College is a great time in life, and you have spent years preparing for it with eager anticipation. But did part of your preparation include learning how to care for your health while living the college lifestyle? You might be surprised how often that is overlooked. At Central Ozarks Medical Center, we know being healthy and taking care of yourself is an essential part of your college performance and experience. By taking into consideration a few things and developing some good habits to start, you can give yourself a great advantage in college and in life. If you would like to learn a few easy tips for taking good care of your health while at college, keep reading this blog! We are going to talk about some basic areas to focus on.
- Eat Right
We have all heard of the freshman 15 … those extra pounds many students gain their first year in college. It is so easy to get in the habit of surviving on fast food, junk food, snacks, and processed food. But with some awareness and a shift in mindset, healthy meals and snacks can be fast and satisfying. Start by having healthy snacks on hand like almonds, veggies, and fruits that are both filling and nutritious. Watch what you drink – and we don’t just mean alcohol. You would be surprised how many empty calories are in fruit juice, lattes, sodas, flavored teas, etc. Just substituting water in place of those sugary drinks can make a huge impact on your caloric intake. Finally, the more you can commit to cooking at home and eating whole foods, the more your body will benefit. Support your body, and it will support you!
2. Exercise
Sitting for hours every day is incredibly hard on our health over time. Since college involves hours of study time every day, being mindful of how much (or how little) you are moving is important. We know that it is a good mental break to spend 10 minutes or so of every hour resting from our studies, why not make that an exercise break? Use your break time as a trigger to remind you to get up and move. Do some push-ups or jumping jacks or go on a short, brisk walk. It will not only break up the monotony for you mentally, but it can help raise endorphins and boost your motivation when you get back to the books.
3. Proper Rest
Between schoolwork and social demands, college students can get themselves spread pretty thin. This is especially true if they also have to work while they are in college or if they have a family to take care of. It can be tempting to burn the candle at both ends and rely on coffee and energy drinks to get through the day, but the habits you develop now can affect you for life. You understand the importance of keeping your cell phone charged … your body needs to be recharged too. Just because it doesn’t shut down on you doesn’t mean it is not suffering or losing efficiency. Be as good to yourself as you are to your cell phone and set aside time to get 7-8 hours of quality sleep each day.
College is something you have waited for all your life, and we want it to be everything you ever hoped for. We hope you have found these tips helpful, and we encourage you to check out next week’s blog as well where we will continue to share more ideas on how to take care of your health while in school. Central Ozarks Medical Center is committed to your good health for life, and that does not stop when you go to college. For all your medical, dental, and mental or behavioral health services at the Lake of the Ozarks, you can count on COMC to provide quality care regardless of your insurance status. After all, it is not just what we do, but how we do it that makes the difference. For more news and information on health care at the Lake of the Ozarks, follow us on social media using the links below.
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