Health and Wellness Tips for College Students

Between exams, papers and maintaining an active social life, many college students feel they can't really find the time to keep up on their personal health and wellness until an illness catches hold and stops them in their tracks. With most colleges providing health care and endless physical activities for students, staying healthy in college is about as easy as it will ever get. Here are a few tips to help students make the most of the resources at their fingertips and to ensure they stay healthy and illness free throughout their education.

Diet: --

Without careful attention to your diet, you could end up putting on the freshman 15 and more. Follow these tips to help keep your diet healthy and beneficial.

Learn proper portion size. To avoid eating too much of even the healthiest foods, keep track of how much you're eating. For most people, meat servings should be about the size of a deck of cards and other servings vary by the type of food.

Eat breakfast. Start your day off right with a good meal when you get up. Whether you're rolling out of bed at noon or up at the crack of dawn for class, make sure you start your day with a balanced, healthy meal.

Drink water. Drinking enough water can help boost your concentration as well as keep you from overeating. Make sure to keep hydrated as you go through your day by bringing water with you.

Limit sugary and caffeinated beverages. Beverages may not fill you up, but they sure can help fatten you up and have a detrimental effect on your overall health. You don't have to completely give up soda and coffee, but you should scale back in order to keep yourself in tip top shape.

Try to eat fruits and veggies. Even if fruits and vegetables don't comprise some of your favorite foods, try to incorporate at least a few of them into your diet each day.

Limit junk food. Junk food is fast and easy and many students end up eating a lot of it while they're on the run to class or to work. While a little fast food now and again won't really hurt you, make sure it doesn't become a habit.

Get help for eating disorders. While many groups focus on helping students lose weight, there are those who need help fighting eating disorders as well. If you are worried you have an eating disorder and want help, don't be afraid to reach out to campus resources for help.

Sleep:--

College students aren't exactly known for their early to bed early to rise attitudes, but getting sleep is an integral part of staying healthy. Check out these tips to help you make sure you're resting enough.

Take a nap. If you have the time during the day, a short nap can do wonders for your energy levels. Just make sure not to nap too close to bedtime or for too long, and a nap will do your body good.

Don't work in bed. Working in bed can make getting to sleep harder. Keep your work space separate from your sleep space to keep insomnia at bay.

Get a full night's rest whenever possible. While the amount of sleep each person needs varies, most people need 7-9 hours to feel fully rested. While this may not be possible every night, try to sleep a full night whenever you get the chance.

Avoid all nighters. While you may feel like you need to study all night to do well you might be doing yourself a disservice. Not getting enough sleep can impair your ability to do well, regardless of how much you've studied, so make sure you get at least a little sleep before your big test.

Avoid caffeine, eating and drinking right before bed. All of these activities can throw off your body's internal clock, so try to limit meals, alcohol and caffeine consumption to a few hours before bed.

Illness:--

With communal living and thousands of other students sharing classroom space, spreading colds and viruses is easy if you're not careful. These tips can help keep you from getting sick.

Wash your hands. Studies have shown that simple hand washing can help prevent a large number of illnesses. So wash your hands, especially any time you'll be touching your nose, mouth or eyes or if you've been around others who are sick.

Avoid sharing beverages. Germs are easily spread through the sharing of drinks, alcoholic or otherwise, so get your own and avoid sharing with friends.

Don't go to class. If you're sick, don't force yourself to go to class. It will only make you feel worse and infect other students. Email your professors that you're ill and stay home and rest.

Get to the doctor. If you have symptoms that aren't showing any signs of clearing up within a few days, you may need to take a trip to the campus clinic or your doctor. Simple illnesses can mutate into much more deadly and dangerous ones if left alone so make sure to seek help if you aren't feeling any better.

Avoid ill friends. If your friend is sick, try to avoid spending too much time around them. While bringing soup or medications won't hurt, touching ill friends and their stuff can increase your chances of getting sick yourself.

Don't touch your eyes, nose or mouth. If your hands aren't totally clean, try to avoid touching these areas. The membranes in these areas make it easy for bacteria and viruses to enter your body.

Stress:--

Students can get run down with so much going on. These tips can help you beat the stress.

Put limits on work hours. You can't work all the time-fun and relaxation have to be part of your routine as well. Limit the times when you will work to give yourself time to sleep and rest up so you won't get sick.

Give yourself a break. If you've been working steadily for hours, give your eyes and mind a chance for a rest by taking a break. You can come back feeling more refreshed and ready to go.

Take advantage of campus meditation and yoga programs. Many campuses are equipped with programs that can help students get a release from their stresses through a relaxing session of meditation.

Cut back if needed. Sometimes students overwhelm themselves with everything they have going on. If you're feeling like you've got too much on your plate, cut back work hours, drop a class or cut out some extracurricular activities to make your schedule more manageable.

Relax with hobbies. Whether you like to paint or to destroy aliens with your friends in video games, making time for the things you love is an important part of keeping yourself from getting too stressed out.

Give yourself plenty of time. It's easy to put off starting on a big project or studying for a test until the last minute. You'll be much less stressed out, however, and will likely do better if you give yourself more time to work on it.

Spend time with friends. There are few things that can cheer you up like being around the people you like most. Eat dinner with friends or just hang out and watch tv or take a walk to get away from the stress of homework.