Throughout the entirely of the semester, I have focus this blog on discussing ways to improve health through various forms of eating and making quality foods, and regularly exercising, through different classes or workout styles. When it comes to being an overall happy and health person, taking time out of the day to focus on mental health is equally important. Studies show that mental health concerns are increasing rapidly on college campuses across the country, often due to the stress students are under, through managing things like student debt, workloads from classes, social life, etc. I wanted to focus my last blog post of the semester on the importance of mental health and ways to improve it, because the mind is very important.

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Overall, mental health is important because being in the right mindset can impact, relationships with other people and oneself, as well as things like grades, work, etc. It is important to be aware of what our personal limits are and when we need take a break from something. It is easy to get caught up in focusing on gpa’s and test scores, which are important, but these things do not need to consume a persons entire mind. One of the best ways I have been able to manage my stress surrounding school work is to not procrastinate my assignments. I have found that if I have free time, it is better to do work that might not be due for a few days, instead of letting it pile up. This prevents me from feeling overworked and tired when certain deadlines are approaching

There are also many little things you can do throughout the day to keep your head in a good place. Things like drinking plenty of water, or taking ten minutes to lie down and listen to music don’t seem like they would do a whole lot, but they can really be helpful when attempting to calm down. Even taking a break from something stressful, even if it is just for only fifteen minutes at a time can really go a long way.

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Overall, while I love learning new healthy recipes or trying different workout classes, health is much more than just trying to get into shape. Being happy with where you are in life, what you are doing, and who you surround yourself with is equally important when it comes to living a fulfilling life. 

Considering I am planning on signing my lease for my apartment next year by the end of this week, I have been thinking a lot about what I am going to be doing for meals next year. While I still plan on getting a low-level meal plan for the dining hall, I will definitely have to rely on cooking for a lot of my meals. With that being said, I do not have a strong background with cooking, but lately I have been doing research on the best places to find healthy, simple, and affordable recipes.

Considering I am a visual learner and I have always found video tutorials helpful for anything I do, the first place I decided to look for ideas is youtube. One account that I quickly came across is called tasty Tasty and they post cooking videos multiple times a day every single day. Not every video on this account posts the most healthy recipes; for example one of the most recent videos they have up is a tutorial on hot chocolate truffles. However because they post so frequently it is very easy to sift through all of the options and find ones on things like black bean soup or lemon chicken.  

Tasty Logo

Also, as I said before I do not have very much experience with cooking, and sometimes online recipes can be daunting or confusing. Something that anybody can make, no matter what their background with food is, are smoothies. This is a quick breakfast snack I made for myself all of the time when I was in high school, and because I do not have a blender in my dorm is something I really miss. I found a website that has fifty different smoothie options , so whenever I do not know what to make I will always be able to whip one of these up quickly. Smoothies are great because they are so simple and can be made up in so many different varieties.

Smoothies

Finally, something that will be really helpful to download is a recipe organizer . While there are so many different resources to find meal recipes it can be difficult to keep track of them all of the time. If I make something I really enjoyed eating, next time I try to make it I don’t want to have to look through a dozen different websites to find the recipe again. Overall, I am very excited to live off campus next year and expand my knowledge on cooking.

Before I started my senior year of track in high school, my parents got me a FittBit Charge 3 to help me track my pace and miles while running. Months later, I still wear this watch every single day because of all of the features it has that allow me to track my health. With the watch’s ability to track my heart rate, steps, calories, miles, and even sleep quality, I would highly recommend this product to someone looking to keep better tabs on their activity and lifestyle.

FitBit Charge 3

I would say that the heart rate tracking is the most useful feature on the watch. When I am am working out I always like to keep an eye on my heart rate because I like to be aware if it is starting to get too high and I need to relax the intensity of whatever I am doing. Also, resting heart rate  is equally important to keep an eye on, because if this number is consistently very high, it can lead to many health related issues later on in life. Over the months I have been watching my resting heart rate, I have learned that when I am sick, it tends to be higher— something unsurprising because my body is working to fight off whatever sickness I have. Also interestingly, I have learned when I am driving to somewhere I have never been before my heart rate spikes, most likely because of the nerves I often face when I am driving. My Fitbit has allowed me to focus on staying calm when driving, because previously I was unaware of the effects it had on my body, and it also is a tool I really am able to utilize throughout my everyday life.

