Summer is the perfect time to practice self-care! After a long year at school it can be difficult to get back into a routine that fuels your body and mind. Finding time to take care of yourself and reward yourself with some much needed TLC is what the summer is all about.
There are everyday things that you probably don't know about that can take care of you mentally and physically. Take the time to read up on some recommended activities and practices that professionals encourage to keep you in the best shape inside and out this summer. Here are some helpful tips that I found that you can try this summer, check them out!
www.besthealthmag.ca/article/mental-health-in-the-summer/
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Research has shown that students are able to learn better when they’re well nourished. Eating healthy meals has been linked to higher grades, better memory, alertness, and faster information processing.
Studies also show that working out regularly in college heightens focus, elevates mood, lowers stress, increases energy, and sharpens memory. Wanting to exercise or change your eating habits to fit society's beauty and body standards will lead to unhealthy fitness mechanisms such as food restricting or over-exercising. Here are some ways to focus on physical health in college while maintaining positive mental health:
The other day, I was standing in front of the mirror in my room, like I do most mornings. I had actually put on a real outfit and I was feeling kinda good. But the longer I looked in the mirror, I began to pick myself apart, going down my body and picking out things that I didn’t like about myself. My mood quickly shifted from happy and upbeat to frustrated and insecure. How is it that my silly little brian had the power to completely alter my mood? And so quickly? It’s like I couldn’t even enjoy the outfit I had put on before I began to find everything that was wrong with the body wearing it.
We, as young women, are incredibly hard on ourselves and our bodies. We are so quick to judge ourselves and put ourselves down. I hear so often from my women my age comments about hating themselves or hating their bodies. It’s hard not to let those hurtful thoughts creep in from time to time. It’s so easy for us to compare ourselves to the influencers and celebrities we see on TV and social media. To want a bigger butt and a tiny waist. It’s literally shoved in our faces on the daily. I truly believe that we can be our own harshest critic sometimes. I know it sounds cliche but GIVE YOURSELF SOME GRACE. People who we may look up to in the media often either don’t look like that in person, or paid to look that way. So how can we base our perfect and natural bodies off of people who are not us? College students are more likely to binge drink compared to other age groups. This is mostly attributed to the college mindset and environment…
For women, binge drinking is considered having four drinks in the span of two hours. As a college student, I was shocked to hear that. I think college students consider binge drinking to be on at a much larger caliber than it really is. Some short-term effects of binge drinking in college include poor performance in class, missing class, vomiting, alcohol poisoning, hangovers, assault and sexual assault, unprotected sex, etc. Some long-term effects of binge drinking in college include high blood pressure, strokes, heart and liver disease, cancer, alcohol dependency, developmental issues, and struggling in adulthood. 88,000 people die per year from excessive alcohol consumption. 1,825 of those deaths are young adults ages 18-24. Educate yourself and your peers on what binge drinking is and what effects it can have on your life. Don’t become a statistic. The holidays are meant for celebrating and having a good time with the people you love, but for some it can be a mentally exhausting time especially when dealing with an eating disorder. Within day to day life, it can be easier to keep holiday or unhealthier foods out of sight and mind. But when another holiday rolls around, it is not that easy. Instead of thinking about how much fun you are having or really investing yourself in the conversation at the dinner table, your mind instead starts counting calories and stressing over what you are consuming. I have dealt with this first hand and it is not easy. As hard as you want to not think about it or have guilt, it ends up happening anyways. Believe it or not, eating the Thanksgiving Stuffing, Christmas Eggnog, Easter Chocolate, and anything else will not ruin you. Even if it isn’t Thanksgiving, you can still eat that Pumpkin Pie. It can be hard to get yourself in this mindset, which is why I want to share a few tips that I use over the holidays that keep me mentaly in check!
Social media started as a platform to express yourself and connect with friends. I do not think the creators of these types of platforms knew how big they would soon become. Social media in today's world has turned into a competition. Who has the most followers, who gets the most likes, who has the most aesthetic feed, and the list just keeps going on. This causes great mental strain on young women. They see these other women with a seemingly perfect life and think that they are missing something. When in reality, social media is not real because the stuff being posted is made out to seem perfect.
On social media it is easy to hide the things you do not want people to see. They see the models on beaches looking perfect, but they do not show that they starved themselves for a week because they did not think they were skinny enough. The beauty standard is unrealistic because the way that model looked before starving herself was perfect enough, but society makes her not believe that. This is why it is so important to be following social media influencers who make you feel good about yourself, the ones who make you feel confident and know you are not alone. It is time to change the stigma behind social media in order to spread positivity and happiness. Post what makes you happy, as well as follow the people who inspire you. Post that bikini picture, wear that dress, and always remember social media is not real life. Eating disorders are often viewed as a taboo topic. People have a hard time figuring out how to go about talking about ED's. Bringing up the subject is the first step, but how should you do it? First of all, it's important to note that there is no "right" way to talk to someone with an eating disorder. Different approaches work for different people. With that being said, there are some ways you can prepare to approach the conversation.
