Healthy Eating/Diet
Eating healthy and consuming nutritious meals is important for your overall health and immune system. Proper nutrition during nursing school is crucial in order to maintain energy levels, avoid illnesses, and boost your immune system. School can become stressful and cause unhealthy eating habits and make it easier to make poor food choices, especially when time is limited during the week. In order to combat this issue, nursing students can try preparing meals and snacks ahead of time. Meal prepping your food on weekends for the week ahead can help save money on purchasing foods at restaurants and fast food chains. Meal prepping also allows you to make healthy food choices and prepare well balanced meals containing adequate portions of protein, fruits, vegetables, whole grains and dairy.
Also, avoid skipping meals. People tend to skip meals throughout the day. The most skipped meal is breakfast, meanwhile breakfast is the most important meal of the day because, it has the most impact on your body and it determines how your body would function for the rest of the day. A healthy breakfast not only provides your body with necessary nutrients, it also boosts your mood and prepares your brain for daily activities.
College students are able to understand better when they’re well nourished, eating nutritious meals or snacks has been linked to getting higher grades, improve memory and awareness, and faster info processing. One reason for this is that foods that are rich in fiber, such as protein, and healthy fats such as eggs, avocado, yogurt, apples, grains, and oatmeal keep the body feeling full longer, giving you enough energy to focus and stay alert during the entire day. One simple way that you can ensure you are getting enough nutrition is to prepare meals or snack from every color of the rainbow.
In addition to eating healthy, another good option is exercising at least a few times a week to help increase your energy and clear your mind. Sometimes our brain is overloaded with lots of information, so we need to take a pause and find a distraction. Doing yoga, going for a run/walk, practicing a sport, or going to the gym can help as stress relievers because our mind is focused on something else at that moment. Being physically active is not only good for our physical health, but also for our mental state, and it helps us come back with much more enthusiasm and energy to face new challenges that nursing school might bring to us.
