BY DYLAN CAREY
Your whole life, you’ve probably been told to eat well and exercise regularly. However, as a college student, those are two things you may not have time for.
Allison Davies, a second-year photography student at Sheridan, has experienced this first hand. “Being in school and working part-time, I don’t really have a lot of time for working out, but my best advice is to try and make as many of your own meals as possible,” Davies said.
Making home-cooked meals can be a challenge, though, when you’re a busy student and there are not a lot of healthy options on campus.
With all these roadblocks, what can students do to ensure they have a healthy diet? Chelsea Cross, a registered dietitian with MC Dietetics in Mississauga and Guelph, has some ideas.
While this information is relevant to everyone, it is particularly important for students to know. “It’s really difficult to eat healthy with how busy school gets, especially since I’ve never actually lived away from home. But, I try my best. I eat a lot of pasta, usually with plenty of vegetables. My buddy is a vegan too, so he has a lot of ideas for healthy meals,” said Spencer Goncalves, a first-year police foundations student at Mohawk.
But as everyone knows, a good diet is only part of what you need to do to stay healthy. Exercise is just as important. Dietitian Cross says to “make exercise ‘you time’ and don’t feel guilty about it. Your body needs to move and you can’t concentrate for hours on end. You will be more productive in the long run if you take some well-deserved breaks.” She also says that a good way to get your exercise in is to book specific times off for it, instead of saying you’ll go whenever.
If Sheridan students require more exercise than a simple walk to school, there is a fully-equipped gym at Trafalgar’s Athletic Centre. You might as well go, the cost is included in your student fees!
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle as a student can be tough, but following the tips outlined in this article will help lead you to a happier and healthier school year.