Tag Archives: health

Healthy Eating Strategies from Someone Who Does Not Enjoy and is Not Particularly Good At Cooking

As my time at UBC is quickly drawing to a close, I thought I would try to impart as much of my wisdom as possible before I’m gone.

Over the last three years I have successfully cooked for myself, without dying! And without eating KD and ramen every night. Now, as the title suggests, I am not great at cooking. And I don’t really like it THAT much (I’m more of a baker), so as you can imagine I didn’t eat super healthy every single day. Especially at the start. But I think I’m sort of starting to get the hang of it, so here are my suggestions for when you are attempting to eat healthy on your own:

  • When you first start cooking after you move out, if you’re like me and never cooked at home, it can be very daunting. At the beginning, focus on just getting yourself fed without breaking the bank without stressing out about if it’s healthy or not.
  • Make a list of all the meals you can already make. At the beginning, this might just be quesadillas and pasta with sauce and maybe a few other things, but if you have a list, when you’re stuck on what to make you can reference that.
  • Try new recipes. If you aren’t sure if you’ll like it, MAKE A HALF RECIPE! So many times I’ve had to eat some disgusting casserole for a week and then chided myself for making the whole recipe. Don’t be me.
  • When you are looking for new recipes, look for ones that feature vegetables. Or at least include a vegetable side dish or salad in with your meal.
  • When you’ve made a recipe a few times, are good at making it, and know you like it, add them to your list of meals you know how to make. There’s been plenty of times I didn’t know what to make in a week and went to my recipe binder for ideas! And once you’ve got some healthy recipes in there, it can make picking a healthy meal to cook a lot less overwhelming.
  • Obviously, unprocessed foods > processed foods. But, frozen meals are fast and easy so in my opinion, if you eat them now and again, it’s not a huge deal. Plus, if you pair say, a frozen pot pie with steamed frozen peas and cooked rice, that’s not really so terrible, right? Not all frozen foods are created equal, so look for ones with less sodium and try to pair partial meals with unprocessed veggies.
  • Most people who eat a western diet tend not to get enough fruits and veggies. (I don’t have source on hand for this but in my experience this tends to be true.) If you’re having trouble implementing more veggies into your diet, start with small goals: for example, make sure you eat something green (eg. spinach, romaine lettuce, kale, brussels sprouts) every single day.
  • Make your snacks healthy. Fruits like apples and bananas make great snacks, and if you cut up carrot sticks at the beginning of the week you’ll have healthy snacks for days! (For the record, the Canada Food Guide recommends at least one dark green and one orange vegetable per day!)
  • If there are days where you eat cookies and chips and pizza and beer, don’t freak out. Guilt is not productive. Just as long as that isn’t your habit every single day, you’ll be okay.

The two things I would like to stress the most is keep a list of your favourite recipes for reference, and incorporating fruits and/or vegetables into all of your meals and snacks. At its most basic, eating healthy comes down to eating more fresh ingredients, less processed food, and drinking more water, although even figuring out how to do that can be overwhelming! Hopefully these tidbits of advice will help you get organized and get you on your way to eating a little bit better. Let me know in comments if you have any more tips!

2 Comments

Filed under Suite Life

An Ode to Yoga

This post is not actually going to be an ode, because I am not a poet and I don’t really know what an ode is (I’m sure I will by the end of term though; I’m taking second-year poetry at the moment). I am, however, going to tell you why I love yoga so much:

  1. Building strength. Depending on what type of class you choose, some yoga classes can be really intense and build all sorts of muscles you didn’t you you had! And in a more relaxed environment instead of a a loud, bustling environment of a gym or sport.  If you want an intense muscle workout try vinyasa or power yoga!
  2. Increasing flexibility. We tend to ignore our bodies. But really, do you think that hours hunched over a desk are good for you? Stretching and opening your body makes you feel good, less stressed out, and in less pain from sore muscles. (This part is especially good for me since I have chronic muscle pain in various areas.) If you want even more stretching, try a yin class! They hold stretching poses for 3-7 minutes.
  3. Time to focus on the present. Yoga incorporates a lot of elements of a technique called mindfulness (which I’m also learning about in my stress management class with Counselling Services – post on that to come).  Basically, you get to set aside an hour and just focus on the present moment. Concentrate on your breath, on your muscles as they hold a pose.  Stress can get us overwhelmed, but if you take some time to focus on the here and now, it can really calm you down and ground you. Not to mention, our lives can be pretty darn hectic and taking a moment to slow things down can really help your mental health.

Interested in trying yoga? I’d suggest starting out with a hatha class, as it’s more gentle and is a good way to start out. On campus, you can take a class with UBC REC, or try the UBC Yoga Club. REC classes average $80-$100 for one term for UBC students. The UBC Yoga Club charges $10 for a membership, and then all classes are drop-in and cost $2. I’ve done both, but this term I joined the Yoga Club and I like it way more because it costs less, there are more types of classes at more times, and if I have to miss one it’s no big deal since I haven’t already paid for it.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Campus Life, Wellness

Beat the Stress

Even though school doesn’t even start for 5 days, I’m already feeling the stress that comes every September. Between auditions, moving in, catch-up assignments, renting a harp, and cooking and paying for everything myself for the first time, things are a little bit crazy. So I thought it’d be a good time to share how I beat my stress and then probably take my own advice, too.

