Healthy Habits to Start the Year off Right

Most of you have already headed back to school and are gearing up for a new year at college.  With the rush of busy schedules and new classes, it can be easy to forget the importance of maintaining healthy eating and exercise routines.  There are plenty of steps you can take now to keep your mind and body healthy throughout the school year.

#1.  Don’t be lazy.  Every small bit of exercise you do throughout the day helps.  You’ve heard it a million times by now, but taking the stairs does help, along with walking to class, rather than taking the bus.  If you don’t keep your body in motion, your mind tends to follow, leaving your entire being lethargic.

#2.  Don’t skip meals.  Eat at normal times with normal portions.  Just because your friend is downing that extra large slice of pepperoni doesn’t mean you can do the same.  It’s important to keep food intake as normal as possible, so your body doesn’t get overloaded and weigh you down.

#3.  When you eat better, you feel better.  The types of foods you eat make all the difference in how your body feels.  Ever notice how when you eat a salad, you feel light and full of energy. When you eat greasy foods, such as cheeseburgers and pizza, you tend to feel tired and sluggish, which does not make for good study sessions.  Keep in mind that your entire body functions better with proper nutrients, so fruit and veggies are definitely a plus when it comes to keeping yourself operating at full capacity.

#4.  Plan your meals ahead of time.  Don’t wait until you are starving before you eat.  Plan out the type of food you want to eat ahead of time, so you are less likely to make poor eating choices.  Say you come back to your dorm starving.  You see the container of easy mac, and dive in without a care in the world.  Then you see some cookies, and munch away.  While packaged food is easy to get and easy to store, it is not healthy at all.  No matter how healthy you think it may be, packaged foods are loaded with chemicals and excess calories.  Plan a healthy meal and keep plenty of fruits, yogurts, veggie soups, and whole grain cereals/crackers stocked up.

#5.  Keep snacking to a minimum.  It’s easy to get carried away with snacking while you are busy, so if you must snack, don’t do it while you are studying.  Create a snack time and focus only on what you are eating.  That way you won’t look up and notice half the Oreos missing from the package.  Try keeping mostly healthy snacks such as, yogurt, dried fruit, nuts, granola bars, 100 cal bags of popcorn, etc. around to avoid extra temptation.

Jennifer Williams is an intern for Collegelifestyles (TM).  She is a sophomore at Ball State University studying dietetics and pre-med.  She loves bookstores and sipping hazelnut lattes.