Originally posted by: ScottFern
I am sitting here at work wondering why I feel like absolute crap. I sit on my ass all day during classes and then again at work as a computer monitor.
I live in the dorms here, and we have a full kitchen, yet I manage to eat out 5-7 times a week. I know thats high and waste of money. I just can't break the habit, I feel like im addicted to crappy food.
I told myself tonight, this is no way to live. I have a headache, I feel lathargic all the time and generally have no desire to do physical work. I know these are all warning signs of a rough time later on in life, and I am only 21.
I will be going to Jewel tonight with my gf and I hope I can pick out some healthier food that will still appeal to me and not be thrown away in a month.
Wish me luck! Anyone else have a similar story about how eating healthy made them feel like Popeye after he ate spinach?
oh man, am I ever in the same position as you. I hear ya, buddy.
Feeling crappy like you are is the result of three things, ranked in order of importance:
1. Sleep
2. Diet
3. Exercise
First, sleep. This is like the foundation of your health. If you don't get enough sleep and be on a regular sleeping schedule, you're hosed. This is the major big one. This is also the hardest (at least for me, personally) to achieve. It's hard to go to bed by 9 or 10pm every night. It's just plain hard. I get more energy at night than I do during the day. It's a curse. There are more things I want to do at night. Things are more tempting at night - you ever been in the middle of a TV show, and know you should go to bed, but tell yourself, just lemme finish watching this, then you do, and don't even remember it the next day, and wondered why you were that stupid? Pick a time, before 10pm if at all humanly possible, and start going to sleep at that time. Wake up at six or so. Don't sleep in. It will be really hard the first couple weeks because your body is used to staying up late and you won't fall asleep for a couple hours. Just stick with it, don't turn on a light, don't read a book, don't watch TV, just lay in bed.
Second, diet. By diet I mean the food you eat, not like a lose-weight diet. If you can, eat three healthy meals a day. If you're a bit more hypoglycemic, eat five or six small ones. Eat the most in the morning. I've been using my mom's George Foreman grill (you can get the small one for like $15 on amazon, perfect for dorm rooms). If you really want to be serious about this, cut out alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, sugar, and junk food. You'll be tons healthier. The first three are easy, the last two are hard. Sugar and junk food is a hard part of life to really give up - it's everywhere, especially soda. It sucks up your energy when you need it and gives you energy when you don't (like right before bed). Eat lots of stuff from the ground, like veggies and fruits, not processed stuff. Oatmeal and eggs make great breakfast foods, sandwhiches are good for lunches, and salads are good for dinners (just microwave some teriyaki chicken strips, toss them in some salad, voila!).
Third, exercise. Exercising not only gets you healthy and in-shape, but it also helps you feel better and helps you go to sleep (you're more tired at the end of the day). Even walking for like 10 - 15 minutes helps. Just be consistant. My little brother was trying to lose weight, and he'd exercise every day, but then eat bagels with cream cheese and other assorted "junk" foods and then wonder why he wasn't losing any weight - all he was doing was burning off what he ate.
Oh, and a note on habits. I've heard that it takes 21 days to establish a habit. So, decide what you're going to attack (only one thing at a time!) and do it for 21 days. Start with sleep, then diet, and finally exercise.
Hope that helps
🙂
