feel the effects of sleep again, and then add caffeine. Do a couple of jumping jacks or light exercises to keep your body from getting too relaxed as the night goes on (see Exercise section).
Other short term ideas: Washing your face with cold water, taking a cold shower, continuously sip water through the night, keep lights bright, keep thermostat at cool, chew gum, play movie instrumentals (the Tron soundtrack, Harry Potter, Narnia, and Pirates of the Caribbean are great).
Definitely do not recommend consecutive all-nighters. *Disclaimer: I am not a scientist please do what is right for you and your body aka probably not an all-nighter.