Keep Your Mind Healthy, and Your Body

Trust me, I get it. The hectic schedules, the loads of homework, and the constant disorganization and balance between school and your everyday lifestyle. School can become stressful for many students, and sadly, will make students feel as though they are incapable of completing the semester with high grades. There are many pieces of advice from all around that can help improve your work ethic, but many do not talk about this one major key tip: adding fitness and healthy nutrition to your daily routine. Adding these two things to your lifestyle can help your mental health, physical health, and overall make you feel better about your semester, and well being.

There is a saying that you might have heard of before, which is “When you look good, you feel good.” This can go hand and hand with your education.

By Kieaundria Bellamy Editor

“Fitness and nutrition is a lifestyle that should be taken seriously to benefit your mental health. Your older self will thank you now!” Taivon Jones, Certified Personal Trainer.

Having a fitness routine added into your lifestyle, whether that be morning or night, can help you remain focused, stay alert throughout the day, and ultimately, get you on a consistent schedule. Certified personal trainer Taivon Jones, of Bridgeport, can vouch for this tremendously.

“I graduated from the University of Bridgeport with my business degree,” Jones said proudly, “But when I was in school, I found myself becoming stressed in certain situations. When this occurred, that’s truly when I fell in love with the gym.”

Jones reminisced on moments in college where he needed more energy, needed an outlet when he felt overwhelmed, and needed a method of staying focused.

“I used to be a college student who was unorganized and overwhelmed. When I incorporated going to the gym in my everyday routine, it helped me create a plan for my everyday life and become more organized. When I feel good from a workout, it makes my day better.” Jones said. As a personal trainer, he is fully aware of the demand on fitness and how some may think this is a hard task to achieve.

“There’s been many times where I’ve heard clients say they feel like they can’t reach their fitness goals,” Jones expressed. “The key to starting is to just start! Start small with just walking for 20 minutes on the treadmill or outside daily. This will build discipline, and eventually, lead you on a fitness journey that includes many other workouts.”

Even though incorporating a workout routine seems like a tedious task, HCC nursing student Destiny Jefferson feels otherwise.

“My typical fitness and wellness routine is to at least get 30-60 minutes of cardio in 3 times a week,” Jefferson said. “I also try to incorporate healthy good choices in my diet and stay hydrated daily”.

For college students, it’s very common to add too much to our plate. But, think about the long term effects of the one simple step of adding fitness to your lifestyle. Jefferson expressed that doing this can drastically change the lives of college students of any age. “College can be stressful for sure,” Jefferson said, “But staying active and eating well can give you the extra energy to power through lectures, studying, and test taking.”

Although working out has an enormous impact on your life, adding nutrition is also a key factor. Eating the right foods can have you more energized and alert in most cases. When you’re sluggish and almost experiencing “brain fog,” this can be from not having a balanced diet as well.

HCC professor, dietician, and nutritionist Janet Yarrow strongly supports the idea of living a healthy lifestyle. “Incorporating healthy nutrition into your everyday lifestyle can benefit you in many ways,” Yarrow said, “In order to have optimum health, not catch viruses, and to have energy throughout the day, it’s important to have a healthy diet.”

Focusing on nutrition can be hard, especially as a college student. Since students are on the go and looking for the closest area to study or get homework done, eating healthy can be the last thing on their mind. Also, eating healthy can be quite expensive. However, the certified nutritionist has tips on this as well.

“The key component to eating healthy is to learn how to read labels, and buy fresh ingredients,” Yarrow said, “Focus on buying fresh products during their buying season, go to farmers markets, and see if you can catch sales. Also, only buy what you know you are going to eat. Don’t spend extra money if you know that you won’t enjoy it.”

When thinking about how to improve your mental health and work ethic in school, consider switching up your daily routine with these simple steps. Keep in mind that adding a nutritional diet and a consistent workout routine can not only improve your mental health, but your body will thank you in the long run.

To make the idea of working out cost friendly and fun, Jones offers a discount on all fitness classes for college students! For more information, he can be contacted via email: badbodygym@gmail.com.