College is a time where caged adolescents are given freedom and learn to fly.
Some of us soar into the wind, and some of us lose a wing and kind of wobble around. The ones who soar get straight A's, join clubs and make friends who make smart choices, while the wobblers get C's through sophomore year and attend numerous amounts of keggers and social events. There are also the birds that get smashed against the window, who fail and drop out for whatever reason. And, of course, I won't leave out the freak-of-nature birds that can balance straight A's along with crazy parties.
In college, it is up to us to choose what type of lifestyle we live and activities we partake in, healthy or unhealthy. All of us are in determination for that darn piece of paper. But regardless of the type of student you are, the majority of those in college are guilty of living unhealthy lifestyles, whether it be tossing unhealthy food into our mouths, binge-drinking and then putting crap in our mouths or simply staying up all night studying and not getting enough sleep.
It is time to stop the madness and start making healthier decisions.
Taco Bell and McDonald's seem good for the moment, but, in reality, what we’re putting into our mouths is pure crap.
A seemingly harmless beef chalupa from Taco Bell, according to their Web site, contains 410 calories and 27 grams of fat. A tiny honey-mustard crispy chicken snack wrap from McDonald’s contains 16 grams of fat and 330 calories. And these are small items!
The decisions we make now regarding the food we eat shapes how and what we will eat in the future. Being lazy about cooking and settling for the fastest fuel intake isn't healthy and isn't setting us on the road for a healthy future as adults. Actually preparing our meals can not only make us mindful of what we put into our bodies but can also help to unwind after a long day.
We will only be in our early 20s for so long, and sooner than later our body will start adding up these high-calorie and high-fat meals and the results won't be pretty.
I feel later in our college career is it important for us to realize we are maturing and take the responsibility to see ourselves more seriously and start living healthier. Alcohol is fun for the moment, but it is important to realize drinking this way and the lifestyle it encourages is not a habit we should want to continue in our future.
The endless amounts of beer we can drink in one night is fun while we are wasted, but if you actually add up the amount of calories we are drinking in a night of drinking, it is disgusting. According to Budweiser’s Web site, one Bud Light has 110 calories. For "health-nut" Vodka tonic drinkers, your drink isn't so healthy either. According to a nutrition Web site, one of these drinks contains about 97 calories. These drinks add up fast, and so do the effects they have on our bodies. Alcoholism is commonly developed in these years of our lives.
A recent study by the Harvard School of Public Health found that two-thirds of Americans are overweight and 28.7 percent of adult men and 34.5 percent of woman are clinically obese. The study also found that 20 percent of American children are clinically obese and around 51 percent are overweight. According to Alcoholics Anonymous’ Web site, about 18 million Americans have alcohol problems and more than 9 million children live with a parent dependent on alcohol and/or illicit drugs.
I am not saying to blame college for America's unhealthiness. These values have been rooted in all demographics around our nation. However, I will assume that some of those percentages contain adults who went to college and children who had one or more parents attended college.
It is up to us to stop these unhealthy cycles.
What we eat, what we drink and how we live now is critical to the rest of our lives. The lifestyle we build today will one day affect that of our children.
The fun doesn't have to stop; the party isn't over. But, for some of us, this party is going to end up having negative unhealthy effects on our families and ourselves.
While you’re learning to take a beer bong, be aware of what you are doing to your body and mindful of how this will affect your future and future generations.
Krista can be reached by e-mail at krista.norsworthy@asu.edu.
