HAGGARD TEKNO NO MORE

HAGGARD TEKNO NO MORE
Marianne Therese Prado

College is bad for your health! Students feel way too busy to eat right, exercise and get enough sleep.
This may be a very boring adage, but health really is wealth. Your academic performance relies greatly on your health.
You will be a haggard Tekno no more if you try to incorporate these small but healthful habits into your college life:

1. Don’t skimp on z’s. Getting enough sleep is the biggest relaxation aid of all. Caffeine can make you alert only for a given period of time, but enough sleep can give you a more lasting energy. If you can’t always get a good night sleep, work regular naps into your schedule.
2. Eat sensibly. College students often gain weight due to late night eating and overindulgence of junk food. Instead of sodas, drink milk. Instead of potato chips, munch on fruits.
3. Don’t skip breakfast. Breakfast is your fuel after eight hours of fasting. Skipping breakfast because you will be late for the first period will make it hard for you to concentrate in class. Plus, it contributes to weight gain, tension and nervousness.
4. Drink water. Most of us do not get nearly enough water. Resist the lure of iced coffee and sodas. They only dehydrate the body. Get a water bottle and carry it around with you.
5. Work in walking. This is the simplest yet most rewarding exercise you can practice everyday. After all, you go up and down the stairs of Blanco Hall.
6. Get mental counseling if you need it. Take advantage of the counseling services of Ma’am Marjorie Calagsing (yes, we have a new guidance counselor). Students frequently suffer from anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, and homesickness, and student counseling services are usually equipped to help these issues.
7. Take supplements. Sometimes, what we eat is not enough. Take multivitamins everyday. These are very effective stress-busters and ailment-shields.
8. See your doctor. Get regular check-ups. You never know what you have missed until you seek a professional. Also, do not take for granted a slight fever or frequent headaches. They can be warning signs of something worse.
9. Breathe in more oxygen. Whenever you feel stressed, inhale deeply and exhale fully. Just a few minutes of breathing can banish stress –fast!
10. You are not superman/superwoman. It is unrealistic to believe you can do it all. Multi-tasking is like living at half-attention. You tend to lose your focus and end up giving half-baked outputs. The rule of the thumb is to do things one at a time so you can be efficient and concentrate more on what you are doing.
11. Kill the guilt. If you make a mistake, fix it and let the guilt go. After all, to err is human.
12. Start practicing these steps now. I mean now!