Math: "A", History: "A", English: "A", Health: "Fail"- The Overachiever's Guide to Good Health

It’s that time of year again: we’re crunching numbers and writing essays as much as we are volunteering, playing sports, and participating in other extra curricular activities.

The work is piling up, as are the obligations and deadlines, and all the while time seems to be slipping through our fingers. Of course, not everybody feels this way, but for the natural over-achiever, this is something we can ALL relate to. Sometimes with such hectic schedules and our needs to take care of other tasks, we forget the importance of taking care of ourselves. Too many of us put our health on the backburner and choose to focus on our academic success. Eating right becomes a thing of the past, and as for exercising? A mere myth. So the question remains: is it possible to achieve ace grades AND a healthy body? While some say “no”, I beg to differ. Not to toot my own horn, but I feel that I have a rather hefty load of academic and non-academic work under my belt, and while I too used to fall under that category of people who put diet and exercise on the backburner, here a few new tips and tricks that I’ve learned over the years which help me keep both my brain and my body in check:

1. Keep your snacking in check- I’m the worst for doing this. After a long day of school, I come home at about 4:00 and I’m STARVING. Our school’s lunch hour is at 11:15, and I’ll admit, five hours is a long way to go without a snack. I used to binge on unhealthy foods when I got home (ruining my dinner appetite along the way), but now? I opt to bring a snack to my rehearsals, meetings, clubs, etc after school. Yogurt, almonds, an apple, or a banana seem to do just the trick, and will tide anyone over at least long enough to control their eating habits by the time they get home.
2. Substitute Facebook time for exercise time- even the best of us have a tendency to give in to the Facebook trend. I once tracked the amount of time I spent doing non-productive things (i.e. surfing the net, etc), and realized that if I were to replace some of that time with doing a few crunches or lifting a few weights, that would make a MASSIVE difference in not only my body, but in my mind as well. Exercising is a great way to clear one’s head and to help concentration! Even if you can substitute fifteen minutes collectively into your regime- hey, it’s better than nothing.
3. Make the time for exercise- if you’d rather get your exercising over and done with all at once, why not block out a certain time in your busy schedule to do it? Treat it like a study session or an important appointment- no matter WHAT happens or how much work you have to get done, this “appointment” is immovable and must be attended NO MATTER WHAT. You’d be surprised how effective this type of thinking is!
4. Multitask- This doesn’t work for all, but for those of us who have a stationary bike or some means of exercise which can be done in relatively steady position, why not get some reading done whilst you exercise? If I have an English novel to read, I sit on my bike for half an hour and by the time I’m done, I’ve finished my novel AND my exercise for the day!
5. Ask for help!- There is NO shame in asking a parent, sibling, or friend to help you keep your health in check. I asked my mom for help with keeping me in the range of a healthy diet, and with her watchful eye it’s made a heck of a difference! Request that your “guardian” simply reminds you to get your exercise once in a while or keep your eating under control. A little support goes a LONG way, after all!