Are you healthy? Do you feel stressed out? If these topics interest you, today’s post is for you. Eating, Living Better.
We have posted many times on these topics, including these: How Physically Active Are YOU? How Healthy Are We? Perceptions Vs. Reality What’s the State of Healthcare Information Online? Want to Attract the Health-Conscious Consumer? Which Elements of YOUR Emotional Intelligence Do YOU Need to Improve? Reducing Your Stress.
Thank you to Gin Garton, Director of Communication at MoneyGeek.com, for giving us access to the material that follows.
Background
As the MoneyGeek staff report:
“We’ve all been there. You’re in the 10-items-or-less checkout line at the grocery store. The clerk rings up your purchases and announces the total. As you load your meager foodstuffs into the car, you must grapple with grim reality. You’ve just spent $16 for a box of cereal, three protein bars, and a bag of carrots. But this disturbing scene need not be repeated. Contrary to what many people believe, you don’t have to break the bank to buy healthy, nutritious food. You just need to plan ahead a bit, become a savvy consumer, and understand some basics about nutrition.”
“Of course, the food we eat is not the only factor that contributes to our health and wellness. Our sleeping habits and stress level also affect how we feel, both physically and mentally. This guide shows you how to save money while eating well and living fully. It also includes some special tips for three groups of people who often find it hard to find the time to eat well and get enough sleep: College students, parents and children.”
What’s the solution? Low Stress + Good Sleep + Balanced Diet = The Recipe for Healthy Living.
Eating, Living Better
According to MoneyGeek, we can do these things to feel better.
Eat Better
- “Focus on What You Should Eat, Not What You Shouldn’t — Let’s face it, pizza at 2 A.M. hits the spot, but maybe you don’t feel too great about it the next morning. Rather than quit cold turkey, fill up on fresh, whole foods during the day and then see if you still want that late night pizza.
- Make Sure to Eat Enough Throughout the Day — It’s tempting to skip meals while rushing around, but food is absolutely essential for maintaining your focus, energy levels, and immune function during the day.
- Avoid Dieting — Don’t put the extra stress of a diet on yourself when you’re already swamped.”
Reduce Stress
- “Exercise Moderately — Get some exercise to stay focused and energetic. Begin with a realistic and attainable goal such as 15 to 30 minutes of walking a day.
- Meditate — Meditation is “mental hygiene” for its impact on managing stress. Start with 5 minutes a day, and it will be there for you when you need it later in life.
- Be Kind to Yourself — Life is demanding. You can’t be perfectly healthy all the time. Stressing about your health will make matters worse. Give yourself a pat on the back for the healthy choices you do make, however small, and keep on going!”
Sleep Better
- “Don’t Bring Worries to Bed — Keep a journal next to your bed and spend a few minutes writing your thoughts before you go to sleep.
- Create a Comfortable Sleeping Environment — Avoid being on your laptop in bed, especially within a half hour of asleep. If you live in a college dorm or with roommates, an eye mask and earplugs may help to drown out noise and light.”
- Avoid Caffeine in the Afternoon and at Night — Consuming caffeine late in the day can hinder your quality of sleep. Reach for green tea instead.”
For other great tips, go to MoneyGeek’s “A Saver’s Guide to Eating and Living Well.“
Take a Fun Nutrition Quiz
Click the image below. Enter your answers at the MoneyGeek site. What do YOU learn?
In today’s society people push themselves to get the most out of their days. They can find them with little time to sleep at night. People also find it difficult to make healthy eating choices throughout the day. We find ourselves going for the quick, inexpensive, and fattening option as opposed to the longer, more expensive but healthier option. It is a real struggle for college students especially to balance lowering stress, eating healthy and getting enough sleep. This article provided helpful tips on how to make it a little bit easier to live a healthier life.
College Students and your daily average worker nowadays find little to no time to eat the right foods because they are so preoccupied with work. Usually they’ll go for the fast food option which are foods that are deficient in nutrients (compared to that of whole foods/grocery products) and oftentimes they’ll skip important meals of the day like breakfast. I personally believe that it’s important to take a little bit of extra time out of your day to eat right. This post definitely enhanced my knowledge on living a healthy lifestyle.
I find this article imperative for everyone to read, especially college students. Being in college, you sometimes forget to take care of yourself with the constant school work and occasional partying. We overestimate our bodies, in my opinion. We uni students need to learn how to treat our bodies and make time to stay healthy both mentally and physically.
