Tackling the semester – Ways to prioritise your wellbeing
Written by our intern, Leonie Tuxhorn
Sometimes life gets tough! For everyone, everywhere and at any point in time.
At some points the feeling of stress creeps up silently while giving regular signs of potential overwhelm and other times stress just hits momentarily as if you have spontaneously hit a brick wall. For a lot of students, myself included, these two feelings unfortunately happen simultaneously. The semester starts with an underlying sense of stress that is slowly expanding and at the mid-point you ask yourself how reading week is already commencing, and the real tension of submissions and exams just boils over you without conscious warning.
And what priority often vanishes first when perceived stress takes over is unfortunately self-care and healthy lifestyle choices. Although eating a balanced, healthy diet, regular physical activity, and relaxation as well as sufficient sleep makes us feel our best, the fight-or-flight division of our nervous system seems to hijack our decision making when it comes to healthy food- and lifestyle choices. In addition, emotional- and uncontrolled eating seems to skyrocket when our perceived stress increases (Richards and Specker, 2020), even though these behaviours and an unhealthy lifestyle in general have been suggested to increase levels of stress, anxiety and decrease mental wellbeing (Hanawi et al., 2020).
Underlying stress-inducing factors such as financial insecurity, a lack of food education and cooking skills as well as lack of support and personal motivation were for example shown to inhibit a cohort of nursing students to make healthy lifestyle choices in a qualitative study (Thwaite et al., 2020). Students from low-income families relying on governmental funds showed higher food insecurities rates and lower wellbeing ratings (Hughes et al., 2011), and even felt like they had to spend more time in public spaces such as the university or the library due to suffering from fuel poverty at their own accommodation (Petrova, 2017).
Reading this load of limiting factors that various students may be experiencing daily or during exam season, in particular, what can you do to counteract this shift in healthy lifestyle behaviours, that seems to be mediated both consciously and unconsciously?
As a Nutrition student I have identified 4 strategies that help me tackle the stressful periods while still prioritise my physical and mental wellbeing.
1. Prioritise the 3 macros in your weekly shop.
What I mean with that is to think in advance about what proteins, carbs and fats you might utilize for each meal and shop accordingly. Make sure to prioritise unprocessed and wholegrain products here. This could look like this:
2. Preparation is key!
I am a big believer in food prep when it comes to healthy eating in stressful periods. It might look like more work at first, but it will save time throughout the week, and you will love your past you for taking care of the exhausted and unmotivated you that comes home from studying or work at 9 PM. I am not the biggest fan of eating the same meal for a whole week, which is why I prep ingredients rather than meals.
For takeaway breakfasts, I pack overnight protein oats with nut butter and fruit or a breakfast burrito that I store in the freezer until the night before. For lunches, I will think about the facilities I have during the week. For example, my university has microwaves so I can prepare something that I can heat up. On the days I am at work, I pack a hearty salad bowl that can be enjoyed cold.
For dinners I normally prep ingredients for 2-3 days depending on my weekly schedule with 2-3 emergency meals that I store in the freezer for those unexpected late nights. I will have sauces and protein (e.g. tofu, rinsed beans, marinated or prepared meat and fish) and carb sources (e.g. rice or other grains, roasted potatoes and starchy vegetables) already prepared and vegetables often pre-cut or also cooked. All I have to do is heat it in the microwave or wait for some pasta to cook which takes as long as waiting for a pizza or ready meal.
3. Shop and store smarter, not harder.
Being on a student budget often means having to be smarter with food shopping and food storage. I often buy frozen vegetables and fruit to prevent food going off quickly in the fridge and to boost the variety I eat. Opting for frozen vegetable mixes is also a helpful strategy. Canned beans can be a lifesaver for bulking up salads and any cooked meal. Make sure to rinse them to prevent any constipation caused by the liquid. I often use them in blended pasta sauces to bulk them up with creaminess and protein.
Going back to the storage part of the fresh produce. After coming home from my shop, I prep all the produce to be ready for the week. That means washing all produce, peeling carrots, and storing everything in the ideal way to just grab and use without fuzz. Good storing tips for produce can be found here:
Eating well: The best way to store fruits and veggies
Reboot with Joe: The best tips for storing your produce
For any produce that is starting to go off, I normally cut up and freeze to use for the next week’s meals.
4. With that said, don’t be too hard on yourself.
There will be things I won’t even be able to control with a well-balanced food prep – and that is okay!
Consider what you need and prioritise your cravings in a moderate manner. It is better to really enjoy the food you are craving mindfully than to let the stress pile up and binge or use the craving as an emotional reward to counteract stress. Be gentle with yourself, especially in times of stress, and enable your mind to think of rewards other than food – for example, take a break have a mid-day nap, see friends for a coffee or watch your favourite show.
Stay realistic and do not forget why you invest your time in eating healthily in the first place: for you, your physical and mental wellbeing and to fuel your success! You deserve to feel your best while tackling all those challenges throughout the semester!
References:
Hanawi, S.A., Saat, N.Z.M., Zulkafly, M., Hazlenah, H., Taibukahn, N.H., Yoganathan, D., Abdul Rahim, N.N., Mohd Bashid, N.A.A., Abdul Aziz, F.A. and Low, F.J. (2020) ‘Impact of a Healthy Lifestyle on the Psychological Well-being of University Students.’ Int. J. Pharm. Res. Allied Sci., 9(2), pp. 1-7. Source: Article
Hughes, R., Serebryanikova, I., Donaldson, K. and Leveritt, M. (2011) ‘Student food insecurity: The skeleton in the university closet.’ Nutrition & Dietetics, 68, pp. 27-32. Source: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-0080.2010.01496.x
Petrova, S. (2018) ‘Encountering energy precarity: geographies of fuel poverty among young adults in the UK.’ Trans Inst Br Geogr., 43, pp. 17– 30. Source: https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12196
Richards, A. L. and Specker, B. (2020) 'Evaluating hours of sleep and perceived stress on dietary cognitive restraint in a survey of college students', Journal of American College Health, 68(8), pp. 824-831. Source: https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2019.1618312
Thwaite, T.L., Heidke, P., Williams, S.L., Vandelanotte, C., Rebar, A.L., Khalesi, S. (2020) ‘Barriers to healthy lifestyle behaviors in Australian nursing students: A qualitative study.’ Nurs Health Sci., 22, pp. 921– 928. Source: https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.12749