Staying healthy in general is hard but doing so while juggling classes, staying on top of schoolwork and trying to find a social balance can be very tricky. Personally, the first thing I want to do while studying is eat a bunch of chocolate. However, I found some tricks to follow to keep me from binge eating a whole container of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to cope with quarter system.
First off, I don’t have it in my fridge because the moment I place it in there, I’ll be thinking about it that night and it’ll call my name when I least expect it. Which is not fun to resist when you’re trying to be good on your diet.
In fact, this brings me to my first tip: DON’T CALL IT A DIET. Once you label your food consumption as a diet, it adds on the stress of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and the idea that you HAVE to eat clean . . . no. If you change the way your mind thinks about food, then gradually, you will want to make better decisions when you go out to eat or grocery shop.
Now, onto my second tip. It can be hard to stay healthy when all you want to eat is fast food because it’s cheap and let’s face it, there is always a Taco Bell close by. Instead, already have food in your home that you can go to. Say to yourself, “I have food at home”, something you hated to hear as a child when you asked your parent for McDonald’s. You’ll find that it is a lot cheaper to simply go grocery shopping once and get healthier foods than it is to constantly buy fast food. You’ll feel a lot better and so will your bank account.
Lastly, download the MyFitnessPal app. I used to have the Weight Watchers app and it was $20 a month! Honestly, Weight Watchers is a great tool, but it does the same thing as MyFitnessPal. The only difference is that Weight Watchers has its own market where you can buy specialty food that is healthy and tastes pretty good, but to be honest, there’s barely any food in its packages and it is way overpriced. You might as well download MyFitnessPal for free and track your calories and still eat relatively close to what you want to because in the end, the app helps you figure out how much to consume each day. It also helps you in the long run to maintain healthy eating habits.
These are some helpful tips and tricks for when you are trying to keep a healthy lifestyle and have one less thing to worry about while attending college.