Resting Heart Rate Feature

Another thing I really enjoy about this watch is that it has features that encouraging you to stay active  throughout the day. For example, if I reach 10,000 steps in a day the watch will buzz and show a motivational picture. While this is not a huge deal, it is nice to feel like I have accomplished something throughout the day, and I enjoy the way the Fitbit makes me feel like I am achieving some sort of daily goal. Overall I would definitely recommend this product to anybody, it is not nearly as expensive as an Apple Watch, but it still has all the essentials for me to keep a better eye on my health.

One of the most difficult things to adjust to at college is the dining hall. I know personally I am used to my mom’s cooking at home, and I am thankful that she was always health-conscious when making meals. Throughout the weeks I have been here at Penn State, I have slowly found ways to keep my meals on the healthier side.

As we have all heard before, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It is vital for keeping better energy and attention throughout they day. At East Halls one of my favorite places to get breakfast is at Edge, the cafe that can be found in Findlay Commons. While they do sell things like donuts and cookies here, usually I like to go for the avocado toast or the banana and peanut butter toast. Both are great options to start the day on a healthier note. I also enjoy the açaí bowls that can be found upstairs at the commons. These bowls are customizable with different fruit, nuts, and granola so you can constantly switch up your order.

East Dining Halls

For lunch, I really enjoy going to Jamba Juice in the HUB. Buying fresh fruit can get expensive sometimes, so the smoothies at Jamba Juice are a really convenient way I have made sure to get enough fruit into my diet. If I am being honest, having restaurants like Panda Express and Chick-Fil-A also in the HUB makes it easier to make these unhealthier decisions, but out of all the different smoothies I have tried at Jamba Juice, I have yet to find one I dislike, so I try to remember that when walking into the HUB. 

HUB Jamba Juice

Lastly, one of the tools I have really utilized in the past few weeks is the Penn State Food Services Website . Each day the website provides the menu for the dining hall, so it is helpful in determining whether I will want to go to the buffet side of the commons or not. There is also a tab that offers the nutrition value of the different foods they are providing for that day. This has helped me to stay aware of the health content of the foods I am eating. Overall, while finding healthy meals at college might be a little more difficult than it would be if I were at home, it is not impossible, especially with all of the options and resources Penn State offers.

Going into college one thing I had always looked forward to participating in is IM Sports. This is where a group of friends can get together and play recreational sports; some of these include soccer, basketball, softball. Penn State has over twenty options to choose from. Volleyball has always been something I was good at and enjoyed playing so I had always planned to get an IM volleyball team going. However, just a few days a girl on my floor asked me to join a flag football team. For my senior field day in high school the girls played one powder puff flag football game and it was a lot of fun then, so I agreed to join. There is now about ten girls on the floor signed up to play and I am excited for our first game.

Winning Team’s Shirts

Sometimes going to the gym can get boring if you are doing the same routine after a while so this is a fun way to stay active while making friends. Sometime next week a bunch of us are going to make team shirts together so that is just one way to start off the team on a good note. We also have another friend on our floor who played football in high school and he agreed to coach our team. While none of us are taking this too seriously, it is still fun to start getting competitive and making ourselves a strong team. Right now I am not as concerned about winning as I am getting some what of a workout in while also being around friends.

Flag Football

During the games there should be a decent amount cardio which is a good thing. Football is not cardio in the way the sports like basketball and soccer are where you are running for the entirety of the game, but quick sprints and then breaks between each play. I hope that I will be good at this with my experience of sprinting on the track and field team in high school. Also, this sport is a relatively safe game and easy to pick up for somebody who might not have ever played before, there are also many other benefits that come along with this game. Overall, I am really looking forward to seeing how these games will play out, and if anybody reading this is interested, I would absolutely encourage you to get a team together and join!

I have been lifeguarding at my local community pool for the last three summers, and during my time at this job I have grown a great appreciation for the importance and health benefits of swimming. When I first got certified during my sophomore year of high school, there were two main prerequisites I had to pass, through the Red Cross , to prove I was capable of being a lifeguard. The first, was a timed test to see how quickly I could swim from one end of the pool to retrieve a brick at the bottom— this was to make sure I could reach a victim in a sufficient amount of time. I did not have any trouble with this but the second test, to swim 300m, proved to be a lot more difficult for me. Initially I started my laps way too fast, as I had not realized how much endurance was involved in swimming. I am happy to say I did pass the course, all while gaining an understanding of how great an exercise swimming is.

