With all the stories that you hear about sleepless nights, stress before exams and even infamous weight gains, college life might sound the very opposite of healthy living. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way: healthy living in college is entirely possible.
The even better news is that healthy living in college is possible while still having fun, making friends and studying hard. It’s just about making healthy living choices part of your each activity rather than a separate topic by itself.
Don’t approach healthy eating and exercise as chores or deprivations, unless you really want them to feel that way. Instead, go for the fun activities of making friends and hanging out with them, but with a (very healthy) twist. Cooking for friends, meeting for jogging rather than for lunch, studying together and even being the designated driver for the evenings out are just some ways to healthy and fun living in college.
Cooking for Friends
People tend to like those that cook for them and even better those with whom they cook and share the meal afterwards. Get yourself some basic pots, utensils and healthy ingredients, a few easy recipes and invite people over for a cooking party rather than a drinking party. If you are not really good at cooking, don’t worry: fellow students are among the least demanding people when it comes to freshly cooked food and any cooking mistakes are likely to just add to the fun.
Moreover, it will be less costly in the long run than to meet for lunch somewhere else or to just order food in every time. And it is probably a good opportunity too to try something new, so don’t be conservative with your recipes. Just remember to choose healthy options (baked or broiled over fried) and not to overeat if you (or some of your friends) are in fact very good cooks!
Meeting for Jogging
Exercise is indeed a part of healthy living, but it can also be a part of socializing or hanging out with friends. Invite your friends for a jog together at lunch time rather than for an oversized meal. It is a good way to avoid overeating, but also to make sure that you do your daily exercise without finding it a chore: after all, this way it is a bit of hanging out with friends rather than just running alone through the campus.
Study Together with Friends
If you don’t really see the link between healthy living and study, think of exam stress and the sleepless nights that many students spend bent over their books.
Studying together with friends can help you actually learn faster so that you don’t end up with studying at night. Moreover, if you carefully plan in advance studying sessions with friends every day, you are likely to find that you are less stressed before the exam.
Being the Designated Driver
One of the unhealthy habits that often plagues college life is simply drinking too much. If you find yourself too often drinking too much when going out with friends simply because of the company or because you don’t even realize it on the spot, the easy solution to it is simply to become the usual designated driver for the evenings out.
This way you will be doing a service to your friends, but also to yourself. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to do it each and every time, but if you do it just most of the times it will be quite enough to live a healthier life in college and still have fun.
Be sure to check back next week for more health tips for your college experience! 
