Exam season in colleges and universities is a very strenuous and tiring period for a student. Long study hours, sleepless nights, stress and anxiety regarding their preparations, all these things have a great toll on their health. Life in college is very different from that of school. For, back in high school, your schedule was mostly laid out by other people. Like, for example, in school you had your time-table laid out by your teachers while at home that responsibility was taken care of by your parents. However, in college, you are solely responsible for taking care of everything from your studies to other daily tasks. In such a situation, where your schedule is jam-packed with a lot of unavoidable things that require your regular attention it's the matters of your health that take a backseat. But, to be able to perform any task with full efficiency be it your studies or your extra-curricular you need to be fit and healthy. Hence, in this article, we have discussed some health tips to ensure both your physical and mental well-being in college.
Eating/food habits
Breakfast
“Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a beggar” is a popular proverb that you surely must have heard of somewhere. Eating a rich breakfast gives you the energy to go through the most productive hours of the day without feeling too tired or lethargic. College students, on the contrary, skip the breakfast all together and have a minimal lunch while rushing between classes and enjoy the dinner like a king. Skipping it altogether on the other hand counts for a big mistake and is an unhealthy eating habit.
Junk food
Another major concern when it comes to college students and their eating habits is consumption of junk food. Surely, junk food is easily available and budget friendly it's not so much of health friendly. Preservatives, unhealthy cooking environment and other such factors make it unfit for consumption. Moreover, they hardly have any nutrients and are only good to tingle your taste buds. Studies have shown that problems like obesity and the increasing number of youngsters with heart-related problems are mostly because of consumption of junk food in large quantities.
Fluids
70 percent of the human body is made up of water which makes it one of the essential requirements of the human body. Although there is no fixed amount of how much water should a human consume in a day, most health experts recommend 2 liters of water per person per day. It helps keep our body well hydrated. If you do not like or are unable to consume lots of water you can also take liquid in other forms such as juice, buttermilk, etc. You could also consume fruits like watermelon during summers to meet your body's water requirements. Fluids not only help to keep your body hydrated but also help in digestion and make your skin glow more.
Good sleeping habits
Life as a college student often means staying up late in nights. Especially, if you live in a hostel then you are lucky enough to catch even a few hours of sleep at night. Gossips, binge-watching, partying from late in the night to early morning are some of the common hostel life episodes. During the exams season, most of the preparations happen at night. But it's never a good idea to lose out on your sleep even if it is for completing an assignment due the next morning or to prepare for the exam the next day. If you manage your time properly and spread out your workload evenly over the semester than you won't have everything piled up for the last moment, neither would you have to miss out on your precious sleep. Experts recommend that at 6-7 hours of sleep every day is essential for a young adult. Sleeping is not a waste of time as many students believe it to be. It actually is the time when our body relaxes and rebuilds itself. A proper sleep schedule is essential for both your physical and mental health.
However, if you feel that you have a disturbed sleep cycle and are unable to correct it then mention below are some points that can help you enjoy a sound sleep -
- Take a nice warm bath or shower in the evening
- Use a suitable pillow
- Dim the lights in your bedroom an hour or two before going to bed
- Eat dinner at least three hours before bedtime
- Avoid going to bed on an empty stomach
- Avoid caffeine in late afternoon and evening
Doing exercise is a health booster
Regular exercise is essential for maintaining a good health. It helps you stay fit, strengthens your immune system, relaxes your minds, prevents the buildup of stress and also improves the health of your heart. Exercising also increases the flow of blood in our body thus, ensuring better transmission of oxygen to all our body parts. Also, exercising leads to tiredness and exhaustion which will help you sleep better. As a student, exercising should a part of your daily routine for its important not just for your physical well-being but also your mental health. If you do not enjoy exercising its essential that you do some sort of physical work out like playing a sport of your choice. However, there are some basic things that you should keep in mind while exercising like -
- Wear the right kind of clothes.
- Wear the right shoes so that your feet don't start hurting.
- Drink water regularly to remain hydrated and prevent the feeling of weakness.
- Do warm-up exercises so that your muscles do not get strained.
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Personal hygiene tips to keep illness at bay
The college is a place where you are always surrounded by large groups of people. You don't know when you might get infected by some contagious disease. Ensuring a good personal hygiene then becomes a necessity for college students. Maintaining a good personal hygiene is the first step to maintaining a healthy body. Some personal hygiene tips that you must observe are as follows -
- Make sure to wash your hands properly before eating something. Also, wash your hands with soap if you have been around any sick people.
- Avoid sharing of beverages with your friends as germs can easily spread through sharing of liquids like soft drinks, juice and even water.
- If your hands are unclean, then make sure that you don't touch your nose, mouth and eyes. As the membranes in these areas are an easy passageway for viruses and bacteria.
- Make sure that you get vaccinated from time to time to be safe from any kind of seasonal flu.
Improve your mental health to stay fit and happy
Believe it or not, almost every second disease on earth starts at the mental level. Stress, depression and anxiety are the major factors of many heart-related diseases. So, it’s high time to keep yourself mentally fit in order to lead a healthy and happy life. Here are some tips to help you ensure a good mental health:
- Don’t let the stress factor get over you as it may result in depression. If at any point of time you feel stressed, make sure to take a break from your studies and give yourself the time to relax and refresh.
- The harsh fact of life is that you can’t make everyone happy. Therefore, it’s better to first ensure your happiness and worry about others later. However, that’s doesn’t mean that you turn into a selfish person. You just need to concentrate and prioritize your own expectations of yourself over the ones that others have of you.
- Rather than concentrating too much on your faults, try to rectify them, and enjoy your work. It will boost your confidence manifolds and also prevent the buildup of stress in your mind.
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Conclusion
These were the essentials of maintaining a good health for a college student. Your body is your temple and you must treat it like that. Eat healthy food and take proper rest so, that it can recover from the wear and tear of every day. In case, you have something to say, please make sure to pen down your thoughts in the comment box below. Also, do share this article with your friend circle to impart your friends with the knowledge of the ways to maintain a sound and healthy body and mind for college students.