Secrets to maintaining a healthy lifestyle

Moving away to vet school has both perks and drawbacks. Along with being in a new town and the excitement of meeting your new classmates comes a drawback- lots of classes and little time to take care of yourself.

If you want to maintain a healthy lifestyle in school, there are a few things you can do to stay in shape, even when times get tough at school.

Keep healthy snacks on hand

When you're already hungry, you don't make good eating decisions. As a college student, your also going to reach for the most convenient snack possible as you rush between classes. Cheap, convenient snacks tend to be things like chips, soda, and candy. Even if you're not in school to be a nutritionist, you probably know these things aren't great for your body.

Nuts, fruits, yogurts, and cheese sticks are all healthier options that can help you lose weight if your problem has been snacking on high calorie options like candy. 

Less Alcohol

There's something freeing about moving out on your own. Without your parents to watch your every move, you are free to experiment in things you're pretty sure they wouldn't approve of—heavy drinking is one of those things.

Unfortunately alcohol isn't just fun, it's also really high in calories. If you haven't been much of a drinker before college and suddenly started, alcohol may be the source of your sudden weight gain.

 Join a club

Staying active is also an important part of keeping pounds at bay. Lots of study tends to mean lots of time in front of a desk reading. This is great for your grades, but not always great for your health. Most colleges have sports clubs, and other opportunities to stay active. Joining one of these can help block out time for regular activity.

 If you don't have time for this, just giving up the car and walking/biking as much as possible can make the difference in keeping active.

Drink water

Water is the best drink you can have. It hydrates, has zero calories, and many common ailments can be improved with drinking more water. Best of all, every time you drink some water, your drinking less soda, juice, milk, or other calorie filled drinks.

 Keep a water bottle with you all day every day, and use it to stay hydrated. If you don't like the taste of tap water, there are plenty of refillable water bottles with filters inside to give you access to pure tasting water even when bottled water from a vending machine is not available.