When the academic year kicks up and school takes foremost priority for university students it becomes scarily easy to sacrifice our physical health to prioritize attendance, grades, and avoiding any and all possible late marks. As I’ve come to understand it – and most definitely speaking from experience – students have the unhealthy idea that if their work gets done, then it is A-OK if their physical self is wholly exhausted in the process.

After witnessing this cycle of unintentional health degradation among the student body, I have decided to cobble together a small, imperfect, but hopefully useful guide on things you can do to keep yourself healthy in both body and mind during this next school year.

1. Eat two-to-three nutritious meals early in the day

Something we’ve heard since childhood is that three meals a day is the golden rule of a healthy diet, but research suggests that far more goes into what we are eating, and at what time we eat, rather than the three-meal standard. 

Emily Manoogian, a clinical researcher at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California, suggests that we eat two to three dense, nutritious, calorie-rich meals throughout the day, “with most of your calories consumed earlier in the day.” 

Additionally, Manoogian noted in an interview with the BBC that we should –according to our own schedules and responsibilities– give our bodies rest from eating, allowing a period of fasting overnight so that our bodies can adjust, and efficiently use the fuel they have been given.

“Telling people to stop eating by 7p.m. isn’t helpful because people have different schedules. If you try to give your body regular fast nights, try to not eat too late or early and try to not have huge final meals, this can usually help. People can at least adopt parts of this,” says Manoogian

So, be conscious of what you eat and try to plan out specific, consistent times throughout the week where you can eat well prepared nutritious meals –don’t rely on bagels and iced coffees to get you through your days.

P.S. If you’re finding it difficult to access good ingredients due to any assortment of reasons, all undergraduate and graduate Usask students can receive groceries from the USSU Food Center at no charge.

2. Get twenty to thirty minutes of high intensity exercise each day

Between classes, labs, assigned textbook readings and part-time jobs, it often feels overwhelming to try and find any time for exercise throughout the week. Fortunately, exercise, as most of the general public has come to understand, is highly overcomplicated and much easier to fit into your schedule than you think.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, adults should get roughly two-and-a-half hours of exercise per week, with a focus on “moderate to vigorous aerobic activity.”

Scheduling pre-planned times to exercise during the day is best. And if you can’t do it everyday, three to four times a week is more than adequate; the classic mantra ‘consistency is key’ really takes the cake here. Breaking it down, if you exercise on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for forty minutes each, you are already at 120 minutes out of the goal 150. 

Also, it’s important to remember that going to the gym and pumping iron isn’t the only way to exercise and stay fit. A couple of great alternatives to the gym are: participating in one of USask’s intramural sports leagues (i.e., dodgeball, water polo, or volleyball), going rock climbing at the Physical Activity Complex climbing wall, or watching Netflix while running on the treadmill if that’s more your vibe. Exercise shouldn’t feel like a slog or a chore, so make exercise work for you, and in turn, your body.

3. Go outside and see the sun… or add vitamin D to your diet

Whether it is in a classroom, the cafeteria, your bedroom, or an office we Saskatchewanians spend a lot of our waking hours indoors away from natural sunlight.

A 2013 study on vitamin D insufficiency and deficiencies in Saskatchewan, led by former researcher Denis Lehotay, found that during the summer months about 14.1% of Saskatchewan’s general population had a vitamin D deficiency. If that sounds bad, the bitter, cloud-covered winter months only exacerbate the issue, doubling the amount of people with such a deficiency to 33%.

Unluckily for students of USask–but truly any resident of Saskatchewan where sunlight is limited for a good chunk of the year– vitamin D deficiencies can cause symptoms of depression, fatigue, trouble sleeping, muscle weakness and even inhibit one’s ability to fight off disease. All of these are issues that students are sure would interfere with the litany of essays, tests, labs, and other projects that need to be finished during the fall and winter terms.

So, what can you do to increase your vitamin D intake? Well, like the header of this part suggests: go outside into the sun for 10 to 30 minutes a day. Does that mean laying out sun-tanning in a parka? No. But perhaps try walking between your classes instead of hiding in the tunnels around campus.

If you’re absolutely determined to stay indoors try taking a vitamin D supplement or eating foods like tuna, avocado, carrots,eggs and cheese. It’s important to note that this is not medical advice, that is something that should be provided to you by your doctor or another healthcare professional. That said, why not ask some kinesiology students how they keep themselves healthy – they usually seem to have it figured out.

All in all, look out for yourself, take care of yourself, and try working some good habits into your calendar this academic year. School can be rough, and there really is no need to make it any rougher by letting your health deteriorate.