College Fitness: 7 Best Tips For Staying In Shape
College students always seem to be breaking bad as soon as they cross the porches of the dorm. Finally, there is no one to supervise them, which means they can do whatever they want. This may sound like fun, but, in fact, this often leads to many unhealthy choices. How to avoid this and stay healthy and fit? In this article, we have gathered the best tips and tricks that will help students stay in shape!
Top Seven Tips For Being Healthy And Fit In College
- Don’t skip breakfast
This is the most important meal of the whole day – it provides energy and protects us from grabbing extra calories in the form of unhealthy snacks. Besides, having a good, nutritious breakfast every day will help to speed up the metabolism, which makes it a good tip for staying in shape!
- Cut on liquid calories
Energetic beverages, soda, alcohol, as well as other sugary drinks seem to be filling us with energy, and they definitely taste better than pure water. However, these are the biggest enemies of college students who strive to stay in shape. Such drinks contain lots of sugar, calories, and unhealthy elements. Besides, they are not the best sources for getting energy. For example, fiber or protein will give a more significant energy boost, and it is much healthier. Thus, we recommend students to measure the consumption of such drinks.
- Drink black coffee
Although not many know this, coffee can help to stay in shape, but only if it’s drunk black (meaning without any sugar or milk). Coffee itself generates a metabolism boost and prevents weight gain. Thus, if you are a coffee lover, make sure to drink it black, and you will notice positive changes in your shape!
- Carve out some time for exercising
Of course, the best way to always stay healthy and fit is to do sports. It can be pretty much anything – a college basketball team, swimming, yoga, gym work out, or even a simple routine at home. We recommend every student to find an activity that suits his needs and devote at least an hour a day to exercise!
- Walk more
Students, whose schedule is way too busy and doesn’t let them join a sports team or work out in a gym, can benefit from this simple hack. Walking burns many calories and often has a positive influence on the human’s wellbeing. Thus, if doing sports isn’t an option for you, try to walk as much as you can! For example, walking to the city to meet up with friends instead of taking a bus or driving will help to burn some extra calories!
- Live actively
Another great tip for college students is to live active and saturated lives. College years are full of opportunities, and it is the right time to chase them! By saying this, we mean making friends and going out, participating in various extracurricular activities, traveling, and creating memories! Although all these activities have nothing to do with the fitness itself, living actively and keeping yourself busy actually helps to stay in good shape and, most importantly, in a great mood!
- Make the right food choices
Most students would prefer to get a pizza instead of salad and a can of soda instead of fresh juice. It is hard to blame them for the choices they are making as there is a common misbelief that eating healthy takes lots of time and money. Well, this is wrong. First of all, there are plenty of healthy recipes that don’t take long to cook. Secondly, eating healthy doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive! The idea is to go grocery shopping regularly and shop for the right and healthy foods. For example, it is a great idea to give up sandwiches that students take with as a snack for some fresh fruits.
All these simple hacks will help students stay fit and healthy in college. However, here is one more thing to keep in mind – a healthy lifestyle shouldn’t be the last instance, it MUST be a habit!
How To Develop Healthy Habits?
Students are often claiming that they lack time for sports and a healthy lifestyle due to a large academic load. Of course, this is true, but only to a certain extent. It is always hard to reconsider your approach to life and change it from the root. However, as soon as the process was launched, it is not that hard to keep going because it becomes a habit. Now, how to acquire the right healthy habits? Here are a few tips that will come in handy:
- Set goals. No big changes happen on their own, so there always should be a clear goal. Setting fitness goals will help students to stay motivated, and it is also a good way to keep track of the progress.
- Find like-minded students. Socialization is an important part of our lives, now wonder why everything is twice more fun with a good company! Thus, if you are struggling with developing a healthier lifestyle on your own, find a fitness buddy who will make you a company! Working out, shopping, and cooking healthy meals with a friend is a great motivation to keep going forward.
- Use an app to track the progress. Another smart way to stay on track is to download a fitness application that allows keeping track of your activities and meals. Often, such apps come with plenty of exercise routines, handy tips, meal plans, recipes, etc. Such an app is a must-have on the path to your fitness goals!
- Free up some time by getting help. The first steps on your way to healthy living will probably be the hardest, as, during this time, you will have to adjust all of your habits and maybe even give up on some of them. Thus, in the first stage, you will need lots of willpower, motivation, and time. We know that freeing up a few extra hours for a gym is almost impossible for a busy college student, which is why we recommend you to get some assistance! In order not to let the new lifestyle to ruin your academic performance, be sure to have a reliable online writing service like Essaypro at hand! Professional writers will help in keeping the grades high, while you will get enough time for achieving those fitness goals!
- Have a schedule. This is one thing many people neglect but, in fact, getting on a fixed schedule helps in many ways! First of all, it is a great idea to have a specific time devoted to meals and exercises as it helps to stay organized. Besides, scheduling all chores and tasks allows managing the time in a more efficient and wise way. Thus, getting on a schedule can help students to balance out their lives.
- Stay hydrated. This is an essential healthy habit that every person should acquire. Keeping the right water balance in the body helps to stay productive and focused, and, at the same time, it contributes to overall good mood and wellbeing.
- Reward yourself. In the beginning, we mentioned that setting goals is the best way to stay motivated. Now, here is one more tip – get a reward for every achieved goal (even if it was small). This will help you to keep going and strive for bigger goals!
Final Words
Keeping yourself away from harmful things and acquiring new healthy habits can sometimes be a real challenge. Giving up on foods you love and carving some extra time for exercising is never easy, especially in college. However, with the simple tricks from this article, correct goal, and a bit of motivation, you will definitely succeed in your pursuit of living a healthier lifestyle!
