With the fall semester well underway, students (and for that matter, staff and faculty) may already be feeling weighed down by the multitude of academic and social obligations on their schedule. How do nutrition and excerise fit into the mix? We asked the School of Health and Human Performance's Jo Welch, who conducts research in these in these very areas, to offer students some helpful suggestions for staying healthy this term.
1. Sign up for a robust physical activity. The exercise will keep you healthier and more mentally sharp. It might also improve your social life and help you make connections that could help you in the future. (Explore some of your options at Dalplex or the Langille Athletic Centre.)
2. Keep moving whenever possible. Attending classes and studying requires oodles of sedentary time. So break it up with a run up the stairs, dancing or whatever it takes to breathe a bit more!
3. Try fruits and vegetables that you haven't eaten before, or at least
not often. When stressed, people tend to eat very few kinds of foods, and what they do choose are usually high in poor quality calories and low in nutrients.
4. Don't starve. Replace foods that are loaded in saturated fat and simple carbohydrates with healthier foods. For example, try baked sweet potato fries instead of deep fried french fries.
5. Use your time in class wisely. Focus on your lectures so that you have more time to get quality physical activity, nutritious food, sleep and social time.