College is around the corner, bringing with it terrible diets, late nights and heavy course loads. The “freshman fifteen” threatens us all, beckoning with delicious aromas of late-night pizza and fresh cream-filled doughnuts. Now, you could fall prey to the weight gain-causing, stress-inducing characteristics of college, OR you could make the effort now to make this semester your healthiest one yet.
I did not make the healthiest choices during my first quarter of Ohio State college life. I’m not saying that I took on 22 credit hours of coursework (I did), that a pizza was on my dinner plate every night (guilty) or that I got less than five hours of sleep a night (more like less than four), I am just saying that I maybe could have done things a little differently.
As I prepare to enter into my last year as an undergraduate Buckeye, I hope to make some healthier choices that will follow me after I depart from college town. Do you feel like being healthy this year? The following is a quick guide to a healthy semester.
1. Plan ahead
Strategic planning will help to ensure your semester is healthier than in the past. Start your semester out strong by sorting out some things before you step foot back on your campus this fall. Registering for a reasonable class schedule, figuring out your finances and creating a time-management system before you get back into the college groove can help you stay stress-free and organized throughout the entire semester. Avoid the temptation of scribbling your email down on dozens of student organization sign-ups at your campus involvement fair by researching all of the clubs you are interested in to determine the ones you actually have time to join. Read more about these tips and learn some other ways to plan ahead in Kelci Lynn Lucier’s article “What Every College Student Needs to Start a New Semester Strongly.”
2. Make fitness a habit
Staying fit in college is like learning the alphabet song as a kid—you start out training your mind a little bit and eventually you get the pattern down and can sing the dreaded song in your sleep (don’t tell me you don’t find that song annoying). In other words, in order to get into the pattern of working out to stay fit, you need to start by doing a little bit of activity in order to train your body and build on this type of behavior until you are eventually doing crunches in your dreams.
If your college has a workout facility that you automatically pay for because you’re a student, use it—this is your hard-earned money going into the garbage if you decide to watch television instead. In addition to hitting the gym, check out which fitness-oriented classes your school offers. I took a hip-hop dance course for my first semester at Ohio State that left me sweating more than the pre-calc tests I never studied for. Who knows what your school may offer? Check out this article to read about the types of classes you should try to sign up for this semester.
3. Change your diet
Put down the greasy burger and gummy worms—it’s time to eat right! So you couldn’t bring your cooks to school with you (a.k.a., mom and dad); this doesn’t mean you should jump at the chance to ruin your health with all of the fried and sugary goodness offered on and around a college campus. Change your diet this semester and start thinking about what you are putting into your body.
In addition to eating right, adding vitamins to your diet can help you achieve a healthier system. Consider investing in some vitamins or other supplements this semester. Check out the Vitamin Shoppe, a store “with over 18,000 products from over 400 brand names to choose from.” You can’t tell me this store lacks the vitamins or other supplements you’re searching for! Along with vitamins, Vitamin Shoppe offers “minerals, nutritional supplements, homeopathic remedies, herbs, sports nutrition products, and beauty aids.” In addition, a full service learning center allows you to learn from “Health Enthusiasts” (a.k.a. employees) about the various supplements offered. From someone who only took those delicious Flintstone vitamins as a kid, this feature of the shop sounds pretty helpful in terms of learning about and purchasing the appropriate products for your body.
It all begins with the choice to be healthy. Get out there and make this semester your healthiest yet!