One thing I definitely struggle with, along with many college students, is getting enough sleep. I find that there is a correlation between stress and sleep. The more stressed I am, the more I stay up and overthink all night. Therefore, according to the article I agree that I shouldn’t bring worries to bed,( and maybe I should cut back on the caffeine). I think it is important for us to realize that we should be kind to ourselves and stressing will not make things any better.
As somebody that tries to eat healthy pretty regularly, I am very prone to feeling run down as soon as I eat food that is considered bad for me, and I don’t sleep as well as when I sleep and eat healthy during the day. Although, while the semester is in session, I find it hard to be able to continue the healthy eating choices, when I am on the go so often. Usually what is most convenient for on the go is the food that will just make you want to come back for more, as they will not properly fill or energize you.
I completely agree that receiving good sleep plays into a healthy lifestyle. I have gone through stages where my sleep schedule is on track and I will be receiving a good amount of sleep hours throughout the night, and there are other times where I get very little sleep/sleep during odd hours of the day. I have noticed a huge difference in my mood, skin, and stress levels. I enjoy the tips this article gives on ways to reduce stress, and feels as if I can take some of these tips and apply them to my life as well.
I feel like if I eat healthy food all day I end up craving that pizza because I’ve been deprived of comfort food. Also, meditation would make me more anxious because I’d be thinking about all the productive things I could be doing in the time that I’m meditating. Maybe I should give it a try though and hopefully be proved wrong!
This post is a great start to getting healthy however one issue I always see is one that may not help many now. It is good to learn this stuff now but the time to learn it is when you are growing up. I am fortunate enough to be taught by my parents and family about nutrition facts and how to eat healthy. Many people have misinformation about eating healthy because it is all they ever learned, or didn’t learn, as a child.
Even us older folk can new trick😄
I agree it’s imperative to take care of these three aspects that article described: stress level, sleep, and a balanced diet. As the chart describes, the lack of attention or deficiency in one affects the others. Therefore, not only will you experience negative differences in yourself, but these will greatly affect personal relationships and the quality of your work. I, unlike Brandon Williams, make sure I sleep well and enough hours to remain healthy. Additionally, I eat healthier than him.
As a college student, I can relate to this article. Every few weeks, we get hit with tests, essays and reports all a the same time. That particular week leaves us sleep deprived and stressed, resulting in less time for the gym. When people feel stressed, they turn to unhealthy foods to make them feel better, but what I find, is that in the long run, these foods make you feel even worse. This article was helpful in providing some tips on how we can try and balance those crazy weeks. As mentioned in the article, I feel like it is also very important to mediate. Whether it is closing your eyes for 5 minutes or just listening to music, it is important to take some time out in your hectic everyday life to compose yourself.
I definitely agree that when my diet, sleep schedule, and exercise schedule are balanced I feel a lot better during the day. My main problem with college is the dining hall food, so I cook most of my meals nowadays. However, Long Island compared to my hometown has ridiculously expensive produce and food. I don’t even shop at big name supermarkets, I go to local ones that are slightly more affordable. Eating healthy is extremely expensive I don’t agree with what that quiz says. Also I have a more refined definition of health food, so I don’t eat many preserved food, like canned food, because I don’t think it’s as healthy as fresh produce. I also try to stay away from anything processed and high in preservatives, and I try to eat organic or naturally/locally grown foods.
I might not sleep well but I’m sure I eat better. As a Cantonese, I even make soup with herb and I will cook one for myself tomorrow.You might not believe but I promise it is true. I always wonder whether the traditional Cantonese soup could survive in America food industry or not. To be honest, those soup are delicious. Yet, many traditional Chinese food have to adapt to the American buds. Is there any food could satisfy customers all over the world? Maybe no.
We’re definitely more productive today as a society but our eating habits have been sacrificed due to this. Quick means more to consumers than healthfulness and with trend like unicorn fappucinos, fun rules over our wellbeing.
As a college student, it is hard to eat healthy when there is little to no options. Along with eating healthy, it is rare that students are able to complete all of their work and assignments as well as get a good amount of sleep. With everything we have going on with classes as well as extra circular activities, we forget to take care of ourselves.
As someone who has constantly been trying to lose weight since I came to college, I have fallen to victim to the many mistakes discussed here. It’s difficult to avoid making these mistakes at least one time in your college career, the more scheduled and organized I have become throughout my college career, the easier it has been to maintain a healthier lifestyle including eat habits and cardio. Planning every Sunday when I’m going to be running that week and when I have to eat- even if only a fruit or salad- helps regulate and helps me control easy fixes that are worse for me in long run.
Good for you.