If you are here for the first time then nice to meet you and welcome to my blog. My blog posts are always tricky to write right now so I’ll just layout what I hope to achieve writing on here from now on….
Over the last few weeks I’ve spend a lot of time reflecting on the money I’ve wasted and how I’ve become dissatisfied with my physical health. I’ve come to the conclusion that I consume too much which has affected my health and wealth.
At this time I don’t really have any big savings but I have lots of university debt and my body and mind feels like a wreck. The reason I’m fat and out of shape is obvious, I smoke, eat, drink too much and don’t get enough exercise. As the saying goes “You are what you eat”. Living off garbage won’t help.
The reason why I’m broke and my finances are failing is because I overspend, use debt to maintain my lifestyle and don’t use a budget. Now is the time to confront these problems. And so I figured I could share my journey to a better lifestyle. One that is debt free and a place where I’m in better shape.
Category: Health & Fitness
Student Stress and Study Burnout
Feeling like a stressed out student? Take comfort that you are not alone. With all the studying, exams, work deadlines and summer job it’s possible you’ll reach student burnout at some point while at university. Your student days can be a difficult transition period and a sad time of isolation and loneliness. You can’t always feel at the top of your game.
If you have a part time job you’ll find yourself trying to manage your studying and job which can pile on the workload. You may also be suffering from motivational issues, money worries, relationship problems and feel like you don’t have time to relax.
Becoming a university student is a big change and adjustment in your life. At times when it’s all on top of you, heading out of control and you’re stressing about your future career our generation can feel lost, lonely and borderline depressed. At night when you can’t afford to go out and there’s nothing to do apart from working, studying and rubbish TV things can overload us.
During the first year or random periods throughout your degree you’ll probably feel homesick. Here is my advice for homesick students. I’ve not posted for a month or so because I’ve lacked energy and felt overwhelmed suffering from work and student burnout. Sometimes stress and pressure is a necessary thing to motivate and increase performance, too much extreme stress leads to misery and exhaustion.
Remember you are not alone, life has its ups and downs. We all suffer from low moods, stress, anxiety and 1 in 4 of us will go through mental health problems in our lifetime.
At times of increased stress and emotional trouble it’s important youth people get the support and advice they need. Discuss how you feel with friends, family, talk to Student Services or your student union that offer welfare support. If you are feeling depressed then visit the doctor and explain how you feel to them.
It’s frustrating not feeling like yourself or like you don’t have time to look after your own wellbeing. A student’s life isn’t always easy, many people stereotype students, thinking our lives involve partying and shagging.
Please be careful and try to balance the mix of “business and pleasure”. You may be working too hard and need to slow down and find ways to manage your student stress.
If you don’t reducing student stress you’ll soon reach the tipping point and burnout will overwhelm you. If you are feeling run down try the following ways to decrease your stress levels and ease the burden of a student life:
- Get yourself as organised as possible. Plan a timetable and schedule for studying, work, socialising and relaxation time.
- Too much working and rushing around will create more anxiety. Make some fun time and break up your study periods to help increase productivity.
- Your student lifestyle may not be helping your anxiety and stress. Eat healthier food, cut down on alcohol and make sure you are getting enough sleep.
- Going for a walk in the fresh air and taking regular exercise can help improve your mood and relive stress. You can also try some meditation and breathing techniques.
- Learn to switch off from the world now and then. Have some rest bite from gadgets, gaming, social media, email, texting and phone calls. It’s not healthy to be switched on and plugged in 24 hours a day, everyone needs some peace and quiet.
- Listen to your favourite music or chill out anthems can help settle down your mood and calm your nerves. Playing some tracks will help you get through those stressful student days.
- Watch some comedy films or DVD’s to loosen up and laugh out loud. Your student days should be the happiest time of your life so soak it up and don’t take it too seriously.
- Stop comparing yourself to other students, friends and relatives. Life’s too short for constant competition with peers and celebrities. You can’t live your life in the shadow of others so stop trying to measure up and meet everyone else’s expectations.
- Sex is a great way to de-stress and release “happy chemicals”. Human touch is a relieving joy so find a sex buddy to hug, kiss and practice safe sex with.
Remember being a student isn’t permanent and your student stress won’t last forever. When life is on top of you that is a clue for us to take some timeout for ourselves and relax – do nothing – it will be OK.
Organisations that can help:
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Studenthealth/Pages/Studenthealthhome.aspx
http://www.studentminds.org.uk/
Student Food for the Cooking and Financially Challenged
For beginner student chefs you’ll need to master some basic student cooking class so you don’t starve while at university. I have to face it that I’m not the most gifted cook in the world. Cooking has never really been on one of my strong points. Before going to university Mummy and Daddy fed and provided for me.
