Hey ladies and gentleman!
Hope this blog posting finds you all in good health and getting through the semester swiftly! I know things are picking up quite well for me!
Two weekends ago, two fighters from our team competed in an event in Belgrade, MT. The event went well and both Travis and Kahl won in great fashion! Here are a couple pictures of the action:
Above it Travis, who won by Knock Out.
And Kahl won in the 2nd round by TKO (Ref Stoppage)
All in all it was a good night at the fights and I was very happy that my team mates hard work paid off in victory.
In other news of my life, last week I received two very good tidbits of news. As I mentioned in my last posting, I applied to Physical Therapy School in hopes to go on to get my Doctor of PT (DPT) degree. I heard back from two of the schools and I have been invited to attend interview sessions with them! What this essentially means is that my application impressed the admissions panel well enough for me to make the "first cut" in the selection process. I will be flying to Omaha, Nebraska next Thursday to interview with Creighton University for the weekend. Then in March, I will be driving to Bismark, North Dakota to interview with the University of Mary for their program. I'm very excited that I have been blessed with the opportunity to share my knowledge, passion, and love for the profession to members of the programs in hopes of earning a chance to further my education with them.
As if that is not enough to keep me up at night, school is picking up quite well. In on class in particular, we are creating presentations to educate the young men at RYO (Reintegrating Youthful Offenders) on pressing health topics and ways they can make healthier life choices, not only during their time at RYO, but after they are released from the facility and resume their lives amongst society.
Which brings me to the topic of my blog today, making healthier choices while at college. As college students we are faced with many different topics that we must chose to take a stand on. We are subjected to many choices that can adversely affect our health and well being, but we can also take the initiative to create a healthier life for ourselves even amongst these times of chaos and stress.
The first step that I feel is most important for college students is
Stress Management. There is no doubt in my mind that almost everyone reading this blog has been under some sort of stress in their lives, and have felt the adverse effects of it on your body, your routine, and your lifestyle, whether it be acute or chronic. Stress is defined as a physiological response to a demand placed on your body. In some ways, stress can be positive. It may help you "crack down" on that paper that is due tomorrow or cram for that test, and once the source of the stress is relieved (ie: you take the test), then your stress levels will lower back to normal. In today's society, however, we perceive to many things as "stressors," which doesn't allow our body the time to return back to its natural homeopathic state leading to a variety of problems including excessive fatigue and exhaustion, increased heart rate and blood pressure, and mood changes just to name a few. I encourage each and every one of you to search more into the topic of stress and the negative effects it can have on your body and mind. You may be surprised as to how many things you may already notice in your life. I encourage you to find a hobby, such as painting, drawing, writing, music, working out, etc., that will provide an "out" for you to release stress.
Stress release directly leads into the second topic I want to cover and that is the use/overuse of tobacco, alcohol and drugs. Too many people in today's society feel that drugs/alcohol/tobacco are a proper way to relieve stress and that they are an outlet for unwinding or forgetting about the stress of the day/week/month. My goal as a Peer Educator on campus is to simply provide facts and details on the negative health effects that these substances can have on your body, it is not my goal to seem like i'm passing judgement on people who use any AOD (alcohol and other drugs). The University Health Center at the University of Georgia is very proactive in educating their students on this topic. They ask their students the following questions:
BECAUSE OF ALCOHOL OR OTHER DRUGS, HAVE YOU EVER..
.. missed a class, been arrested, thrown up, had a hangover, gotten in trouble, had alcohol poisoning, performed poorly on an assignment or test, gotten into a fight, been hurt or injured, driven under the influence and/or had memory loss? If you said yes to any of these, did the situation increase or decrease the amount of stress if your life?
I pose those same questions to you and encourage you to be honest with yourself. I also encourage you to find a healthier release than using drugs and alcohol to decrease stress and pay attention to the way your body responds. The simple fact is that if you are already under a load of stress, adding any form of drugs or alcohol only poses
additional stress to your body as a system, even if your intentions are to kick back, relax, and de-stress.
The third and final topic of lifestyle that is affect during our college years is our nutritional habits. Nutritional habits and choices are a topic of discussion throughout any walk of life and in any professional setting. This summer, I worked at Verizon Wireless Health and Wellness in Bellevue, WA. During my time there, as "Fitness Coaches," we set up a segment in which we entered the kitchen once a week and calculated the caloric value of the food choices that the members of our gym made. Most people were shocked to realize that when food is prepared by someone else (a cafeteria), even though it may seem like a relatively healthy choice, may have significantly more calories than when you prepare it yourself. Nutrition is especially important in college students because of the stress that we are under from day to day.
Healthy eating plays a crucial role in your ability to deal with times of extra stress. Carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals are all important for energy, mental concentration, and emotional stability.
Stress may also weaken your immune system and increase your body's need for certain nutrients. A balanced diet will help you stay focused, alert, energetic, and healthy during these times. However, if you live off of fast food or frequently skip meals, you are more likely to perform poorly or get sick during stressful times. I challenge each of you to keep a log of everything that you eat or drink for three days, you may be surprised! Include every snack, glass of water, coffee, meal, etc, and see if you are eating as balanced of a diet as you thought you were.
A great source of more information on a variety of pressing health topics for college students is Student Health 101. Its a free monthly journal that has a variety of articles covering different topics each month. Whether you are looking for relationship advice or more information on how to succeed in college, read the issue at
http://readsh101.com/mtech.html.
As always, take advantage of your resources on campus. The counselors, peer educators, and health staff are here for you and I. Never hesitate to ask questions about issues you may have regarding your health or healthy behaviors!
God Bless,
Jeremy
