How To Keep Resolutions On-Campus

It's a new semester and a new year, and with these notions come new goals. Although some people have the same goals, such as exercise more, eat better, and so on; everyone differs in their approach.
When you live on-campus your resources can seem limited, but you just need to know where to go.
Although February is around the corner, and some of you may have stalled on your resolutions, it is never too late for change!
Here are some great tips to either get started or keep going.

1. Drink more water.
Seems simple enough, right? Your body is composed mostly of water and you need to keep it healthy and hydrated, so drink water. But here are some tips on how to get the most out of the water resources on-campus.
At UNC Asheville we have these awesome machines that are water bottle friendly! They fill your bottle from the top using a motion sensor so you don't have to hold your bottle sideways like traditional fountains. Each time you use these new fountains, it adds a tally point to the counter on its screen of how many bottles are being saved.
What a great way to be green and healthy!

2. Work out. 
Working out is so commonly thought of as going to the gym and "pumping iron" with heavy weights. Sure that's great for some people, but there are alternatives! The gym is a great place, with various resources such as treadmills, machines, and weights. In addition, the hours are open from 6am to 11pm most days! So you can definitely find time to work out.
But what about a more fun and energetic alternative? Campus recreation provides free group exercise classes for students too. Here is a schedule of all of them, they include classes ranging from spin and Zumba to abs classes. Click for class descriptions.
Or maybe you are just curious about working out, and you want to learn more? Campus recreation is great for that too because they hold informational sessions, such as nutritional information, "how to" classes, and much more. Click here for campus recreation site.

3. Walk more.
As students it is easy to fall into a rut of sitting and doing work all-day long without getting up to get our blood flowing. If the previous work out options don't strike your fancy, what about a walk?
A walk could be to the nearby CVS or Urban Burrito area, or it could simply be around campus.
We have some great sites on our campus, from the outdoor art displays in the back of campus to the botanical gardens towards the front - discovering new places is always an option.

4. Stress less.
It's been a couple weeks into school now... feel your blood pressure rising? Not enough sleep due to worry? How about a yoga class? As I mentioned earlier, campus recreation has free exercise classes, but they are not all sweat-inducing. In fact, some of them lull you to sleep. There is even a yoga class called "Yoga Yourself To Sleep"! UNC Asheville has countless options for yoga classes to find the right fit for you, and when you go, you never feel alone because it is a very popular hobby on-campus. So grab a few friends and get your shavasana on.

5. Eat better.
We all understand the woe of hearing the siren song of pizza, fries, and ice cream... Thankfully the food on-campus is delicious enough that we aren't tempted to pig out on unhealthy options. You can get vegetarian chili and cornbread at Rosetta's, pasta with a salad and a breadstick at 2Mato, fresh fruit in the cafeteria, and so much more. One of my favorite things about the cafeteria's food is that they post all the nutritional information on individual cards behind the food. These cards tell you the serving size, calories, sodium content, protein, if they are vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free, along with other information. Have a food allergy and not sure if you can eat a certain dish? Feel free to ask! The staff is really friendly and will gladly answer questions.

6. Get involved. 
Lastly, but not least... Do something fun! It's college, it is meant to be the best time of your life and it's time to make some memories. You can join an infinite amount of clubs, get a job, hang out in the residence halls, or do some off-campus volunteer work. This is a picture of my best friend and I when we helped out at Brother Wolf, which is an animal shelter near campus. Getting out of your room and doing something is easy!

So now that I have given you some tips and tricks for on-campus resolutions, go make 2014 amazing!