The Ultimate Student's Guide To Physical and Mental Wellbeing

Being an adult means being able to take care of yourself and maintain a lifestyle that benefits you the most. Especially for new adults trying to balance their academics, social life, and a hundred other things that come with adulting, taking care of themselves becomes even more important for your physical health and well-being. Even the most basic tasks may become tiring and unachievable without a healthy body and mind. So, to keep up with the pace of this modern world, students need to take care of their physical health and well-being. Let’s learn how to do that with this ultimate student’s guide to physical and mental wellbeing! 

Ways to take care of your physical health and wellbeing

Taking care of your physical and mental wellbeing can be easily narrowed down into taking care of some specific elements of physical fitness, including your nutrition, daily exercise schedule, sleep, and stress management. Caring for yourself ensures your body and mind are healthy enough to make your university experience pleasant. 

1.  Meal planning 

Cooking your own meals during college is an excellent nutritional and economical choice. You are in charge of the ingredients going into the meal through home-cooked meals while maintaining portion control. However, meal planning is an important step that cannot be skipped to do this effectively. Plan your meals beforehand. Do not wait till you are so hungry that you cannot cook and thus are forced to eat takeaways. You can also try batch-cooking, i.e. cook your food in bigger batches and keep them in the fridge for the next 2-3 meals. Create a meal plan that is easier and achievable so you don’t skip your meals so your physical health and well-being are preserved! 

2. Nutritional consumption 

Understand the nutritional value of your meals and plan accordingly. Take care of your physical well-being by deciding your own portions and finding meal alternatives with higher nutritional value. For example, replace unhealthy snacks with fruits, yoghurt and whole-grain crackers. To understand the nutritional value of your food, start reading labels and calculating how much protein and carbs you need in your meals to plan your grocery shopping trips better.  

3. Hydration 

Staying hydrated is one of the most important things when it comes to taking care of your physical and mental wellbeing. Without enough water, your energy levels can decrease drastically while you experience other problems like headaches, muscle aches, etc. Such health issues can make you feel sick on a daily basis while hindering your routine. 

4. Limiting unhealthy food and beverages 

The average university life includes many take-out foods, junk eating and sugary drinks. However, to maintain optimum physical and mental wellbeing as a uni student, you must avoid these things as much as possible. Consuming unhealthy food and beverages in a limited amount or completely avoiding them can help you avoid many diseases and unnecessary weight gain. On the other hand, if you love your little snacky snack, you can always replace them with healthier versions of them. Another thing that many students get into during their college years is binge drinking and smoking practices. However, it is always advisable not to get into such habits if you want to take better care of your physical health and well-being. Avoiding these habits can help you get a lower premium on your student health insurance. 

5. Find something you like

If you don’t like the usual ways of exercising, i.e. hitting the gym or having a workout schedule, there are many other things you can opt for. For example, suppose you like a physical activity like pilates, dancing, Zumba, yoga, or even cycling. In that case, you can actually just use this activity to replace a workout routine and still get similar benefits. Finding someone you like and doing it can make your journey towards physical health and well-being a joy ride! To make things extra simple, explore our webstory to uncover the truth about fitness myths and unlock your full potential!

6. Gym memberships

Joining a gym is an excellent way to ensure your body gets the desired workout. It is one of the best ways to care for your physical and mental wellbeing. However, gym memberships can be a bit expensive, especially for a university student living on a student's budget. But the remedy to this is student discounts on gym memberships. Many gyms offer heavy discounts to students that you should totally avail of!  

7. Incorporating exercise into your daily life 

Many students during their university years are very busy and thus have tight schedules to work around. The lack of time makes it difficult to stick to hobbies or gym schedules. But that should not stop you from caring for your physical and mental wellbeing. You can always incorporate exercise into your daily routine. It can be something as simple as executing your daily commute on a bicycle or something fun like going camping or trekking trips on weekends. You can even start by adding stretching breaks during your study hours. Just find out what works for you and get started! You can explore Jamie Elston's Instagram to for a wealth of knowledge that can elevate your fitness journey!

8. Maintaining your sleep schedule

Set a bedtime and stick to it. Go to sleep at a fixed time and wake up in the morning at the same time every day, even on weekends. This way, you can train your body to follow a natural sleep rhythm and get good sleep daily. 

9. Exercising bedtime rituals

Create some bedtime rituals to help you fall asleep. For example, you can create a no-phone period before bedtime where you keep your phone down and do some reading to fall asleep. You can also integrate sleep schedule apps into your rituals that can offer benefits like ambient music and guided meditation that are known to help people sleep.

10. Stress Management 

Balancing your personal, academic, social and professional life simultaneously is stressful. But it is what it is when you are a university student. However, this additional stress can harm your physical and mental wellbeing in many ways since your mental health is closely intertwined with your physical well-being. Especially if you are working a part-time job or student internship, you might become even more prone to stress as a student. So, stress management is a vital step to take for a better university experience and maintaining your health while you are at it. You can get help from mental health apps, join stress management classes or even take general therapy. You can care for your body better and live to your full potential with optimal mental health. Student volunteering has a lot of benefits read our blog to know more.

Benefits of improving physical hand wellbeing

1. Regular physical activity releases endorphins, which are natural mood lifters. This helps reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, leading to improved physical and mental wellbeing.
2. Engaging in regular physical activity boosts your cardiovascular system, improving oxygen and nutrient flow to tissues, which enhances energy levels and reduces fatigue.
3. Regular exercise can help regulate sleep patterns, making it easier to fall asleep and enjoy deeper, more restorative sleep, which contributes to physical and mental wellbeing.
4. Physical activity can bolster the immune system, making it more effective at fighting off infections and reducing the risk of chronic diseases.
5. Regular exercise helps maintain a healthy weight by burning calories and building muscle. This reduces the risk of obesity-related conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.
6. Weight-bearing exercises, such as walking and strength training, help build and maintain muscle mass and bone density, reducing the risk of osteoporosis and fractures.

Taking care of your physical and mental wellbeing becomes easy when you know exactly what to do. By taking care of what you eat, how much sleep you get, physical activities and stress management, anyone can achieve optimum physical well-being and live their best life. So, make sure to take care of yourself and get started with your university adventure!