This means you could get into a habit of eating convenience ready meals and living off junk food. This year I’ve made more effort to prepare healthy meals and use fresh ingredients.
It’s time to learning some cooking basics for beginners. When it comes to cooking everyone has to start somewhere. Soup, pasta and beans on toast will always come to a student’s rescue however now you’re living independently an essential skill you need to master as a student is cooking and food shopping.
You can’t to eat out all the time, live off frozen ready meals and survive on alcohol for three years. During tough times you need to be responsible and more sensible about what food you buy and where you buy it from so you can save yourself a few quid. You’ll quickly find out that you may need to cut back on luxury and branded food items you used to eat at home and you can’t just stuff things in the trolley anymore.
On top of cut backs you’ll also need to eat a healthy diet, you can’t live off expensive takeaways and junk food snacks like Jaffa Cakes and Pringles. Living on your own needs some financial discipline and control.
Food budgeting your money better may take some practise. After leaving home for university you’ll soon discover that filling up the supermarket trolley like you did at home runs up a great deal of expense. If you fill up the trolley now there’s no Mum or Dad to cough up the money to pay for it you’ll overspend.
Healthy Cooking for Students
When it comes to healthy cooking students may neglect themselves after moving away from home cooked meals. Now you live away from home you can trying new things. I’m learning to get more comfortable with cooking for myself and others using fresh vegetables, meat and a dash of spices and herbs.
Some may argue that cooking healthy food costs more than cooking the pre-packaged real meals. The good news is that there are health recipes that are very cheap and easy to make with real nutritional ingredients.
Here is a grocery shopping list for student food items you can test out when going grocery shopping.
Grocery Shopping List for Students:
- Noodles
- Rice/Pasta/Spaghetti (Cheap and filling)
- Bread and Butter
- Milk
- Sugar
- Tea/Coffee
- Juice/Squash/Fizz Pop
- Fresh Vegetables – Potatoes, Peppers, Carrots, Onion, Broccoli, Cauliflower
- Canned and Frozen Vegetables as a backup – Chips, Tomatoes, Peas, Sweet corn, Beetroot
- Baked beans (of course)
- Soups
- Salad – Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cucumbers
- Fruit – Apples, Oranges, Bananas, Grapes
- Cheese
- Eggs
- Yogurt
- Cereals for Breakfast
- Meat – Chicken, Lamb, Pork, Beef, Mince, Bacon
- Fish – Tuna, Sardines, Prawns, Fish Fingers
- Deli – Ham, turkey
- Curry, Chinese and Pasta Sauces
- Tortillas
- Herbs and Spices – Mixed Herbs, Chilli, Mint, Garlic
- Gravy and Stock Cubes
- Cooking oil
- Salt, pepper, ketchup, mayo
- Snack Food – Crisps, Chocolate, Biscuits/Cream Crackers
- Beer, Vodka, Wine and drink mixers (Of course)
This list should give you some meal ideas and suggestions. It also helps if take a shopping list and you plan your weekly meals in advance or you’ll overspend. Another student cooking tip is to make large portions of curry, chilli and then freeze them. Lots of food you make can be frozen with no problem and then reheated later. A big pan of chilli can last me for a few meals and is cheaper and more filling than ready meal versions.
Here are a few ideas to try with the list above:
- A fresh chicken or prawn salad can be prepared in under fifteen minutes.
- Tortillas Wraps just add your own filling.
- Curry
- Mexican Chilli
- Pasta in Red Wine
- Jacket Potatoes with beans/cheese
- Panini’s
- Chinese Stir-fry a healthy vegetable mix
- Cheese (on Toast)
- Egg Noodles with a Lamb or Pork Chop and side veg/salad
- Fruit Salad
- Chicken wrapped in Bacon (Sunday Lunch)
- Wine with Cheese and Savoury Biscuits
- Tea and Biscuits
- Just Biscuits (I like biscuits)
Not all great lunches and snacks require long cooking time in order to prepare. It is possible to prepare wonderful food for students without much heavy cooking. There is always something wonderful to cook even if you’re on a tight budget. To make sure you don’t go hungry always have the basic essentials in your kitchen and avoid the takeout.
We all make excuses not to do the cooking and instead live off unhealthy junk food. You may not know how to cook but you can read so buy some second hand cook books and give the recipes a try. No one is a born master chef cooking. Your cooking skills and kitchen confidence will grow as you practise making meals and adjusting recipes to your own tastes.
