11 Things Every Student Should Do to Enjoy a Healthy Lifestyle

Healthy Lifestyle

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a matter of habit. It is important to implement simple changes in everyday attitudes and be more aware of your actions – even if changing behavior and routine seem like difficult tasks. However, after all that has been talked about, how do you as a student have a healthy and balanced life?

Although there are no specific rules, it is possible to create a series of good behaviors that maintain physical, emotional, and mental balance. This balance is essential to have a better quality of life, which is not based on just preventing diseases, as several factors can influence health.

Family relationships, the work environment, leisure time, food, and physical activity need to be in harmony. With that in mind, we have prepared some tips that can help you have a healthy lifestyle. Check them out below:

1. Practice physical exercises

Practicing physical exercises is an important step towards achieving a healthy life. The health benefits of this activity add up to a long list. Removing a sedentary lifestyle means reducing stress, increasing energy and disposition, keeping weight under control, and avoiding various diseases, such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes.

Therefore, physical exercises need to be part of our daily lives. For a start, opt for a simple 40-minute daily walk to improve mood and ward off heart disease and this is a good opportunity to sunbathe and increase vitamin D production.

The interesting thing is that it is not necessary to enroll in a gym to exercise. Lifting weights at home, for example, is a good option, as it lowers blood sugar and insulin levels, improves cholesterol, and reduces triglycerides.

Also, exercises can take several forms. In addition to hiking or activities at home, there are other options for those who don’t enjoy the gyms’ day-to-day activities. Sports, for example, are always a more dynamic alternative to move your body and be healthier!

2. Keep a balanced diet

Caring for your diet is one of the fundamental points for having a healthier and more balanced life. Frequently consuming foods rich in sodium, sugar, and saturated fats is a stimulus for developing problems such as strokes, heart attack, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and even cancer.

Thus, it is essential to include foods rich in nutrients, such as vegetables, oilseeds, fruits, and legumes on the menu. It is also important not to cut carbohydrates from the diet, as this is the main source of energy for the brain.

Almonds, nuts, chestnuts, pistachios, and hazelnuts, for example, reduce the risk of heart disease by being rich in good fats – especially omega 3. These nutrient lowers bad cholesterol levels and prevents the formation of fatty plaques in the arteries.

Also, keep your body hydrated at all times. For this, it is essential to drink at least 2 liters of water per day. Teas, natural juices, and coconut water can help achieve this value, but water should be the main source.

3. Have moments with family and friends

Living with loved ones brings us several benefits. Certainly, socializing and social support is essential for a happy and pleasurable life and helping to treat and avoid diseases such as anxiety and depression.

As daily duties reduce our free time, scheduling a time to spend with family and friends is important. This period should be dedicated exclusively to these people without worrying about work, for example, at the moment.

Take advantage of the time to promote conversations, strengthen ties, and build more lasting relationships. Hold small meetings, dinners, trips, or invite friends to go to the cinema. Remember that sharing experiences promotes building good memories among people.

A good schedule and planning aimed at quality time with those you love are essential to guarantee the quality of life, avoiding emotional problems, and helping to prevent very serious illnesses that can considerably compromise our well-being. Therefore, it is very worthwhile to invest in this care!

4. Discover a hobby

Having a hobby is a sign of self-esteem and self-knowledge. Performing an action that gives pleasure and helps to spend time pleasantly and healthily is important to stimulate creativity. Also, the activity can become a profession or source of extra income in college.

There is a wide range of hobbies that you can practice in your free time. For the more timid and calm people, there is painting, photography, card games, cooking, gardening, reading, and yoga.

The outgoing can invest in dance, theater, or singing. On the other hand, the more adventurous can take risks on trails, swimming, surfing, climbing, extreme sports, or even exploring nature. There are undoubtedly options for the most diverse tastes and personality types.

Regardless of choice made, the important thing is that the hobby works as a light and fun pastime. After all, nurturing passions and distractions beyond the strictly professional scope is an excellent way to stimulate the mind and spirit, leaving them lighter and, consequently, making life much more pleasant.

5. Lead a more natural life

Having a more natural life means enjoying the best that nature has to offer. There is no denying that medicines are of great importance for the cure and treatment of various diseases. However, before resorting to chemical formulas, it is possible to bet on the so-called natural remedies.

It is necessary to include in the diet herbs and spices, for example, which have anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antioxidant, and diuretic properties, among others. Good options are:

• mint;
• onion;
• garlic;
• turmeric;
• lemongrass;
• ginger;

These ingredients can be combined in teas or soups, which should be consumed, especially when the disease’s first symptoms appear. Also, its daily consumption promotes long-term benefits.

Another advantage of this type of strategy and reducing the impacts of chemical substances on our bodies is to turn our thinking towards a more sustainable lifestyle with less interference from the industry. We will talk more about this point below.

