The Carnivore’s Conundrum: Reward yourself

With mid-term season upon us, it is important as ever to keep calm and carry on. Midterms stress each of us out in different ways. Some prefer to get drunk and crazy and forget we have them. Some like to hole up in their rooms and not emerge until ten minutes before their exams.

If you’re like me, you curl up in a ball, watch bad TV and eat junk food until midterms are over. This can be a dieter’s worst nightmare, as stress eating packs on the pounds.

So this week, I tried to combat this with stress-relieving activities. I took to the Athletic Complex and tried some more yoga, even home meditation or yoga can be beneficial.

Don’t over stimulate yourself with TV or music; enjoy silence and sit.

I also found that tea was very helpful. I’m not a coffee drinker, but black tea has caffeine in it too. It’s an excellent pick me up, and there are hundreds of types of teas for different tastes.

Herbal tea is excellent in the evening before bed, as it can calm you down and has no caffeine. It’s also full of antioxidants and can fight off colds.

This brings up another pitfall of exam time: illness. Not sleeping well and eating pizza pockets for the fourth time this week can lead to some serious cold and flu symptoms.

If you find yourself getting sick during this stressful time, sometimes the best thing to do is just take a night off, watch a movie and go to bed early. Your body will thank you for the eight-hour rest and you will be able to function better in the morning. It’s better than sniffling through studying or feeling achy during an exam.

What’s interesting is that by being calmer, your metabolism can work better. When you’re stressed, your body focuses its energies on your mind, not on digestion, which can lead to bloating, stomach aches and weight gain.

It may not have been a very exciting week, but I hope that you can take something away from these tips. It’s important to not get too stressed out.

Next time I’ll be looking at the Ninten-dos and Ninten-don’ts of WiiFit. Tune in next week for a showing of the new film release of Life of “Pie”.

Additional tips to unwind:

Take a hot shower or bath
Treat yourself. It’s important not to stress eat while studying just because it’s fast and easy, eat healthy brain foods.
Get out of the library and go to the movies. Just avoid getting buttered popcorn.
Make bargains with yourself. Plan rewards and breaks for a certain amount of work completed.