You come back to school and all those great habits you developed over the summer just seem to get thrown out the window. Creating healthy habits in college is definitely not easy, especially when your life is weighed down by what seems like endless homework and studying. Let’s break it down and make it a little easier to develop some healthy habits this semester that you can actually keep.
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1. Drink more water
Water is essential, obviously. Most of us actually don’t drink even close to enough of it. The best way to keep up with the habit of drinking enough water is to get a cute reusable water bottle and fill it up a few times a day.
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Why should you develop the habit of drinking tons of water? Because there’s SO MANY benefits. Such as:
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Increasing energy
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Improving skin complexion
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Boosting the immune system
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Flushing out toxins
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+ a million more, to be honest.
How to stick with it:
Calculate how much water you should be drinking everyday based on your weight. Determine how many times you need to fill up your bottle each day. If you aren’t a natural lover of water, grab some lemon or mint and add it into your water bottle each day to add a bit of flavor. You can even try out seltzer water if you absolutely can’t stand normal water!
2. Get 8 hours of sleep
Getting enough sleep is honestly a college student’s nemesis. The infamous “team no sleep” is a phrase that always seem to be circulating college campuses.
Let’s get one thing straight though: Not sleeping isn’t cool.
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In order to be a fully functioning, non-sleep-deprived human, you’ll need 7-8 hours of sleep each night. And no, you can’t “catch up” by sleeping extra one night when you’ve skipped some zzz’s the night before.
How to stick with it:
It can be difficult when you feel like you need to stay up until all hours of the night studying, so the easiest way to ensure that you’ll always be getting enough sleep is to plan out your day to maximize your productivity. Instead of staying up late doing homework or studying, head to the library earlier in the day or work between classes to get things done so you can get to bed on time.
3. Walk as much as you can
Finding time to get in a full workout in college can be a struggle. There’s a lot of ways you can get in some exercise without devoting an hour of your day if you’re particularly busy that day. Walking is a great way to stay in shape and keep your heart healthy.
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How to stick with it:
Always, always walk to class whenever you can. Walking (or potentially running to your next class across campus in 10 minutes flat…) is the perfect way to get your heart rate up and get moving.
Try to follow the 10,000 steps a day rule. The “Health” app on the iPhone, something many of us have probably never even glanced at, has a fantastic feature that actually tells you how many steps you’ve taken each day! Convenient, right?
4. Wear sunscreen EVERY day
This is a super easy habit to get into this semester. Wear sunscreen all the freakin’ time. Even when it’s cloudy. Or snowing. Your future self will thank you. Daily use of sunscreen is said to cut your risk of melanoma in half. Yes, in HALF.
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Plus, who wants wrinkled, dry skin when they get old? It’s all about prevention, ladies.
How to stick to it:
Easy. Invest in a daily moisturizer that you can put on every morning (and make it part of your routine) that contains SPF. You’ll get in the habit of putting this on every morning as part of your morning skincare ritual and it will just become second nature.
5. Eat more fruits and veggies
Mom and dad aren’t telling your to eat your vegetables or have some fruit with breakfast anymore. It’s up to YOU to make sure these foods are a big part of your diet. Find some fruits and vegetables that you absolutely love and stock up every week.
How to stick with it:
A good rule is to have some sort of fruit or vegetable with every meal… And for snack too! If you don’t naturally love fruits and veggies, try throwing them into a nutritious and delicious smoothie. Hey, maybe even throw in some spinach. It’s better than you’d think.
The bottom line:
College is the perfect time to start developing those healthy habits that you’ve always thought about. Getting into a routine now when it comes to health will set you up for a healthy, happy, successful future.