Where were you for the last four hours?\u00a0 Most graduate students will answer, \u201cIn the lab\u201d or \u201csitting at my computer.\u201d\u00a0 With the focus required for literature review, data analysis, writing manuscripts and bench research, it is unsurprising that our health often drops down the priority list.\u00a0 Previous posts in this blog have discussed the importance of fun and making time for yourself, but this is a reminder that your physical health is important.\u00a0 Lack of care for your lab instrument or computer leads to an inability to conduct research.\u00a0 So too will lack of attention and care for your body and mind.\u00a0 In this post, I will write some general comments about starting a health routine.\u00a0 In future weeks, I will follow up with more details of nutrition and fitness requirements.<\/p>\n
So what is important to know?\u00a0 Nutrition and physical activity are both necessary.\u00a0 Hate running? Or can\u2019t find the time for that gym class? Go take a 10 minute walk around campus once or twice a day.\u00a0 Run up and down the stairs in your building a few times. Maybe invest in an exercise ball \u201cchair\u201d or a standing desk for your office.\u00a0 Try a few things to figure out what will work to give your body a little energy boost a few times a day.\u00a0 There are numerous\u00a0studies<\/a>\u00a0that show physical activity improves mental stamina and acuity and is, therefore, critical for a graduate student to maintain a steady pace of work.<\/p>\n Now about nutrition.\u00a0 We all have our quick fixes and our special comfort foods that may not be the best fuel for our bodies.\u00a0 So it is key to find balance in your food choices.\u00a0 Eating the same things all the time is not desirable as you may be missing key nutrients, so\u00a0add variety<\/b>\u00a0in fruits and vegetables, in your meal preparations and in your protein and fat sources.\u00a0 Also, eating sweets and processed foods or quick snacks is ok if those times are occasional and balanced by nutritious, real food the rest of the time.\u00a0 Consider your food intake as fuel \u2013 so will a protein and vegetable stir fry or a greasy pizza produce more focused, sustainable work energy?<\/p>\n It is easy to write about nutrition and exercise routines, but much harder to put this into practice.\u00a0 Two ideas have helped me to find a sustainable routine.\u00a0 First, try to\u00a0prepare ahead of time<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 prepackage meals and snacks at the beginning of the week so you can just grab a portion each day on your way out the door, like\u00a0this blogger<\/a>\u00a0does.\u00a0 This requires a little planning on the weekend but makes it easier to make healthy choices during the week when you are busy.\u00a0 Likewise, plan your exercise times ahead of schedule so you don\u2019t have to think about it during the week.\u00a0 Book the time and stick to it to make it a habit.\u00a0 Second,\u00a0be forgiving as you are starting a new routine.<\/strong>\u00a0 It takes time to make habits and sometimes you fail with one system before finding another that works.\u00a0 Keep trying until the habit sticks.<\/p>\n As we start this semester, I encourage you to consider your current nutrition and exercise habits.\u00a0 How well are they fueling your studies?\u00a0 Try the USDA\u00a0Healthy Eating Index<\/a>\u00a0to determine the quality of your diet and take a look at the\u00a0Let\u2019s Move<\/a>\u00a0initiative for information about physical activity requirements.\u00a0 What changes do you want to make?\u00a0 What changes are reasonable to make this semester? I am eager to hear your plans, so comment below with thoughts and questions!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Where were you for the last four hours?\u00a0 Most graduate students will answer, \u201cIn the lab\u201d or \u201csitting at my computer.\u201d\u00a0 With the focus required for literature review, data analysis, writing manuscripts and bench research, it is unsurprising that our health often drops down the priority list.\u00a0 Previous posts in this blog have discussed the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-662","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-advice","8":"category-tips"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/08\/healthy.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":664,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662\/revisions\/664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}