7.1. Nutrition, Exercise and Sleep

Nutrition and Weight Control

Most Americans have a real problem with food. Overeating causes health problems, but what and how you eat can also affect how well you do as a student.

Why Are So Many Americans Overweight?

Americans are eating too much—much more so than in the past. One-third of all Americans twenty years or older are obese. Another third of all adults are overweight. That means that two-thirds of us are not eating well or getting enough exercise for how we eat. There are many intertwined causes of this problem in American culture.

Why are being overweight and obesity a problem? Obesity is associated with many medical conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers. Although some health problems may not appear until later in life, diabetes is increasing rapidly in children and teenagers. Worse, the habits young adults may already have or may form during their college years generally continue into later years.

But it’s not just about body weight. Good nutrition is still important even if you don’t have a health problem. What you eat affects how you feel and how well you function mentally and physically. Food affects how well you study and how you do on tests. Doughnuts for breakfast can lower your grades!

Why Do Students Find It So Tough to Eat Healthily?

If Americans have trouble eating well in an environment that encourages overeating, college students often have it even worse. It seems like food is everywhere, and students are always snacking between classes. Fast food restaurants abound. There may not be time to get back to your dorm or apartment for lunch, and it’s just so easy to grab a quick pastry at the coffee spot as you pass by between classes.

It’s the eating by habit, or mindlessly, that usually gets us in trouble. If we’re mindful instead, however, it’s easy to develop better habits. Take the Nutrition Self-Assessment to evaluate your present eating habits.

Activity 7.2: Nutrition Self-Assessment

Check the appropriate boxes.

	Usually	Sometimes	Seldom
1. I take the time to eat breakfast before starting my day.
2. I eat lunch rather than snack throughout the day.
3. When I’m hungry between meals, I eat fruit rather than chips or cookies.
4. I consciously try to include fruit and vegetables with lunch and dinner.
5. There is food left on my plate at the end of a meal.
6. I try to avoid overeating snacks at night and while studying.
7. Over the last year, my eating habits have kept me at an appropriate weight.
8. Overall, my eating habits are healthy.

Eating Well: It’s Not So Difficult

The key to a good diet is to eat a varied diet with lots of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains and to minimize fats, sugar, and salt. The exact amounts depend on your calorie requirements and activity levels, but you don’t have to count calories or measure and weigh your food to eat well. Following are the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) general daily guidelines for a two thousand-calorie diet.

• Grains (6 ounces)
  • Eat whole grain cereals, breads, rice, or pasta.
• Vegetables (2.5 cups)
  • Eat more dark green veggies like broccoli and spinach
  • Eat more orange vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes
  • Eat more beans and peas
• Fruits (2 cups)
  • Eat a variety of fruit
  • Minimize fruit juices
• Milk (3 cups)
  • Choose low-fat or fat-free milk, yogurt, and other milk products
  • If you don’t drink milk, chose lactose-free products or other calcium sources such as fortified foods
• Meat and beans (5.5 ounces)
  • Choose low-fat or lean meats and poultry
  • Roast, broil, or grill the meat
  • Vary protein sources, including more fish, beans, peas, and nuts
• Minimize these (check food labels):
  • Solid fats like butter and margarine and foods that contain them (avoid saturated and trans fats)
  • Watch out for high sodium foods
  • Minimize added sugars
• Exercise
  • Be physically active for at least thirty minutes most days of the week.

Figure 10.2 The “My Plate” emphasizes healthful food choices.

United States Department of Agriculture, “MyPyramid: Steps to a Healthier

You,” http://www.mypyramid.gov/downloads/MiniPoster.pdf (accessed July 13, 2010).

Tips for Success: Nutrition

• Eat a variety of foods every day.
• Take a multivitamin every day.
• Take an apple or banana with you for a snack in case you get hungry between meals.
• Avoid fried foods.
• Avoid high-sugar foods. After the rush comes a crash that can make you drowsy, and you’ll have trouble paying attention in class. Watch out for sugary cereals—try other types with less sugar and more fiber.
• If you have a soft drink habit, experiment with flavored seltzer and other zero- or lowcalorie drinks.
• Eat when you’re hungry, not when you’re bored or just because others are eating.
• If you find yourself in a fast-food restaurant, try a salad.
• Watch portion sizes and never “supersize it”!

Does Exercise Really Matter?

