There are a lot of ways in which you will suddenly have to start taking care of yourself when you start college. In many ways, college life really is like a crucible in which you can practise all of the things that you need to learn to do in adulthood, but with the relative safety net of knowing that you are going back home in the holidays and you have not quite fully left home yet. One area that you are going to want to think about is your health. It is important to look after your health, and college is a good time to start many positive health habits which you can then carry on forever. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of those habits and how to generally make sure that you are looking after yourself.
Run Twice A Week
If you don’t already run, you should consider taking it up. Going for a run is so simple and straightforward, and yet it is something that is going to make a profound difference to how healthy you are in later life. If you start running now while in college, you will be setting yourself up for a much healthier life in general, so that really is something to think about as soon as possible. It is easy enough to get started in running. You just need some decent running shoes or trainers, something to wear like a vest, and you might want to think about using a monitor – you probably have one on your phone – so you can measure how well you are doing.
The idea of running specifically twice a week is that it is easy enough that you will probably find yourself doing it, but it’s enough exercise that you are probably going to keep in shape pretty easily. Running twice a week helps you to maintain discipline in yourself too, which is another hugely important thing that is going to bode well. So this simple thing really is worth doing if you want to make sure that you are taking proper care of yourself from day one of college.
Learn To Cook
A lot of people learn to cook while they are at college. Being able to put together a few simple meals is going to be hugely helpful in ensuring that you maintain your health, as home cooking is almost always going to be a lot better for you than buying ready meals and the like. If you are concerned about cooking and you are not sure where to begin, the good news is that it is pretty simple to get started. You can begin by learning some basic pasta meals, along with something like a curry which is a little more advanced. If you want to get good at cooking, having a few cookbooks will help, and if you like you can get those which are tailored specifically to students. Many of these have sections focused on which meals you can make with only one pot on the stove, and other such categories which you might find useful.
Learning to cook will mean that you can ensure you are getting all of the nutrients you need from your diet, and you might find that it is a real joy to cook, too. What’s more: it might help you with the social side of college life. After all, everyone loves having a friend who can cook great food. Just try your hand at it, and see where it takes you. You might find it is enjoyable to learn.
Nutrition Essentials
One of the reasons to learn to cook is that you can make sure you get what you need from your diet. But you are going to need to know what that means if you are going to cook the right meals, and it is just generally good to know what you are meant to eat to be as healthy as possible. There is such a lot of conflicting information surrounding nutrition that it is hard to know what you should really aim for. However, the latest evidence seems to suggest something quite clearly: that your diet should consist almost entirely of a range of vegetables.
This kind of advice has long been in the pipeline, but it is now a matter of hard science, and it is something that more and more people are hoping to follow. The ideal diet is that which utilizes a lot of different vegetables, and not much else. The current advice is that you should ‘eat a rainbow’ of veg and fruit, meaning that as long as you are eating many different colors of these foods you are probably getting a lot of nutrients and minerals that you ideally need in your diet. Focus on eating whole foods, avoiding processed food, and if possible keep your consumption of animal products to a minimum too. You will find that this diet is one that makes you feel energetic and good in yourself, while also doing a lot for you. It is also a much more ecological diet, which is something that is becoming more and more important with every passing day.
As long as you are aware of these nutrition essentials, and you make a point of incorporating them into your diet, you can be sure that you are going to be much healthier indeed, and that college life is going to be much better for you in general. So make sure that you focus on this as best as you can.
Health In Relationships
For many college students, another part of health that suddenly becomes very important is sexual health. It is necessary to look after yourself when it comes to your sexual experiences, and there are a lot of things that you need to do to make sure of that. The main thing that you will be concerned with, of course, is ensuring that you keep yourself and your partner safe and free from any unwanted diseases or related problems. That means always using protection, and practising sex in a safe manner every time. You can find some interesting data here on this if you want to know more about it.
Mental Health
Of course, we should not forget that another hugely important part of health is your mental health, and anything you can do to keep your mental health intact is going to be important to focus on. All of us need to focus on keeping our mental health strong, not just those people who might appear to be particularly prone to such problems. It is an issue for everyone, as any of us are possible victims of problems like depression, anxiety and so on. So what should you be doing at college to make sure that you are taking proper care of your mental health?
Most of all, you should try to avoid any habits that are going to negatively affect the way your mind operates. That means avoiding drugs and alcohol abuse, and things like staying up late every night. You should also make a point of doing whatever you can to keep stress at bay, or to stop it arising at all, which is much easier said than done, but nonetheless important. Finally, make sure that you focus on having a good, strong social life and looking after your physical health in the ways listed above. That too ensures that your mental health will remain stronger for much longer.
