It seems like living a healthy life is impossible at The University of Central Florida where you have no time, no money, and barely sleep. It doesn’t have to be as hard as it seems, and if you dedicate yourself, it’ll seem easy in no time.
1. Make The Gym Part Of Your Schedule
You have a schedule of your classes and any extracurricular you’re apart of, make the gym apart of that. If you have classes later, go to the gym in the morning. If your classes are spread around, go to the gym in between. It’s important to make working out part of your schedule and not having to try and squeeze it in at different times every day. This way, it’ll be consistent, and so will you. With the Recreation and Wellness Center being open until midnight all during the week, you have plenty of opportunities to head on over.
2. Find Healthy Snacks, And Stock Up
Snacking is huge in college. A lot of times you’re all over the place during the day and you never really have time for a full meal, so you snack throughout the day until you’re ready for dinner. Find some healthy snacks you like, and load up on them, and especially pay attention to when they’re BOGO at Publix. This is super important if you live on campus, for the dining options here are pretty limited and not very healthy. You’d be surprised how much energy you have when you have healthy snacks instead of chips and goldfish.
3. Drink Water
This seems obvious, but it’s really so important. Get a reusable water bottle and continuously refill it throughout the day. UCF has refill multiple stations in every building, so when you walk into class or get back to your dorm, fill it up! Set a goal amount you want to drink each day and stick to it. It’s especially important to drink a cup of water before/after you eat to help you feel full longer. Drinking more water will help you stay energized, relieve stress, and keep you from eating more than you need.
4. Aim For 8 Hours Of Sleep
Sleeping schedules in college are usually all over the place, and often it’s hard to get a solid eight hours, especially if you live on campus and have to work with your roommate’s sleeping schedule as well. Make it a point to start powering down earlier. Instead of scrolling through social media until you fall asleep, try and get off electronics an hour before you actually want to sleep. Instead, read a book, work on some homework, get an adult coloring book or a puzzle book. You’ll be amazed at how much better you sleep when your eyes aren’t glued to screens all night.
5. Cook Instead Of Eating Out
Going out to eat or ordering in is usually the easy option after a long day. Unfortunately, that’s definitely the unhealthy option, and you’ll be taking in a lot more calories than if you were to cook your own meals where you know exactly what’s going into it. This might be difficult in dorms without kitchens, but luckily there are kitchens in the common rooms in UCF dorms, even if they’re not the best. Or, you could always cook with a friend who has an apartment and meal prep for a few days. If you know you’re going to have a busy week, meal prep the weekend before. Search for new healthy recipes and switch things up so you don’t get bored.
It’s definitely easy to let yourself slip in college. But if you make a plan and stick to it, it will quickly just become a part of your routine, and you’ll see that living healthy doesn’t have to be impossible. In fact, it could be pretty easy, especially on a campus like UCF that gives you so may resources.