1. Breathe.  Take a minute. Slow down. Take a few deeeeeep, long breaths. If you’re stressed, you may actually be holding your breath or taking shallow breaths, making you even more tense.  By just breathing deeply, your brain will function a little better with more air, and your heart rate will slow down, and that stress will ebb away a little bit. I find that just focusing on one thing, your breath, it’s easier to put everything else you have to do into perspective and it’s easer to deal with.

2. Time Management.  If you can sort out everything you need to do  and when, you can start to see that you actually can handle what’s on your plate and that you’re going to get it done. I always find that once I’ve got a plan of attack, I feel way better.

3. Take Action. Okay, you’ve got your plan, now do it. I always find that if I’m stressed about a test coming up, studying for it will make me feel better. The more prepared and confident I feel, the less I need to stress. And once you’ve taken steps to do something about what’s stressing you out, you’ve got one less thing on your to-do list. Breathe that sigh of relief.

4.  Find something that de-stresses you.  For me, it’s yoga – I get to take an hour each week just to breath, and focus on feeling my body in the moment, and just step away from everything that tenses me up.  For you, it could be making art, playing a sport or running, taking up a craft like knitting, talking with friends, the list goes on. Just find what works for you. It’s important to take time for yourself, or you’ll get burnt out.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Academics, Wellness

Balancing Academic and Social (And Health)

Have you ever heard of the university triangle? Basically, it goes like this: grades, social life, sleep — pick two.  And for many people, that’s the case. There’s only so much time in a day, so if you want to study and hang out with friends, often there isn’t enough time for sleeping. Or maybe you can’t function without sleep or hanging out, so then your grades take a hit. Or perhaps you’re so focused on getting good grades and keeping your health up that you never have time for fun stuff.

In my personal opinion, none of those options equal a fulfilling university experience.  Somehow I managed to find some balance between the three points of the triangle.  My secret? Time management, my friend. Time management. It makes everything possible. And there is one little friend I have that makes my life sooooo much easier and helps me manage my time: my agenda.


If I was to recommend getting one thing for university, it would be an agenda, or some kind of calender, even if that’s on your phone.  My agenda contained everything I wanted to do, like on this picture here, I’ve got homework assignments written in, research, readings, lessons, rehearsals, performances, involvement events, dorm spring formal, dinner with my boyfriend’s parents, my mom coming into town.

That’s the main thing: you need to write down everything you’re going to do, on the day you’re going to do it. I would prioritize what needed to happen on a given day, figure out how long I would need to do it, and then schedule it out in my mind.  That way you can make the most of your time that isn’t spent in class.  Write down deadlines so you can see them coming, and start working on projects long before they’re due (I usually take two weeks to write an essay).  If you can do little bits at a time, you’ll be less stressed before the due date and you’ll have more time for other things.

So, balancing out time for a social life? No problem.  Schedule that in too.  Keep in mind you might not be going out every single night, but if you can even hang out with friends once or twice a week, that counts as a social life to me.  It’s easy in a dorm; you can spend time with your pals just by going to supper together, and you needed to go to supper anyway, so bam, two birds with one stone.  Studying in groups can also be a good way to get some friend-time, while still getting some work done. Personally, I don’t work well when I’m surrounded by people, but it can work for some people.

And your health?  There are all sorts of ways you can keep healthy in your hectic schedule. Eat good food.  Make yourself go to bed at a time where you can get at least 8 hours of sleep. Staying up all night cramming is not good for you.  Get some exercise: sign up for a class at the recreation centre. That way it’s just an hour each week that’s already set aside for you, and since you’ve already paid for it you’ll be motivated to go.  And that schedule in your agenda? Schedule in time for yourself! It’s important so that you can have time to unwind and not go insane. Maybe it means reading a book, taking a walk, or just derping around on the internet. Just a word of caution though, make sure your “you time” doesn’t go on forever and you don’t forget to do everything else on your list! If that’s a problem for you, set a timer or an alarm so that when your fun time is up, you actually get back to business.

So that’s my personal recipe for balance, but there’s certainly more to say on the subject.  You can attend workshops at CLASS in October or the SLC in January.

Any questions? Shoot a comment my way.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Academics, Wellness

Stress Less: Pet Visits by Healthy Minds at UBC

Apparently, next week on April 4th, pet and owner teams will be coming to UBC as part of a pilot project aimed at reducing stress for students.  Students will be able to spend 30 minutes with a cat or dog and their owner to reduce stress and anxiety.  Did I mention it’s free?  I really want to go, but all the sessions are already full!  I wish I’d known about it sooner, but maybe if the project is a success I’ll be able to do it next year!  I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

 

This is the adorable one-eyed kitty my family fostered over reading week. I love cats! :D

Leave a Comment

Filed under Campus Life, Wellness