By Debbie Fetter
Summer is quickly disappearing and school is right around the corner. Or, as the graduate students are thinking, what is summer anymore? Regardless, the beginning of school brings new responsibilities and puts time management skills to the test. One thing that often seems to fall by the wayside is healthy living. With a little bit of planning, this doesn’t have to be the case.
The Dietary Guidelines Alliance (DGA) recently released a campaign with a mission of taking charge of diet and overall health, rightfully titled, “It’s All About You.” The campaign emphasizes the key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to be realistic, active, balanced, adventurous, and sensible. Under each of these components, the DGA offers helpful tidbits designed to assist with goal setting. So, let’s have some fun and relate this resource to the typical graduate student lifestyle. [Keeping in mind, this tool is equally helpful for parents, caregivers, and others seeking to make healthy living easy].
Be realistic: Just like how you’re probably not going to be able to write your dissertation in a week, you can make small changes over time. Set small goals for yourself, such as walking or biking to campus, packing fruit and vegetables to snack on, or choosing whole grain foods.
Be Active: As students, we spend way too much time hunched over a desk or staring at a computer screen until our eyes start tearing. Come up with a physical activity goal each week and track your progress using a tool, such as SuperTracker. Schedule workouts, just as you would schedule meetings. Set a reminder every hour to get up and do a short circuit (i.e. jumping jacks, push ups, a lap around the hallway, etc.). Get some much needed socialization with a walking date. The possibilities are endless!
Be Balanced: Although we rarely feel balanced (hello looming stress levels), we can still find balance with our eating and activity. Figure out how many calories your body needs each day here and use a food and activity tracker, such as MyFitnessPal to effortlessly keep count.
Be Adventurous: Healthy living should never be boring! Pick up a new vegetable and incorporate it into a meal. Find healthy recipe inspiration in cookbooks or online. Choose a day to prepare food for the week, so you’ll have nutritious food on hand. Center meals around vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein sources. Escape from the grind and take a scenic walk or hike. Or, find a brave soul to do acrobatic yoga with you (please don’t pick me).
Be Sensible: Graduate students choose to be in school forever, clearly we’re not sensible people. Okay, okay, but we can make sensible food choices by reading the Nutrition Facts Label, cutting back on added sugars, adding flavor with spices, and choosing to cook with unsaturated oils (i.e. olive oil, yum!). I guess we can limit the trips to taco bell too.
As summer comes to a close, we don’t have to fear losing our healthy eating habits and behaviors. Now, my biggest fear is the undergraduate students…
