Self-care for the College Student

By Alicia Life

We all know how great it feels to wash our hair, exfoliate our skin and whiten our teeth. These steps can make us feel like a new person.

However, there is more to self-care. It  is taking care of your body on the inside, being aware of your physical health, and drinking the suggested amount of water (15.5 cups for men and 11.5 cups for woman) per day.

 As college students, we find ourselves running circles to get assignments, homework and study sessions over with, but we aren’t finding time to improve or maintain our health. It can seem intimidating to fit a simple 30-minute workout in each day, eat a healthy diet and not forget to sip on our water bottle.  But the reality is, it’s not difficult at all once you get the hang of things.

Cardio is and forever will be your best friend. It not only improves heart health, but it can improve every aspect of your life. Genesis Health states that cardio can reduce stress, improve your overall mood, boost energy, improve memory, increase productivity, tap into creativity and improve one’s self confidence. Does that sound cool or what?

Lucky for us, students at WVU Parkersburg have access to workout rooms that have equipment just for cardio. We also have an all-purpose room where you can get some laps in to bump up your heart rate. Starting small will eventually help you get to where you want to be.  

Cardio isn’t the only way you can start taking care of yourself. With fast food being cheap and convenient, college students can get caught up in spending large amounts of money on meals that are hurting their bodies more than helping. An easy money saving-tactic to this issue is to meal-prep. Meal-prepping takes 1-2 hours (depending on what you are making), but can last you a full week.

Meal prepping is beneficial because you have your meals for each day, spend less money and can exercise portion control. This helps college kids that are trying to better or maintain their health, or to simply just save money.

The last simple tactic to self-care is drinking your water. Coffee, soda, energy drinks and juices might taste a lot better, but water is the purest option you can put into your body. It may sound silly, but water is the answer to all your problems. Water is beneficial to the health of your body and mind.

If the lack of taste is what strays you away from water there are solutions! Add lemons, berries and even mint to your water for extra taste and benefits. Just drinking water can boost skin health, it cushions the brain, flushes body waste, fights stress and so much more. 

If working out and food prepping doesn’t sound like your thing, at least start drinking your water. You’ll thank me later.

Being a college student is hard, and it seems like it will never end, but we can’t forget to take care of ourselves. Find exercises that suit you, eat healthy and drink your water. Begin to take care of your body and watch it start to take care of you.