Staying healthy during exam season!

Living away from home puts a whole lot of new duties on you- staying healthy and taking care of yourself being one of the major ones. This gets especially stressful and frustrating during exam season when you are busy and have too much on your mind- from exams to revision to social life and more.

In such periods, taking care of our health becomes extremely important as well due to the constant amount of energy we are exerting and how much our body is going through due to this unusual schedule and activity. This is why, I came up with a few pointers for myself last year and stuck them to my wall to remind myself of some things I need to do in order to keep myself healthy:

1. Go and shop for longer-lasting durations

This one might seem like a basic and common step but it’s actually something that gets easily ignored. When I usually go grocery shopping, it is only to get groceries for a week or a few days at best. However, during exam season or assignment seasons, I try to shop for a longer duration- such as a minimum of two weeks. Of course, it is difficult to keep fruits and some vegetables fresh for such long periods so I’d either restock my fridge within some time or freeze them. Moreover, to be on the safer side, I buy some easy and ready to eat food items such as Ramen and chips so that if I don’t get the time to cook at all, I at least have something at hand and there is no need to order from outside.

2. Start the day with activities and healthy breakfast

This one is always a bit more difficult to follow but nevertheless, once you get in the rhythm, you will realise how important it is. So, to ensure that I don’t take a lazy day off or just waste my morning hours, I meal prep my breakfast for the next day and see that it’s a healthy one. I try to include fruits and smoothies in this meal so that I feel fuller and more energised. I also check that I make some time for a physical activity in my schedule – be it a casual walk or a dance workout. This helps me to get out of the sleepy mood and get to work quicker whilst allowing me to catch a break from my schedule.

3. Meal prep

Meal prepping is a time-consuming but also relaxing process. It takes away my stress of having to plan a new meal everyday and get the ingredients for it. So when I am aware that I am going to get super busy with work, I prefer to meal prep for my upcoming meals. This also ensures that I stick to a healthier diet and not just order food or eat packaged food. I prefer to do my meal prepping on a Sunday so that I get the entire week without the stress of having to decide what to eat. Moreover, I also make a budget for the week so that I know how much I have spent and how much money I can spend on takeaway during this week.