You’re Responsible for your Health in College

College can be some of the best years of your life. You get to try new things, meet new people, and most of all, eat whenever you want! For some, the meal plan going into freshman year might be the biggest highlight of going to college. No longer will you have to depend on your family’s schedule and food preferences. Instead, you’ll now be able to go to your local campus hot spot and be fully in control over what you want to eat.

Cereal for dinner? Go for it! Hamburgers and pizza for breakfast? Why not?

Along with these new freedoms to eat what you want, when you want, comes the responsibility of keeping yourself healthy.

That breakfast pizza? It could cause you to experience what we all know as the Freshman 15.

You're responsible for your health in college... here are some good habits to get into.

 

Eating healthy is definitely an important part of the equation for staying healthy and fit in college. It’s important to make sure that your dietary decisions take into consideration your overall activity level and the way your body deals with certain types of food. For example: if eating fries results in you feeling greasy or bloated, only indulge once in a while, rather than making a habit of it.

For more ways to eat better at school, check out this guide about how to beat the Freshman 15.

Another important component to feeling your best is exercising and being active. In order to establish and maintain good exercise habits, start with just 30-45 minutes a day. Being in college gives you considerable free time. Although some of your time will already be spoken for (class, studying, hanging out with friends), carving out under an hour per day to stay healthy will have you thanking yourself in the coming weeks, months and even years!

A simple way to increase exercise may be by walking to class. You don’t always need to take the bus or shuttle… instead, get a friend to tag along and take the long route to class on foot. Another way is to ride your bike to class or even to take a bike ride off campus to explore the area around your school. And on days you’re crunched for time, you can multitask and do your reading for class while riding a stationary bike at the gym.

Need more ideas to help you get your daily exercise in? Check out this guide to exercising in college!