CollegeHealth

My Body/My Health

When you're in college, planning time to take care of yourself can be a challenge but everything goes better when you do. You think better (therefore test better), you feel better (therefore less cranky) and look better too.

Some major tips are to

• Eat right
  You can do this simply by eating the right foods in the right combination. Using the simple Food Groups model will do. Eat something from each food group at each sitting weather it be a meal or snack. VARIETY is the key.

• Exercise with an activity that you enjoy
  There is a type of movement for everybody. It could be dance or yoga or volleyball. Some young women enjoy team activities, and some more individual activities. Some exercise can be both…like skiing or dance classes. Some days, we may enjoy one type, and the next day, a different type. Which activities do you enjoy?

• Get a good night's sleep
  Sleep has long been known to effect our emotion, mental and physical health. Sleep helps us to have more resistance to illness, be more alert, and less subject to emotions being disturbing.
  Ever hear the term circadian rhythm? It means "about a day". Hence, circadian rhythm is your body's biological rhythm that repeats itself each day. If you are awake when your rhythms are most active and asleep when your rhythms are inactive, you'll be able to maximize your health.

• Deal with stress in a healthy way
  There are unhealthy ways to deal with stress that don't serve you, such as "taking it out" on someone else or drinking and getting high. There are healthy ways like doing relaxation techniques, writing in your journal, talking to a good friend or family member, or going for a walk. We have a Relaxation Kit that would give you some useful healthy items to help you have down time and relax.

• Listen to your body
  Research shows that listening to your body cues, and then following those, enhances the health of young women. An example might be that you feel tired or a mild headache, and feel like being alone even though it's Saturday night. You friends call and you feel torn. Instead of doing what you "should" do, you may realize it's better for you to choose to listen to your body. You stay in, perhaps turn on your favorite music, drink herbal tea and write in your journal.

• Develop healthy relationships and reach out to those you trust
  I often ask young women, "Who can you talk to? What qualities do you look for in a good friend or adult that you like to be with?" It's always good to reach out and talk to those that you can trust, and if you don't have a handful of those people in your life, it's good to keep an eye open for them.