You’ve all heard of them. They haunt you in your nightmares. You’re scared they’re coming for you…except you can totally squash them. If you want to stay fit and healthy during college, here’s how you send these three curses running for the hills.
In this post:
1. The Freshman 15
Dining halls are a nightmare if you don’t know what you’re doing. Sure it would be easy to have a bagel with every meal, not forgetting the chicken fettuccine alfredo during dinner, followed by chocolate pudding and a donut for dessert. It’s so easy to eat because it’s right in front of your face and you don’t have to cook it yourself.
But that doesn’t mean you should eat it! Ask your dining hall for the nutritional information for their dishes; if they don’t have it, shame on them, and they better hurry up and get one. If they do, read up on your favorite meals there to make sure you aren’t unknowingly consuming 3,000 calories a day. Eat lots of salads, fruit, and protein. You’ll feel better, look better, and have more energy. Watch out for the carb coma. It sneaks up on you.
Always remember, though, that weight gain isn’t just a result of a poor diet and lack of exercise. Stress and not enough sleep can lead to weight gain as well. Try to stay healthy and happy and you’ll be alright!
2. Food Poisoning
If you’re careful about what you eat, you may never have to worry about this. Sometimes it can’t be helped, but you should definitely learn to be a picky eater. If your food isn’t served fresh, if it’s discolored or smells funky, or the meat/fish/poultry isn’t up to your standards, run! It’s better to stick with a boring salad than be tossing your cookies all night because you just HAD to try your cafeteria’s beef tips and noodles.
3. Mono
Attention dorm residents: It’s okay to be a germaphobe! People think that getting mono is pretty much a sure thing in college, but you CAN avoid it. These bacteria breed in the nose and throat. That means that you need to exchange these fluids–saliva, mucus, etc.–with an infected person in order to get it. This can happen from kissing, sharing drinking glasses, and sharing utensils.
The solution? Don’t share!…and don’t make out with sick people! Germs are bound to spread when you’re living in a tight space with tons of people; but if you wash your hands frequently and don’t swap spit with your germy peers, you should be alright.
Have no fear, students. The Freshman 15, food poisoning and mono can be kept at bay if you eat with caution and say NO to sharing germs. If you don’t want to end up weighing 800 pounds or lying in bed with mono for a month, then take good care of yourself and live a healthy lifestyle. That’s all it takes.
Angela George writes for health and education blogs. To find out communication degrees go to BestCommunicationsDegrees.com.
