Opinion

Is your life healthy?

Today it seems so much easier to live on the go, rather than planning out our days to live better. 

College students probably have the worst time adjusting to life away from home. You don’t have mom or dad to hold your hand through every day. As soon as fast food hit the America population, we took full advantage of what was being offered, without asking ourselves if it would hurt or help us in the long run. 

Are we living as healthy as possible? I truly believe that if we take care of our bodies now they will take care of us in the long run.

Four things I think we need to look at and take seriously are our physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual health. Yes, we need to do more about all of these. Adding stress to the factor is a recipe for disaster. In the day we can go 0 to 100 real quick! It doesn’t take much to stress someone out. 

Allowing things to bother us just takes a little time off our lifespans — or you may wrinkle, as some older folks would say. So sometimes it’s just best to brush your shoulders off. Your metabolism will also slow down, for most people anyway.  

So what can you do about it? What actually works? I’ve been looking for the same answer.

I am a nontraditional student (an “old head”) not over 40 though, but will be there in a few years. In the last few months I have been through hell and back in terms of my health and body. When I was 25 I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. Over the years the pounds have added on and it looks like there is no help for my situation. 

I’m deciding to try and take back my life. It is not easy to break a number of bad habits at one time, but I am willing to try. By any means necessary. 

There are a number of activities on campus that I can partake in, but it will have to be a complete lifestyle change.  

Emotionally all this can be overwhelming to the average person. Looking on the Internet to find anything that can help, and this is what I found. It’s going to take these four key elements to make it work. 

First I will need to find a great nutritionist who can come up with a plan for the entire family and me.

Physical, emotional, financial and spiritual health just may be the key to a happy healthy life. 

Physically I will need to find a workout plan that will fit into my busy schedule. According to fitness.com, here are three ways to make it easy and quick: fire up your metabolism with intervals; track your goals; use weight loss apps; and get plenty of rest, at least 6-8 hours.

Emotionally I will try to be an optimist, accept myself, and find my purpose and meaning. (www.mercola.com)

Financially, my plan is to track my spending, envision my future, and improve my credit score. (www.time.com) 

Spiritually, I know I should live in gratitude; get quiet, close my eyes and pray; make time by slowing down; open my mind; forgive; and banish fear. (www.care2.com)

So I will keep y’all posted on my progress. If there are any trainers willing to help me along the way please email tiffanybailey31@gmail.com (serious inquires only). And hey, if you want to join me along the way, please do!

Tiffany Bailey is a senior mass communication major from Arcadia.