Performing well in college means everything to college students.
So much so, that as many as 87% of college students admit to feeling stressed at one point in their college lives.
While this might be expected, the leading cause of this might surprise you. 63% of students point to health-related issues as the leading cause of stress.
This is hardly surprising. When it comes down to it, your health affects everything else about your life; your school performance, your social life, your work life, your relationships, and your general quality of life.
If anything, this emphasizes the importance of taking care of your physical and mental health through college and beyond.
Here are some pointers to get you on the right track.
Work Out
If you do not work out much, college is a great time to form this habit as it will serve you well throughout your life.
For one, exercise increases one’s energy levels. It’s also been proven to replenish brain energy reserves, especially in areas of the brain responsible for cognitive thinking.
This helps students manage their workload more effectively and avoid falling behind. Being behind schedule is known to make students feel overwhelmed, which can cause anxiety and stress.
Regular exercise also helps elevate mood and reduce stress. When you work out, your body releases feel-good hormones known as endorphins.
These hormones give you a euphoric feeling that calms you down and reduces stress.
Stress is an underlying factor in illness as it reduces your immune system’s ability to fight off antigens. This means that the more stressed you are, the likelier you are to pick up infections and fight illness.
Therefore, a regular workout regimen protects your health by supporting the optimal working of your immune system, which helps fight off infection.
Eat Well
Eating well and working out go hand in hand.
Research has found a direct link between eating nourishing foods and higher grades, alertness, and better memory and recall.
One simple reason for this is that ensuring you consume protein, carbs, vitamins, and fats not only keeps you satiated, but also provides you the energy you need to fuel your day.
An easy way to ensure you eat well through the semester is by coming up with a simple meal plan with all the required nutrients.
Once this is in place, you can then ensure that you stock up on the items you need periodically, including healthy snacks and drinks.
Listen to Your body
Paying attention to your body and how it functions makes it easier for you to know when something is wrong.
As busy as your routine might be, pay attention to feelings of pain, discomfort, lethargy, fatigue, stress, and so on.
These being clear signs that something is wrong, need to be attended to.
Take an example of fatigue. It’s common to be tired at the end of the day. However, continuously been tired even after a good night’s sleep is worrying. If this is the case, evaluate what could be the cause and how you can remedy it.
If you have an overly heavy workload, asking for help is one way to handle this. This help can come from your course facilitator and peers. Similarly, you can visit this website to get a professional tutor to work with you.
Get Enough Sleep
You might think that studying day and night is the best way to improve your performance. It is not.
Quality restorative sleep allows your body to rest. But that’s not all. Sleep is also involved in repairing your heart and blood vessels.
On the other hand, inadequate sleep is linked to an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, stroke and depression.
Regardless of what else is going on, be cognizant of how useful sleep is to your health and performance and strive to get at least eight hours of sleep every night.
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