College. The sanctuary away from parents where students get to stuff their faces with food they want. Where they get to eat as much as they want. Where the beer and liquor are flowing every weekend and it's easy to succumb to the late night munchies.
Most become close friends with the infamous "freshman-15," while others lose weight because lazyiness trumps all. Who actually wants to leave their cozy dorm bed to get food at the union while it's 20 degrees out?
Eventually, the junk food, late night binges, constant partying and lack of exercise can catch up to a person. This is why NAU offers physical education classes, a massive recreation center for all students and a health center to educate students on healthy choices.
However, what they don't mention are the difficulties of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Here are just some of the problems you may face when attempting to be fit and eat clean.
Fresh food is expensive.
Back in Europe, I could buy produce, a chicken filet and other products for just over €5. That's nonexistent here.
You'd think the food industry wanted to make America fat with the way food is sold. Filling your shopping cart with fresh produce, lean meats, whole grains and dairy products? You're looking at breaking the bank, that's for sure, which is rough if you're a typical, poor college student.
Meal prepping takes time...almost too much time.
It's not too terrible spending a few hours on a Sunday cooking up your meals for the week while catching up on shows on Netflix, but some days, you'd just rather do anything else besides meal prep.
There's rarely enough time to experiment with culinary creations.
The days I get to cook are glorious ones. For me, there's nothing better than making something absolutely delicious and fresh in the kitchen, but I rarely have time for that with my busy schedule. And I know there's people out there busier than me, so in reality, meal prepping really is your only answer if you can't find time to cook three square meals a day and then also make snacks for in between.
The NAU gym is intimidating as hell.
It's not too bad if you have a buddy to join you, but if you're going by yourself and you have some sort of social anxiety issues, then the first few times you go to the gym are going to be stressful. There's so many people during the day, so many eyeballs staring everywhere and not enough equipment to go around.
The least amount of people at the gym are at inconvenient times.
Trying to avoid the crowd? The gym opens at 6 a.m. and no one is there. Or you can go after 9 p.m. on the weekdays or before they close on the weekend. But there goes your social life.
Plus, how do machines work? And what's proper workout form?
YouTube is your best friend, ladies and gentlemen. There's also great sites on the web to help. Don't be afraid to educate yourself online first or ask someone for help, but that requires having to socialize and that's just not an option sometimes.
Alcohol becomes an enemy rather than a friend.
It's healthy to grab a drink over the course of the week. Even some times going all out for one night if you've been disciplined enough is great, too. But that whole, going out every Thursday and Friday, and every other Wednesday and Saturday is going to get you. If you want to keep that healthy lifestyle, you're going to have to kick alcohol to the curb sometimes, even if it is happy hour at the Mayor and all of your friends are going.
You realize grabbing caramel frappuccino everyday won't work anymore.
In fact, your budget for coffee may reduce drastically when changing your diet. Typically, black coffee is the only suitable option for healthy lifestyles. However, there are alternatives to sugar and cream that can be added, like almond milk, cinnamon and cocoa.
Eating out turns into a challenge.
And sometimes challenge is great. While Mexican and Italian food probably aren't the best places to start, there's usually healthy options everywhere. While the majority of the menu looks satisfyingly greasy and fatty, stay disciplined and go with the vegetables and lean meats. Your body will thank you later, and you'll feel great about yourself.
Doing it alone can be tough.
But it's worth it.
While your roommates are pigging out on Domino's Pizza and beer, you're cooking salmon and asparagus to drink with your water. Sucks, but hey, at least you're sticking to your guns. Don't worry though, your pizza and beer night will come soon enough. It's just not every night.
And sometimes it's nice to have a gym buddy or someone else to cook healthy meals with, but other times, it's simply another way to push yourself to the limit.
If you're on the grind to changing your lifestyle, then don't let anything or anyone keep you down. Keep chugging along and you'll see improvements before you know it.
And for those who have already accomplished a healthy lifestyle and keep maintaining it, thanks for being inspirations for all of us down here working hard to be like you.
