Ah, college! What a beautiful time to grow as an individual, and surge past limitations. A time for opportunity. However, if not careful, college will be a time for a different kind of growing. Stress and weight gain also have the potential to ooze through the seams of a wonderful time in your life if you don’t take care of yourself! Health and hygiene are important factors that can actually affect attitude towards classwork, socialization, and satisfaction with life. Here are some crucial and simple ways to help regulate stress and maintain a healthy lifestyle so you don’t collapse under college or are overcome with the ominous Freshman Fifteen.

1. Eating right

Yes, you’ve heard it from everybody, but that’s because it’s so important! Eating balanced meals will curb cravings for sweets and fatty foods, and also help your body function and feel better! Water is also important!

2. Exercising

Yes, Treadmills are scary, and so are those mountain men at the gym, but getting enough exercise is also important to a healthy lifestyle. And becoming a gym junkie is a requirement! Any form of exercise actually helps to realize endorphins and battle the hormones that cause stress to build up.

3. Practice a positive attitude

Fake it until you make it applies to all aspects of life.

4. Sleep

Am I the only one like this in the morning?

Those exams are important and should be studied for, but it shouldn’t cause you to pull an all-nighter! Lack of sleep actually harms the brain’s ability to remember information, so staying up all night studying actually causes the mid-test blank out! Getting the proper amount of sleep also helps stress levels. Besides, who doesn't love to sleep?

5. Socialize

Humans are naturally social creatures, so go talk to people every once in a while! Literally do anything, as long as you’re talking to people and not hating the world.

6. Time management

Remember that studying thing? Managing your time around set study hours not only helps test scores, but can actually help you feel more confident in your answers.

7. Hygiene

Having a happy body means having a happy life. Jumping in the hot shower after a long day takes the edge off anyway! But you’ll feel better about yourself if you’re taking care of yourself.

8. Time to yourself

Socialization is important, but you should have that personal “me-time” that you spend doing whatever you love to do, or finding a particular stress relief. I do yoga, it feels good and is relaxing.

9. Get out of your room every once in awhile.

Walk around campus, or go into town and have some fun! Being outside improves overall mood.