With the pressure to keep up with the classes and complete the coursework, it’s sometimes a challenge for students (especially freshmen ones) to maintain a healthy weight and get enough exercise. Anything one can do to improve their general health is a good thing, as college lasts several years, which is enough time to do serious damage to your body if you don’t take proper care of it.
So, to help you keep in shape, here are three ways to stay fit while attending college.
1. Grab Fifteen-Minute Breaks to Workout
It might surprise you to learn, but it’s possible to stay fit just 15 minutes at a time. It’s not the length of exercise that you complete, but the total amount of accumulated minutes of exercise in a day or a week that matters. With college classes, there’s often a lot of “wait and hurry up.” Those breaks between bursts of activity provide a perfect opportunity to walk the halls or take a stroll across campus to feel the wind in your hair and take in a clean breath of air while pushing your heart rate up.
The total amount of exercise will add up when you take these little breaks as opportunities to exercise. The reduced stress levels will also help clear your mind for the lectures and classes during the rest of the morning or afternoon too.
2. Be Mindful of Your Eating Habits
The first stage of improving health is to watch what you’re consuming. After all, weight loss isn’t complicated. It’s simply a matter of balancing the total calories in and the total calories out. Getting the right balance will keep your weight steady even if you have a particularly busy study week with finals coming up where you find it especially challenging to grab those fifteen-minute blocks to stretch your legs a bit.
There are plenty of health apps that suggest meal plans to keep your eating in check. These kinds of quick to prepare meals on-the-go are best when you’re pushed for time and would normally reach for a fast-food meal instead of something healthier.
3. Avoid Being Sedentary
The problem with your college days is that you spend a lot of time sitting down in lecture halls and hitting the books. This leads to lower calorie burn days and a sedentary lifestyle, which eventually catches up with you. One way to manage better is to get interested in health and wellness, which motivates you to make the right decisions for your life in the here and now. Choose activities that get the body moving like exploring the city on foot, taking excursions to go hiking and swimming at the local public pool.
Leaving college at least at the same weight and fitness level that you entered it should be a basic plan. For anyone who arrives on campus needing to drop a few pounds, their goal should be to leave in better shape than when they arrived. If you want to learn more, consider a Health and Wellness degree.
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