Being Selfish: 4 Tips to Better Your Mental Health by Taking Care of Your Body

By Alicia Geigel on April 17, 2017

Creating a platform to talk about the topic of working out and taking care of myself is quite unfamiliar to me, as I did the complete opposite for a majority of my short lived, 20 year-old-life.

Living to live and not just to get by is something that I believe we all struggle with, especially as college students. The stress of school, the commitment to a part-time or full-time job, the pressure of the new internship, and the maintenance of a social life can be burdensome on the human body, both physically and emotionally.

My freshman year of college was spent at a private university in Lower Manhattan — college life showed its ugly face, and life was becoming difficult for me. Money was often a factor in the whirlwind of difficulty I was experiencing, which resulted in me burning myself out and eating terribly, and by terribly, I mean $1 Kraft’s Macaroni and Cheese cups from CVS for dinner almost five days a week.

Now, as a second-semester junior, I can finally say that I have decided (with the help and support of loved ones) to put my physical and mental health first. I weight train three times a week, and I do cardio three times a week. This whole process has not been easy, and I won’t lie and tell you that I haven’t had times where I’ve slipped up, given up temporarily, and told myself I couldn’t make this positive change in my life.

However, those hurdles, just like the ones I experienced during my first year in college, are miles behind me, and they can be miles behind you! Here are some tips to help you get started on bettering your mental health through taking care of your physical self — trust me, you’ll want to thank me later!

1Create a positive mindset for yourself: I know it’s simple, but thinking positively about yourself and goals will have a definite impact on them! Don’t be critical of yourself and think that it might be impossible or too hard, just believe in yourself. Making excuses and justifying reasons why you cannot do something will be your enemy, so do yourself a favor and be honest with yourself and what you want to accomplish!

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2. Build a workout schedule: A schedule for your week will make your life so much easier and will take a huge burden off of your shoulders. As a college student, I understand that time management, as well as organization, are not things we excel at sometimes.

Get yourself a planner or a dry-erase board (these can both be found at your local dollar store or Walmart) and organize your time into different slots such as your class/work schedule, study time, workout time, and relaxation time. This helps you stick to commitments and have set times for you to get your tasks done!

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3. Meal prep: As I said, dinners as a college student can be super tiring and difficult. I can promise you, though, meal prepping can and will be your life saver if you allow it! Sacrifice the hour you spend mindlessly scrolling on Facebook or Twitter, watching Youtube videos, etc. and prep your meals for the week by cooking in bulk and storing them in Tupperware!

Include a healthy starch like brown rice, sweet potatoes, quinoa, etc. and then add a protein of your choice (any meat or plant based protein) and then any of your favorite veggies! There are countless combinations that you can put together and it will totally help when you’re feeling lazy about making dinner!

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4. Find a workout buddy: Probably the simplest of them all, but easily the most effective, is finding a workout partner or buddy to support you through your workouts! Buddies can motivate you when you’re feeling lazy about getting yourself to the gym and can also make you feel less alone in your journey to better yourself.

These tips are so simple that even the girl who didn’t work out for 20 years of her life can do them! Do yourself a favor, be a little selfish, and invest the care into yourself that you would into anything else you take seriously. You wouldn’t neglect to water a plant and expect it to grow, would you? 

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