Feel free to add to the lists and magic up your own meals. I hope the student grocery list and ideas will give you some food for thought and get your own student cooking juices flowing.
Advice for Homesick Students
At the moment it may feel like you don’t fit in as you adjust to student life. You may be beginning to get restless and yearn for home. Don’t worry you are going to make new friends and settle in the city fast. If you don’t know anyone remember you’re not alone.
It’s scary in the first few weeks so getting involved in Freshers Week, events and activities will speed up the process of meeting people and making new friends. Settling in to university life means getting active. If you are shy and the quiet type like me then find a society of like minded people to join.
University student societies give you the chance to meet your fellow students and starting interacting with what’s on offer with student life. They are fun way to break down barriers especially if you are on the introvert side and will be a great asset to put on your graduate CV and job hunt in a few years time.
Getting involved is the best way to overcome student homesickness and take your mind off the family and friends you left behind. Volunteer, learn something new and get out there.
I know when you start at university its filled with nerves, surprises and shocks. I suggest you start exploring your new environment and get to know the city. There will be plenty of landmarks, architecture, museums, art galleries, music venues, theatres and culture to absorb and hopefully some countryside to see as well as shopping centres, bars and places to eat and pig out.
You need to make yourself at home and soon you’ll get to know the place like the back of your hand. I suggest you carry a map of the city or use Google Maps because you’re going to feel lost and got lost in the first few months.
If you want to do a hobby then hobby-ing is the way to go. When you head off to university and are away from home you need to pass the time. And when you’re broke you need to kill time.
A good hobby outside booze, partying and collecting traffic cones can help you settle in. You can’t fill all your days with homesickness and vomit. As you settle in its important to find a nice pub and student friendly local boozer but don’t live there.
Try train spotting or take up a new sport like snooker to keep active or if you are a hungry student take up food stamp collecting. If you still feel like you’re age 12 you can also purchase a football sticker album.
Needlework can also be useful for when your buttons fall off your trousers – Now that’s a skill that will always impresses the ladies. A good cross stitch is the way to a women’s heart.
I guess what I’m saying is the cure for a homesick student is to be doing something else other than thinking about home. Taking up a keen interest in something will help ease the move and take your mind off been a homesick fresher.
You need something to occupy you in-between going back home. Another great hobby is to start blogging. To get started buy some hosting, a domain from here and install WordPress. Once you have your hosting you can edit free pre-built page templates and uploading them your site.
Select a template that works with your subject matter. If you are blogging about cars then pick a template with a motoring theme.
You can start playing around with the look and feel of your blog at http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/. You could also ask student designer to create a branded blog template featuring your own logo and images.
Settling in to Student Life and living away from home is going to take some adjusting to. Over the next few months it’s going to take some getting used to as you settle in to student life. If you’re from out of town getting to know your new home, new neighbours and surroundings is the first step.
Heading off to university is a scary prospect. It can be overwhelming having to moving away from home, leaving friends, lovers, behind even missing the family pet. Moving away is both exciting and daunting. For the first time you have the freedom to do want you want and go where you want. In between the lectures and seminars.
With three years of studying and partying ahead of you student live is your next adventure. You’re going to meet new people, make new friends, explore new places and make yourself at home. Once you’ve unpacked your uni stuff and learned the important bus routes and bus numbers to get from A to B its time to find out what’s going on in your area and on campus.
You now have the freedom to choose, without any nagging parents or curfews. You may want to experiment with different beers, ales, cocktails, gin, whiskey, tequila and ouzo. Just remember it’s not all about drinking, with freedom comes responsibility. Staying out all night is fun at the time but homesickness and vomit can kick in after a too heavy session so watch each other’s backs.
If you’re feeling homesick than get out and enjoy yourself. There will be events happening. Discover your favourite bars and drinking space. Go to a music festival or catch a gig and see the local up and coming talent in the indie music scene. Student life is a balance of education and recreation.
You may have more time on your hands than is good for you. Doing extra-curricular activities and joining society’s will help take your mind off missing home. Most activities can be broadly classified into three – recreational, educational and society-oriented.
Joining a society can improve the experience and combat the loneliness. They will help you gain more in-depth knowledge and experience in various subjects while uplifting your spirits (not of the liquid kind).
Moving away from home is a big change. I recommend homesick students find a new hobby or new interest, take up painting, join a reading club, learn to play an musical instrument, start a blog but most of all enjoy the student experience.
May I remind you that sleeping all day is not classed as a hobby.