Before I get all willy-nilly with my ramblings, I'm going to spend this first post outlining my health philosophy and the ways I plan to include all the different aspects of health in this blog.
Here goes...
1. Nutrition
Eating well means eating for both health and pleasure. For me, this means eating whole foods rather than processed, focusing on fruits, vegetables and whole grains. I am not a vegetarian, but for environmental reasons I eat very little meat. I find that maintaining such a diet leaves me feeling energized, satisfied and confident. Although a tight graduate student budget makes keeping this sort of diet this slightly more difficult (I can't exactly just raid Trader Joe's every week and still pay rent), it IS possible and well worth the effort.
In the process of overcoming my eating disorder, I had the opportunity to work with a wonderful nutritionist who helped me develop my food philosophy and healthy habits. As per her recommendation I eat about 1,800 calories a day and the food recommendation in this blog will reflect that. You may want to eat more or less, obviously, depending on your size and goals. If you like, you can calculate your own calorie needs here. If you are a graduate student (or and undergrad) you might also want to look into whether your university provides a nutritionist service. It is usually completely free to students and even a single-visit consultation can be infinitely healthful.
In short is my belief that true happiness (in that peaceful zen sense of the word) comes from doing the things you need to do to survive (eat, sleep, etc.,) with care and appreciation. For the "nutrition" facet of this blog, I am going to include recipes and photos of healthful, affordable recipes as I test and create them.
2. Fitness
This is one health area where grad student finances are not limiting. Every major university has a fitness center available to students, and with a little creativity one can even stay fit without ever entering such a place. So why do graduate students tend to put on weight and neglect exercise? The most cited reason is time.
It is true that it can be very time-consuming to take a bus to the gym, work out, shower and then take a bus elsewhere. Not to mention potentially boring and crowded. HOWEVER exercise is essential to an optimally functioning mind, and an excellent way to reduce stress and increase energy. Even 20 minutes a day can make a HUGE difference, and I believe that making time for fitness will result in a net GAIN of time. For me, working out makes me more efficient and clear headed, allowing me to get my work done faster and have time for out of the lab activities.
The NIH recommends getting 30-60 minutes of cardio most days, stretching for5-10 minutes most days, and strength training for twenty minutes twice a week for optimal health. Although this could of course all be accomplished in the gym, I much prefer to enjoy the outside, try something new or at least transport myself somewhere with my exercise. The "fitness" portion of this blog will include time-crunch workouts I try, reviews and recommendations of alternative cardio activities (currently learning to lindy hop and cross-country ski...), workouts that can be done at home, and other time- and budget- friendly physical fitness ideas.
3. Emotional well-being
This may mean any number of things for different people. For me, it means maintaining good relationships with my partner, family and friends, getting creative on a regular basis, maintaining a positive self-concept and spilling my insides to a journal or blog. This section of the blog will likely be primarily implicit (me ranting and raving about life, always in italics should you wish to skip it) but will also include things that have helped me become more emotionally balanced. Some examples are gratitude and feeling lists, ideas about finding and using your creative outlet (I love painting and throwing pottery), and ways to get closer to the people around you.
4. Spiritual connectedness
"Spirituality" has a religious connotation to many people, but I do not view it this way at all. I have a complex set of beliefs and metabeliefs that I will share gradually through the course of this blog (always in italics should you wish to skip over them), as well as some straight-forward ideas about spirituality in a modern world. This section of the blog will include posts with journal prompts that have helped me to explore and develop my own beliefs (with responses included), ways to get closer to nature (my personal spiritual haven) from any location or season, yoga and meditation rituals that help me feel more grounded and anything else that seems to fall into the category of spiritual well-being.
5. Rest and relaxation
Until about a year ago, I dealt with terrible insomnia. I would sleep less than 20 hours per week for months at a time, and the toll on my health and relationships was extreme. With a lot of research and the help of a sleep councilor (also available at many universities) I have almost completely overcome this issue, and can fall asleep in a matter of minutes. Rest and relaxation are vital to health, as much as proper nutrition and exercise, if not more so.
This section of the blog will include tidbits from my sleep research, relaxation techniques, affordable vacation ideas and anything else relevant to good sleep and reduced stress.
So, in a nutshell, there is what I think and what I plan to say. This blog is a work in progress (as are we all) and also a therapeutic outlet so please comment, disagree, give advice and let me know if something helps.
Yours Truly,
H.N.
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