Is It Possible To Stay Active In College?

When I say active, I don't mean sexually active (though what you do with your body is none of my damn business). I'm talking blood, sweat, and tears. Alright, that didn't really help my case, now did it? Rewind to the title. Is it possible to stay healthy and active in college? Yes! But, it isn't going to come easy.

Once college starts, even if you're living at home still, everything changes. You're not on that 8-2:30 schedule anymore with extracurriculars and the same amount of homework every night. College is extremely unpredictable. You can go four weeks without having any major assignments and then all of a sudden, you get a pile of work that it up to your ceiling and you have to get it done in one night. Talk about a buzzkill. It's easy to stress eat and spend a lot of your free time focusing on work, or using that extra free time to scroll through Netflix and watch The Office in its entirety. It's even harder when you're living in the dorms or on your own in an apartment. Cafeteria food isn't the best and if your university doesn't have many other options in its Student Center or in the other buildings, then you're SOL. Over-eating or just not eating well comes easily. Junk food is infinitely cheaper than fresh produce or healthy snacks. And sometimes you just want to eat an entire pizza by yourself because you can.

The first step to staying healthy in college is to want to be healthy. If you don't want it, you won't work hard for it. A lot of people say they're going to eat well or diet or whatever they so desire, but the drive is not always there. You need the drive to succeed with it. If you feel like you're accomplishing something then what you're eating will make you feel good and not like you've just eaten dirt.

Aside of eating healthy, exercise is key. My school has a new recreation center with a lot of nice equipment and an indoor track, but my dorm also has a small fitness center in the basement. I prefer going to the fitness center in my dorm because there are less people (I'm usually the only one in there when I go, aside from my friend who goes with me) around to observe. My school had one of those "confessions" twitter pages and I swear half of them were guys talking about girls doing squats or girls in sports bras and it was just very uneasy. I don't need to be over sexualized while I'm working out. That's just plain degrading.

Having a friend, or a few friends, workout with you gives you more motivation to do it. I know when I go by myself I get bored easily. I like to compete, in the most friendly way possible. It's nice to feed off of each other's energy and have someone there who you have something in common with.

If your school does not have a gym and you don't have a membership to a local one near your home, don't worry. Never fear, Pinterest is here! I have a whole board dedicated to workouts that you can do in your room without any equipment. My personal favorites are the 30-Day Challenges because they keep you on a routine and make you want to work toward that 30-Day goal. I liked doing the 30-Day Squat Challenge the best, but there are a tone out there.  There are also a whole lot of YouTube videos that are whole workouts or challenges that can kick your butt. My personal favorites are Tone It Up and Blogilates.

So yes, it is possible to stay fit and active in college as long as you are willing to make time for it and put the effort forward. It's not all about what happens to your outward appearance, either. Being healthy makes you feel great on the inside as well. Sorry to be one of those people who raves about being healthy. In my defense, I'm not the healthiest person in the world. I drink my tea with loads of sugar and I currently have two pints of ice cream in my freezer with my name on it. You don't have to fully immerse yourself into clean eating and living. Have some fruit and veggies every day and maybe skip out on pizza a few days a week. Sometimes the little things are what make you feel the best.