Pool I Work at

At my job, I have watched people swim laps with limited breaks for over an hour. Knowing the difficulties I had with my 300m— six laps in an Olympic sized pool— I think the endurance these patrons have is incredible. Free style especially can be very tiring, and I think it is impressive when people keep up with the stroke for an extended period of time. Furthermore, swimming causes little to no stress on joints and muscles in the body, one of the many benefits of the exercise, making it a viable option for people of all ages. Overall, it is a great source of cardio, without straining the body too much.

During the summer, while I do spend about 30 weeks at a pool, I rarely actually go into the water. My time is spent making sure swimmers are safe, rather than getting a workout in. Usually I find other ways to stay fit, but swimming is definitely something I would like to push myself to get more into. I know that currently the outdoor pool at Penn State, the McCoy Natatorium is closed indefinitely due to repairs, but I would defiantly considering spending time here once it opens. Lifeguarding has opened my eyes to how great of an exercising swimming can be and I would love to one day get more involved with this exercise.

PSU Outdoor Pool

Part of the reason why I love staying active so much is because I grew up doing sports my entire life. I was a competitive cheerleader for ten years, and in high school I ran track. I am going to only focus in on my time as a cheerleader because this consumed such a large portion of my life, and has shaped how I view myself and my health today.

Contrary to to a typical misconception about cheerleading, there is a highly competitive and athletic nature to the sport. There is a strong focus on stunting— lifting others into the air— and tumbling—the types of flips you could associate with a gymnastics floor routine. The higher the level of difficulty and execution of these components, the better a team will score. The Universal Cheerleading Association provides very detailed score sheets that judges follow to determine the winning team. Many doubt the seriousness of cheerleading because they think a judge will watch a routine and pick the one they like the best, but after taking a closer look at at score sheet they will see that the criterial for winning is highly objective. 

Me Doing a Backtuck

Throughout my time in high school I would compete at the High School National Championships , where hundreds of teams across the country would come together at the ESPN World Wide Sports Center in Orlando, Florida. This was definitely a high-stress environment and very overwhelming to first time participants. My team would work from August all the way until February to perfect our routine and showcase it on this large nation-wide stage. I would say my favorite part about being a cheerleader is the adrenaline that comes right before competing at a an important event. 

A Higher Level Stunt

Unfortunately, one of the biggest downfalls of this sport was the toll it took on my body over the years. During my junior year of high school I sprained both of my ankles and one of my thumbs and it became hard to maintain the skills I had worked for years to obtain. My team would practice Monday through Saturday and have competitions on Sundays, so it was especially difficult to recover during the season. Studies have come out that cheerleading is the most dangerous sport for females, and I do not doubt this, knowing what my teams had to endure over the years. While I loved my time as a cheerleader, the accumulating injuries are why I am glad I am retired. Now, if I am in pain or sick I do not have to push myself to limits I am not okay with. I really enjoy having the ability to be in control of when and how often I exercise. I am happy to have gone through this experience and grown as much as a person and an athlete as I did, but I am especially glad to have moved on from this chapter in my life.

After a while, going to the gym and using the same machines each time can start to feel very redundant. Personally, I shy away with equipment I am not very familiar, which even further limits the variety of my workouts. Luckily, Penn State offers HIIT workout classes multiple times a week, which allow me to try new exercises and get out of my same old patterns. HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training, and the idea behind this type of workout is to exercise intensely for a short amount of time, have several seconds of break and then move onto the next movement. You then complete this cycle multiple times. HIIT workouts offer many benefits with some of the most notable being they do not put a lot of strain on the body, are quick, and can introduce you to new types of exercises. 

PSU HIIT Class

Personally, I think the best thing about HIIT workouts is how they typically focus on bodyweight exercises and resistance training. Lifting heavy weights can cause a tremendous amount of strain on your back and joints, especially if someone has not spent a lot of time using the equipment before. Furthermore, running on hard pavement can cause an equal amount of problems with someones body, especially to their knees, shins, and ankles. HIIT offers a safe alternative, as the focus is more centered around lots of quick movements with light weight, or even no weight depending on each move. I really enjoy the exercises with the resistance bands because I can make them as difficult or easy as I choose, and I never feel sharp pains. This type of conditioning is always a safe and reliable option.

