New habits improve health conditions

Who has the time or the money to go to school, work, eat healthy and exercise regularly?

It’s literally impossible. Unless your middle name is Palm Pilot, it’s impossible to even schedule it and sleep too.

So this is for those people who aren’t built like Halle Berry but don’t want to look like Missy Elliot. If your metabolism doesn’t burn your food 10 minutes after you eat, and you don’t have the money to buy Nutri-Grain Bars for breakfast, whole milkshake replacement meals for lunch and broiled chicken-a-la-crap for dinner, this is for you.

Exercise is not the only way to stay fit and healthy. We all know that walking the hills of this campus on a daily basis, and going up and down stairs in buildings with broken elevators more than takes care of the daily requirement of aerobic exercise. But it would help immensely to bring along a bottle of water instead of purchasing a Coke from the soda machine to quench your thirst.

“Fitness is more than exercise,” said Rosemary Stanton, a nutritionist for Fit Magazine. “People don’t realize that just by drinking their eight glasses of water a day everything from their weight to their stamina and their feeling of fatigue during the day can be affected for the better.”

I tried it. It works.

You won’t be as hungry; you won’t need that nap in the middle of the day; you’ll sleep better at night; and your concentration in class may improve just from drinking the suggested amount of water every day.

“Fruits and vegetables are also more important than people think,” Stanton said. “People don’t choose to be vegetarians just for religious reasons, it is a very healthy way of living.”

Although Stanton does not think vegetarianism is for everyone, she did say most people who eat meat do not eat the necessary fruits and vegetables in a given day.

Five fruits and vegetables is the recommended amount. And even though I know it’s tough, having an apple in your bag at school to eat will keep your stomach from growling in the middle of the day.

It will also make you eat less junk food when you do get home because you won’t be as hungry.

If you’re like me, the less you eat all day, the bigger that meal at the end of the day will be.

“Eating five small meals a day will also help curb those hunger pains that cause some to eat out of control when they do get the chance,” said Alana Burkhalter.

All in all, you don’t have to own the Tae-Bo collection or have a membership to Gold’s Gym to stay healthy. Eating right is half the battle. It doesn’t have to be Jenny Craig meal portions or calorie-weighed, just eight glasses of water and some fruit and vegetables will help.

Splitting up your caloric intake or eating fewer large meals will also help. It will make you feel so much better physically that maybe taking a jog around the track won’t seem like such a daunting task.