Exercise is good for both body and mind. Indeed, physical activity is almost essential for good health and student success. The physical benefits of regular exercise include the following:

• Improved fitness for the whole body, not just the muscles
• Greater cardiovascular fitness and reduced disease risk
• Increased physical endurance
• Stronger immune system, providing more resistance to disease
• Lower cholesterol levels, reducing the risks of cardiovascular disease
• Lowered risk of developing diabetes
• Weight maintenance or loss

Perhaps more important to students are the mental and psychological benefits:

• Stress reduction
• Improved mood, with less anxiety and depression
• Improved ability to focus mentally
• Better sleep
• Feeling better about oneself

For these reasons, it’s important for college students to regularly exercise or engage in physical activity. Like good nutrition and getting enough sleep, exercise is a key habit that contributes to overall wellness that promotes college success. First, use the Exercise and Activity SelfAssessment to consider your current habits and attitudes.

Activity 7.3: Exercise and Activity Self-Assessment

Check the appropriate boxes.

	Usually	Sometimes	Seldom
1. I enjoy physical activity.
2. Exercise is a regular part of my life.
3. I get my heart rate up for twenty to thirty minutes several times a week.
4. I enjoy exercising or engaging in physical activities or sports with others.

Write your answers.

5. What physical activities do you enjoy?

6. How often each week do you engage in a physical activity?

7. If you feel you’re not getting much exercise, what stands in your way?

8. Overall, do you think you get enough exercise to be healthy?

9. Do you feel a lot of stress in your life?

10. Do you frequently have trouble getting to sleep?

How Much Exercise and What Kind?

With aerobic exercise, your heart and lungs are working hard enough to improve your cardiovascular fitness. This generally means moving fast enough to increase your heart rate and breathing. For health and stress-reducing benefits, try to exercise at least three days a week for at least twenty to thirty minutes at a time. If you really enjoy exercise and are motivated, you may exercise as often as six days a week but take at least one day of rest. When you’re first starting out, or if you’ve been inactive for a while, take it gradually, and let your body adjust between sessions. But the old expression “No pain, no gain” is not true, regardless of what some past gym teacher may have said! If you feel pain in any activity, stop or cut back. The way to build up strength and endurance is through a plan that is consistent and gradual.

Enjoy It!

Most important, find a type of exercise or activity that you enjoy—or else you won’t stick with it. This can be as simple and easy as a brisk walk or slow jog through a park or across campus. Swimming is excellent exercise, but so is dancing. Think about what you like to do and explore activities that provide exercise while you’re having fun.

Do whatever you need to make your chosen activity enjoyable. Many people listen to music and some even read when using workout equipment. Try different activities to prevent boredom. You also gain by taking the stairs instead of elevators, walking farther across campus instead of parking as close to your destination as you can get, and so on. Exercise with a friend is more enjoyable.

You may stay more motivated using exercise equipment. An inexpensive pedometer can track your progress walking or jogging, or a bike computer can monitor your speed and time. A heart rate monitor makes it easy to stay in your target zone; many models also calculate calories burned. Some devices can input your exercise into your computer to track your progress and make a chart of your improvements.

The biggest obstacle to getting enough exercise, many students say, is a lack of time. We all have the time, if we manage it well. Build exercise into your weekly schedule on selected days. Eventually you’ll find that regular exercise saves you time because you’re sleeping better and concentrating better. Time you used to fritter away is now used for activity that provides many benefits.

Campus Activities Can Help

Most campuses have resources to make exercise easier and more enjoyable for their students. Look around and think about what you might enjoy. A fitness center may offer exercise equipment. There may be regularly scheduled aerobic or spin classes. You don’t have to be an athlete to enjoy casual sports such as playing tennis or shooting hoops with a friend. If you like more organized team sports, try intramural sports.

Sleep

Like good nutrition and exercise, adequate sleep is crucial for wellness and success. Sleep is particularly important for students because there seem to be so many time pressures—to attend class, study, maintain a social life, and perhaps work—that most college students have difficulty getting enough. Yet sleep is critical for concentrating well. First, use the Sleep SelfAssessment to consider your current habits and attitudes.

Activity 7.4: Sleep Self-Assessment

Check the appropriate boxes.

	Usually	Sometimes	Seldom
1. I usually get enough sleep.
2. I feel drowsy or unfocused during the day.
3. I take a nap when I need more sleep.
4. I have fallen asleep in class or had trouble staying awake.
5. I have fallen asleep while studying.
	Usually	Sometimes	Seldom
6. I have pulled an “all-nighter” when studying for a test or writing a class paper.

Write your answers.