Also, I think the class setting for the HIIT workouts at Penn State is great because I never have to come up with the ideas myself. There is an instructor leading the way with what movements we do, the time limits, and how many rotations we go through. I also think they are very helpful in explaining variations to the group so each person can adjust the class to their own personal level. Nobody in the class is ever pressured to keep up with others because each person has the ability to choose their own weight level and speed at which they workout. This is one of the best options for people like me who are looking to be challenged, but don’t necessarily know what they want to do next.

Fitness Youtuber Natacha Oceane

I would still recommend HIIT workouts to anybody, even if someone does not prefer the class setting. There are many videos on youtube offering different ways to do this type of training with no equipment and in a space as big as a dorm room. These are nice because you have the ability to select what body area you would like to target. HIIT is easy, versatile and possible for people of all body types and ages; it is one of my favorite ways to continue to improve my health.

While I have been doing my best to keep healthy habits during my time at school so far, such as keeping a regular work out routine and making smart decisions in the dining hall, unfortunately life does not always go as planned. Sunday morning I went to the doctors, where they told me I had caught strep throat. Obviously this news was not the end of the world, and I am thankful it really only took me a day or two to recover, but this was still frustrating news to receive going into my second week in college. With Labor Day being this pass Monday, it was a day I could have been going out with friends or getting ahead on my school work, and instead I was restricted to napping and watching TV for the entirety of the day. However, the past week has given me time to reflect on some of the poor decisions I made that caused me to be susceptible to illness, as well as focus on healthy precautions moving forward.

Over the weekend, I spent time with some friends on my dorm floor. I remember sharing drinks and food with people, without even thinking twice. Looking back, this was probably my biggest mistake, considering how prevalent illness on college campuses are. Some of the most common being the flu, meningitis, and of course— strep throat. Knowing how prevalent these illnesses are, I have been more considerate about sharing what I am eating with other people. Furthermore, with the close living conditions on the dorms, it is especially easy for all of these different types of sicknesses to transfer. My next crucial mistake I made this past week was not giving myself enough time to sleep each night. During the week I would stay up too late to finish up on homework assignments or catch up on my favorite shows, and during the weekend I lost a lot of hours of sleep staying up late with my friends. If I was starting to catch a minor illness a restful night might have been able to help my immunity, but unfortunately I never gave my body this time to rest. Sleep is so important important , and when you choose to neglect it the way I did, it really starts to take a toll on your body physically and mentally.

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Overall, the week was not a complete loss for me, as it reminded me of all of the ways I should be treating my body, but have been lacking on during my time at college. Being mindful of what I share with others and how much sleep I get each night definitely falls at the top of this list. I am also lucky to be going to Penn State, which offers easy and accessible resources through the Universal Health Services — a website I have become somewhat familiar with this weekend. Getting sick is tough, and sometimes it is inevitable, but taking care of ourselves everyday can help reduce the chances of an illness happening.

PSU Student Health Center

PSU IM Building

Going into my freshman year of college I have had to adjust to a variety of different things— some being living with a roommate, managing homework, and navigating around the large campus that is Penn State University. One thing that especially has been a challenge for me is creating a workout routine that fits in my brand new life style. Coming from high school, I would attend team practices five to six days a week throughout the entirety of the year, so this had never been a problem for me before. However, as I have been slowly adjusting over the past week, I am learning new ways to incorporate fitness into my daily life.

The first recommendation I have to stay fit at college is to establish a weekly routine. Personally, I know I am done with classes at noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so these are great days for me to schedule a workout into my week. On top of this, studies show that exercising approximately at the same time each day leads to better long term results. This keeps it easy to follow an established pattern you have set for yourself, rather than try to squeeze in time to go to the gym during a hectic day. Furthermore, the weekly classes offered at Penn State in both the IM and White building offer additional support in ensuring you maintain that weekly routine. Some of the classes they offer include cycling, yoga, HIIT workouts, and more. If you can pre-establish times that consistently work within your schedule, working out multiple days of the week will be much more obtainable. 

PSU Weekly Classes

At the very least, one thing I would encourage everybody to do to maintain a healthy lifestyle during their time in college is to incorporate fitness into their daily routine. For, example, taking a route to class that is just five minutes longer than their typical walk can make a big difference over the course of an entire semester. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator is also an easy and quick way to push yourself slightly harder than normal. There are many benefits to taking the stairs everyday, so considering I live on the sixth floor in my residence hall, I hope to take in all of these advantages each time I go to my room. Overall, maintaining a fit life at college is not impossible, it will just take some careful planning and extra few minutes of effort to contribute to a lifetime of happiness and good health.