The Student Lifestyle Vs The Healthy Lifestyle: Can They Co-Exist?

The further we get into the student lifestyle, from school into sixth form or college, right through into University, balancing all the elements of socializing and having a good time with the pressures of meeting a healthy balance can be a heavy weight to carry.

I have a mixed stance on this: I’m not the kind of person who takes smoothly to working out or exercising; I’m naturally a lazy bastard and would kill to have a few more lie-ins a week and avoid having to train. And throw that into a student scenario (being in Halls, going out often, being shattered from the workload) and somehow the desire and the likelihood of maintaining decent health becomes surplus to requirement.

And I am in no way a natural sportsman, anything I may do right I achieve because I’ve fucked it up a million times before. I play tough and difficult sports, so even more effort is required.
Keeping up the determination required to go for a half hour jog in the morning, or the desire to go to a gym and train around people who make you feel fat or ugly because they may look better is hard, really fucking hard. But I thrive off that, one second its self-loathing, the next I’ve turned than into uncompromising determination to take it up a gear.

This goes back to my first entry, about keeping faith in you, but it also goes to another level.
It takes a tough mindset to look at a days ‘to-do-list’ and still think ‘Man, I’ve got to train today’. What I find works well is to get as many things done that you know you can do quickly and well, that way your self-esteem is so high that when you’re still occupied, you’re think ‘Man, I DO want to go to the gym’. You don’t even need to join a gym if that isn’t your thing; simply going for a daily walk does you wonders. Some of the most beneficial exercise can be done at home: press-ups, crunches, etc.

Work out what you want from a workout, and work towards it. If you want to lose body fat, run more, walk more, eat a little less crap and a little more decent food, it doesn’t cost much more to eat even a bit more healthy. If you want to be more defined and toned, train those areas you want to strengthen and work on your cardio. That way you will see results quicker and you will have even more desire to kick some ass.

If you know you want to train tomorrow, but you’re going out tonight, maybe drink less that night, or move your workout into later in the day, so you step through those doors with an upbeat view. If you’ve got a ton of assignments to write and make your own, do one, then go for a jog with your earphones in, come back, take a shower and suddenly your comfortable, a little tired and fulfilled in knowing you’ve done so much.

Being healthy and being a student is what you make it, not the other way round.

D R-Lincoln