6. Reduce consumption of industrialized products

The lack of time makes industrialized products a practical and quick option for everyday life. Thus, canned foods, sausages, artificial juices, cookies, soft drinks, cakes, and loaves of bread, in general, become part of the routine because they convey an image of easy eating.

However, these options are rich in sodium, sugar, monosodium glutamate, preservatives, and dyes, which are harmful to health and can cause many diseases – especially in the long term.

Another problem is that these substances can affect taste. In this way, individuals develop difficulties in experimenting and getting used to new flavors and healthier foods. So, ideally, you have a day set aside to cook and prepare the week’s snacks.

Finally, as mentioned before, the excessive consumption of industrialized products also negatively impacts the environment, either through its production process or through packaging, which contributes to the increase of waste in ecosystems. So, avoiding them is also a great way to care for our planet!

7. Invest in personal care

Another important way to have a healthier life is to take care of your care. Although we are much more than appearances, it is undeniable that a well-kept exterior also reflects a more peaceful soul.

So, take good care of your nails, hair, and skin. This, of course, does not mean using countless products, makeup, or nail polish. However, taking care of these structures, which have a strong connection with our organism (the skin, for example, is our largest organ and directly interferes with our health) is essential.

The main tip is to invest in a few products, but that is really of good quality. Prefer those with a more natural footprint that uses natural elements in their composition and, therefore, are much more efficient for our daily treatments.

Shampoos, moisturizers, conditioners, and even cleaning lotions can be manufactured with natural ingredients, showing what nature offers and avoiding overloading our body with potentially harmful substances.

8. Read more often

The reading culture is gradually being eroded. This habit is not strongly encouraged in our basic education and, therefore, an alarming number of people reach adulthood without ever having finished reading work.

Amid this scenario, it is essential to address the numerous benefits of reading. Among them is the improvement of the ability to concentrate, the stimulation of our brain, memory development, and even the strengthening of psychosocial skills, such as emotional intelligence.

Traveling without moving is another advantage of reading, which allows us to embark on countless adventures without spending anything. Thus, our mind becomes more peaceful, stress is reduced, and we feel much happier.

Getting into the habit of reading can be a little tricky. So, choose simple titles and create the routine of always reading a few pages before bed. In addition to being beneficial for everyday life, this habit can help you fight insomnia and have much more productive nights!

9. Save your money

Financial health is strongly related to the mental well-being of most people, not just students. After all, problems with money contribute strongly to the exponential increase in stressful situations, strongly affecting individuals who deal with this reality.

So, the keyword is control. Regardless of your salary or income, it is possible to have a healthy financial life within your limits. For this, however, it is necessary to have good control of your finances and always put everything on the pencil’s tip.

Create a routine to record your daily expenses, even the smallest and insignificant. Thus, you will create awareness of where you are spending your money. From this practice, it is possible to develop much more effective methods to save money.

In addition to being beneficial to the accounts at the end of the month, saving money allows the execution of old plans and the realization of dreams. Who knows, with the proper planning, you may finally not be able to make that trip that you dreamed of, but you were never able to do, right?

10. Don’t skip meals

The chaotic routine of students has led to skipping of meals. This, however, is extremely harmful to our health, both in the short and long term.

In recent times, researchers have established that skipping breakfast is a practice that can cause the risk of heart attack to increase considerably.

Also, skipping meals causes our metabolism to slow down a lot, to favor the appearance of problems such as the accordion effect or excessive weight gain, culminating in a series of health problems.

Therefore, the best option is always to organize yourself to feed carefully. For example, freezing lunchboxes is a good alternative for those who do not have time to cook during the week!

11. Increase your water consumption

Last but not least, we leave you a crucial tip for a healthy lifestyle: drink lots of water! Adequate hydration is a fundamental factor for any living being’s quality of life, even those with the simplest composition.

Our body is composed, on average, of 70% water. Some organs, such as the brain, have an even higher percentage of this mineral structure. Therefore, we need water for our cells to function properly and perform all the necessary functions.

We need, on average, 2 liters of water per day. This value, however, varies. People with a heavier weight or faster metabolisms may need a larger amount and vice versa.

The golden tip, however, is not to expect to be thirsty to drink water. To avoid dehydration, it is also nice to always take small sips throughout the day, avoiding ingesting large quantities simultaneously. This enhances the absorption of water and leaves our cells much more hydrated!

Conclusion

It is never too late to start planning how to have a healthy and balanced life in college despite what appears to be chaos in activities. The way is to seek balance and avoid stressful situations. When your brain begins to realize the benefits of changing habits, it will be easier to follow a routine that reflects a better life quality. So, we urge you to put our tips into practice right now!