7. How many hours of sleep do you usually get on weeknights?

8. How many hours of sleep do you usually get on weekends?

9. How would you rank the importance of sleep in relation to studying, working, spending time with friends, and other activities?

10. How many hours of sleep do you think you ideally need?

11. Generally, do you believe you are getting as much sleep as you think you need?

The Importance of a Good Night’s Sleep

You may not realize the benefits of sleep, or the problems associated with being sleep deprived, because most likely you’ve had the same sleep habits for a long time. Or maybe you know you’re getting less sleep now, but with all the changes in your life, how can you tell if some of your stress or problems studying are related to not enough sleep?

On the positive side, a healthy amount of sleep has the following benefits:

• Improves your mood during the day
• Improves your memory and learning abilities
• Gives you more energy
• Strengthens your immune system
• Promotes wellness of body, mind, and spirit

In contrast, not getting enough sleep over time can lead to a wide range of health issues and student problems. Sleep deprivation can have the following consequences:

• Affects mental health and contributes to stress and feelings of anxiety, depression, and general unhappiness
• Causes sleepiness, difficulty paying attention in class, and ineffective studying
• Weakens the immune system, making it more likely to catch colds and other infections
• Increases the risk of accidents (such as while driving)
• Contributes to weight gain

How Much Sleep Is Enough?

College students are the most sleep-deprived population group in the country. With so much to do, who has time for sleep?

Most people need seven to nine hours of sleep a night, and the average is around eight. Some say they need much less than that, but often their behavior during the day shows they are sleep deprived. Some genuinely need only about six hours a night. New research indicates there may be a “sleep gene” that determines how much sleep a person needs. So how much sleep do you need?

There is no simple answer, in part because the quality of sleep is just as important as the number of hours a person sleeps. Sleeping fitfully for nine hours and waking during the night is usually worse than seven or eight hours of good sleep, so you can’t simply count the hours. Do you usually feel rested and alert all day long? Do you rise from bed easily in the morning without struggling with the alarm clock? Do you have no trouble paying attention to your instructors and never feel sleepy in a lecture class? Are you not continually driven to drink more coffee or caffeine-heavy “power drinks” to stay attentive? Are you able to get through work without feeling exhausted? If you answered yes to all of these, you likely are in that 10 percent to 15 percent of college students who consistently get enough sleep.

How to Get More and Better Sleep

You must allow yourself enough time for a good night’s sleep. Schedule at least eight hours for sleeping every night. If you still don’t feel alert and energetic during the day, try increasing this to nine hours. Keep a sleep journal, and within a couple weeks you’ll know how much sleep you need and will be on the road to making new habits to ensure you get it.

Myths about Sleep

• Having a drink or two helps me get to sleep better. False: Although you may seem to fall asleep more quickly, alcohol makes sleep less restful, and you’re more likely to awake in the night.
• Exercise before bedtime is good for sleeping. False: Exercise wakes up your body, and it may be some time before you unwind and relax. Exercise earlier in the day, however, is beneficial for sleep.
• It helps to fall asleep after watching television or surfing the Web in bed. False: Rather than helping you unwind, these activities can engage your mind and make it more difficult to get to sleep.

Tips for Better Sleep:

• Avoid nicotine, which can keep you awake—yet another reason to stop smoking.
• Avoid caffeine for six to eight hours before bed. Caffeine remains in the body for three to five hours on the average, much longer for some people. Remember that many soft drinks contain caffeine.
• Don’t eat in the two to three hours before bed. Avoid alcohol before bedtime.
• Don’t nap during the day. Napping is the least productive form of rest and often makes you less alert. It may also prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep.
• Exercise earlier in the day (at least several hours before bedtime).
• Try to get to bed and wake about the same time every day—your body likes a routine.
• Make sure the environment is conducive to sleep: dark, quiet, comfortable, and cool.
• Use your bed only for sleeping, not for studying, watching television, or other activities. Going to bed will become associated with going to sleep.
• Establish a pre-sleep winding-down routine, such as taking a hot bath, listening to soothing music, or reading (not a textbook).

If you can’t fall asleep after ten to fifteen minutes in bed, it’s better to get up and do something else rather than lie there fitfully for hours. Do something you find restful (or boring). Read, or listen to a recorded book. Go back to bed when you’re sleepy.

If you frequently cannot get to sleep or are often awake for a long time during the night, you may be suffering from insomnia, a medical condition. Resist the temptation to try over-the counter sleep aids. If you have tried the tips listed here and still cannot sleep, talk with your health-care provider or visit the student health clinic. Many remedies are available for those with a true sleep problem.

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