Pre Exam Nutrition & Fitness Goals for students

Have you observed what happens to your seniors who have passed out of college a couple of years ago? They start looking so different, or rather, much older and healthier than they were in college. You realize the crush you had on that good looking guy/girl was actually an illusion. But just a food for thought – could this happen to you? After you graduate, you could be just one of them.

Our fitness regime tends to go haywire when we’re in still in college, particularly if you’re a hostel-ite. Soon, the college canteen’s cheap Chinese and weekly McDonald’s binges take over our schedules, apart from the obvious lectures, tuitions, libraries, and hours on social media.

The science of Nutrition says one of the reasons why nutrition/diet is misunderstood, is because the results are not instantaneous. For instance, it’s not that you overeat today and pile on all the kilos tomorrow. Each meal counts and it will reflect only a few years down the line.

Flashback to when your grandma said “ghee khalo beta…takat aaye gi” and you thought takat means strong. She actually meant beautiful and strong. We ignored her and still had all the fat free food thinking it is healthy, because we wanted that picture-perfect model-like body.

How to work on our body image/self esteem, eating right, and exercising smart should be part of your curriculum, and not just looking like a magazine-cover model.

This brings us to the next question – what should my fitness goal be (I don’t want to miss out all the fun either)

1. Balance it out, at least for 5 days of the week. Eat right, exercise smart, sleep well and restrict the use of gadgets before going to bed.
2. Make sure you are fit enough to handle a crisis by yourself – be it physically defending yourself or climbing up the stairs without cribbing when the elevator stops functioning.

Let’s look at the benefits of good food and exercise on our body:

1. Research says exercise boosts the size of hippocampus, the brain area involved in verbal memory and learning.
2. Eating healthy, home cooked meals help in controlling mood swings, eases PMS, reduces stress and anxiety. Include ghee, rice, banana etc in your plan.
3. Good food and exercise will help in keeping you young and dynamic, even when you stop going to University.
4. It makes us more focused on our goals, aims and aspirations in life.

Next question that pops up would be how to balance a healthy lifestyle when you’re smack in the middle of exams. But we’ve got you covered.

Keep it simple:

1. Start your day with a banana/dry fruits/desi milk. It will give you an edge.
2. Breakfast could be simple soaked poha in sweet curd / idli
3. Mid morning – a fruit/coconut water / chikki
4. Lunch – roti + Sabzi / Dal + rice
5. Mid afternoon – Buttermilk
6. Dinner – keep it rice based
7. Be well hydrated throughout the day

Don’t:

1. Overeat any meal. It is not rice which makes you sleepy. Overeating does
2. Order pizza at night. Hot pizza will freeze your brain, to say the least.
3. Don’t go overboard with caffeine, it dehydrates the body.
4. Avoid junk food / street food. You don’t want to go to the restroom every now and then during your exam, right?

Tips:

1. If awake at night have fruits / dry fruits / makhana / chikki
2. Tweak the plan based on your exam timings
3. Carry a fruit, have it immediately post your exam.

If you work on these guidelines, it will ensure:

1. Your energy levels are high
2. You will be able focus more, you will cover more in less time
3. You will enjoy your exam time!

Your body is the only place you have to live in – keep it fit, hygienic and safe!!!