As a college student myself I know how hard it can be to stay healthy in college as opposed to when you are at home. This is all a part of growing up and learning to care for yourself and make your own healthy choices. Small things like diet choice, exercise and sleep can go out the window in college and it can take a large toll on your body, health and overall well-being. Both physical and mental health is crucial to a student in order to be successful. College is the time in your life when you should be the healthiest, but for many students, this is not the case. Here are a few tips that we all may know, but need to actually start doing in order to be happy and healthy college students.

1. Stress

Stress is one of the leading causes for everyday health issues, especially for college students. These pressures come from classes, extracurricular activities, sports, a social life and Greek life or whatever it may be. College students are busy, but it is important to do a few things to lower the inevitable stress that we all face. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize! I can’t stress this enough (no pun intended), make a schedule and stick to it. Also, don’t be afraid to say no, we all love to be involved, but it is important to not spread yourself too thin. Take an hour, half hour or just a few minutes a day to clear your cluttered mind. Meditate, self-reflect, think about the positives of the day and let the negatives slip away. Stress can literally kill you so just make sure to take a break from your hectic life every now and then and take some time for yourself. Take a nap, take a bubble bath, go on a hike, just take a moment to breathe and do what you like to do for once. Life and college are too short to be stressed and let the negative little things weigh you down.

2. Diet

This may be the trickiest part about staying healthy in college. I know the cheap and microwavable campus food is not always the healthiest option. College students are poor, I understand that, but that does not mean we have to let ourselves go completely! Come on this is our prime and we should be looking and feeling our very best. Remember to vary your meals and try something new every now and then. Also, never miss a chance to cook! In the future, you will be happy to have a break from cooking but while in college, it is a blessing in disguise. Cooking allows you to use more fresh ingredients and make healthier meals than you might find at the local Micky’D’s. Even when you are forced to go the fast food route, get the healthiest option you can find. A healthy diet can make all the difference in anyone’s health let alone a college student’s.

3. Stop being reckless

This does not mean that you can’t have any fun in college, but we all need to be mindful of our health. Anything from drinking too much too often, to not wearing sunscreen can be detrimental to your health. All of the little things add up so just be conscious of what you are doing and be safe while making sure your friends are safe as well. We’re all in college and all going through this together, it is important to look out for one another.

4.Exercise

Exercise can slip our minds but it can solve so many health problems. Stress, that extra slice of cheese pizza, whatever it is exercise can help! Students are often forced to sit in a desk for the majority of the day, we usually sit while studying, and we sit basically all day sometimes. If you have an hour or so in the morning before class, or after class, even in between it is necessary to get up and get moving.

5. Keep a positive outlook

I know it is very easy to get down on yourself and see the negatives before all of the positives in college or at any time in life. Mental health is just as important as physical health. The simple act of waking up happy and deciding you are going to be happy today is sometimes (often times) all it takes honestly! This may sound much too simple but waking up positive and deciding today is going to be a good day makes the rest of the little issues seem that much smaller. Try to focus on the victories rather than the losses and always find a silver lining. You will enjoy life much more if your life has more positive days than negative ones.

6. Sleep

Make sure you are getting enough sleep to survive but also make sure you drag your butt out of bed before noon on weekdays. If you wake up at 7:30, go workout, shower, have breakfast and then start your day you will be much less tired than if you woke up and went straight to class at 9 in the morning. If you sleep too long sometimes it has the opposite effect and you wake up groggy and sleepy still. Make the most out of your day and get up early. But, in order to get up early, that means you must go to bed at a reasonable hour. This is not always easy to achieve especially after a night out. As long as you make a routine out of it and get enough sleep on most days you will be a million times healthier. You will feel energized and ready to go as well as get the most out of your day! That is something most college students dream of but cannot achieve, the key to success is usually just sleep!