The National Eating Disorders Collaboration recommends you prepare for the conversation. You can prepare for the conversation by educating yourself about eating disorders. You can't be certain of the way the person struggling with an ED may feel, so you have to be prepared for different reactions. Often times, people try to deny or express anger at the "accusation," but that does not mean the problem does not exist. It is important to remember they may just be struggling to talk about it. Secondly, it is important to choose an appropriate environment for the conversation. When you bring up a difficult topic such as eating disorders you have to do so in a compassionate and caring manner. The environment that the conversation is held in is almost as important as how you handle the topic. You want to make the person you are talking to feel comfortable, which in turn should help them feel open to share. Make sure you use the right language when you choose to have the conversation. You need to try to understand how the person you are talking to may feel and take that into consideration when discussing the topic. It can be helpful to use "I" statements, encourage the person to share, allow them time to talk, listen respectfully, encourage them to seek help, and make them feel as comfortable as possible. These are just some of the recommended strategies for having a productive discussion about eating disorders. For more resources on how to go about conversations regarding ED's, visit: nedc.com.au/support-and-services-2/supporting-someone/what-to-say-and-do/ www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/toolkit/parent-toolkit/how-to-talk-to-a-loved-one www.helpguide.org/articles/eating-disorders/helping-someone-with-an-eating-disorder.htm Drunkorexia is a relatively new disordered eating issue. It is not yet characterized by the ADAA as an eating disorder, but it falls under the umbrella of OSFED.
Drunkorexia is generally defined as restricting food during the day and binge drinking during the night. Simply put, Drunkorexia is eating less and drinking more. Drunkorexia is incredibly common in college women partially because of the normalization of disordered eating in college. Here's some examples of this:
Warning signs in yourself and your friends:
By: Mindy Malone EDNOS -- Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, though I think it's now called OSFED. Because it's a catch-all, it's hard to say exactly how many people have it. The loose definition for it is just an eating disorder that meets some, but not all, of the qualifications for a more specific eating disorder, and because those few traits vary, it's not technically one of those more specific ones. I think in the beginning I probably had anorexia nervosa, but that was a long time ago.
I can't say when exactly it came to control my life, but college definitely took it up times 10. Without anyone, namely my parents, to police my eating, I was consumed by the bad habits I'd developed. I was so obsessed with calorie deficits I learned the calorie count of just about everything I ate -- did you know the Starbucks butter croissant is 260? The average banana is 110? Depending on which brand you get, a slice of bread will be 70-120? I worked as a waitress one summer and had to quit because being around food all the time made me nauseous. For the first year I lived on my own in an apartment, I didn't cook because I couldn't stomach going to the grocery store, let alone having to prep and cook and eat the food later on. My fear of food is embedded so deep in my subconscious now that if I spend too long around food on any one day, I get so sick the next that I can't even move. How do I explain that to someone if they ask why I missed class? Working to get better has been hard. It's taken years of therapy and a million baby steps to get my life closer to normal. It used to feel like my head was a shared space between me and my eating disorder. There was hardly enough room for my own thoughts because of the room thoughts about food, body image and weight took up. I think that when people talk about mental health or about eating disorders, they often avoid talking about these ugly truths. But these are the things we feel most ashamed of and that makes them the most important to mention. (I, for one, feel incredibly ashamed typing these things out, even though they're the basis of this post.) These habits are where the guilt festers, and where we can feel most alone. Our goal is to be honest about it all. We can't properly provide resources while omitting the most significant parts of living with these disorders. We made Food Is Fuel because we care. When you reach out here, you can know you're talking to someone who's been there too. We've had all the same thoughts, urges and habits as you. We know how much of a black hole eating disorders and binge drinking can be, and we hope that by providing resources and support, we can help you in recovery. According to a study done by Oxford clinical psychology, binge eating is the most common eating disorder and affects 1-2 million Americans. In addition to that, about half of women in America are unhappy with their body. As college women ourselves, we know and have seen that many eating disorders (especially in women) start during their college years. Eating disorders often develop from the need to feel in control over a stressful environment and can be channeled through food restriction and an unhealthy focus on weight loss. I have struggled with binge eating my whole life, but my freshman year of college was where it really took off. Before COVID-19, college life for me, at least, was nonstop go go go. I never wanted to miss a single event or meal or hangout. I found myself feeling so out of control of my schedule and social life (as well as the immense pressure that I needed to look like my friends, I think they’re so beautiful!) that I began to not eat around any one and only eat when I was alone. And while I was eating, I would eat A LOT. To me, it kind of felt like if I didn’t eat all of my food now, I wouldn’t get to eat it again. And to be honest, at first it felt good – for a few moments out of each day, I felt like I was in control. As I continued to feed myself that way, it was obvious that something was not right. All around I felt like crap. Emotionally, physically and mentally. And I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t seeing the results I was wanting. What’s troubling is that the story I just shared isn’t uncommon among my peers. I know too many women who practice these same unhealthy habits (or others) and are convinced that it’s normal. I mean, when I first started to binge eat, I had no idea it was an eating disorder, I just thought that that was what I needed to do to look how I want. I wish that I could share some clear cut way to overcome binge eating that worked for me but I am still a work in progress and try to take it day by day. And if I am being completely honest, I still struggle with binge eating to this day. But this is why we created Food Is Fuel, not only to we want to make young women aware of the nuanced unhealthy habits that we may feel pressured to partake in, but we also want to provide the resources and support to help end the harmful cycle that is eating disorders. We want you all to know that this is a safe space for you. Our goal is to have an environment here where you feel comfortable to share, learn and grow. No one should have to go through this alone. We are here for you. Sources https://blog.oup.com/2015/02/national-eating-disorder-awareness-week-infographic/ https://childmind.org/article/eating-disorders-and-college/ |