New Year... New You?
Welcome to a new year of fashion at Felix. This column is based on a New Year’s resolution I made, well possibly two, but I have broken the first resolution already. My first resolution was made on New Year’s Eve as I was frantically trying to plan my evening, this resolution was, unsurprisingly, to become more organised. However, as you can probably tell, I have already failed at this, since this issue of Felix is the third to come out this year.
The second of my resolutions was made on New Year’s day. Once my hangover subsided enough for me to see myself in the mirror, I made a resolution to live a much healthier life this year. I think I may be correct to assume quite a few other people also made this resolution or variations on the theme, so I am going to help you to achieve this, aren’t I generous?
Detox
Detoxing is the trendy way of recovering from the party season, combined with yoga or Pilates of course. This isn’t something I have undergone because I don’t have the will power and don’t want to go through the side effects.
The idea behind detoxing is to get rid of the body’s toxins and improve kidney and liver function through either an easy plan or a pretty disgusting course of treatments as seen on Channel 5!
The easy plan involves a specific diet combined with vitamin and mineral supplements. A 5-day or 28-day course can be bought from Boots for £10-£20.
The diet involves eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, nut pulses, wholemeal bread, brown rice etc. A detox diet also requires cutting out dairy products, red meat, junk food, tea, coffee and alcohol, sweets and chocolate. So you can understand why my lack of will power is a problem. The diet lasts for the course of the detox and the process itself will include these delightful side effects; bad breath, spots, ‘increased bowel movements’, headaches, a furry tongue and lethargy. Still it is supposed to be all worth it! As a small safety point any women who are pregnant or breast-feeding shouldn’t do detox.
Diet
January and February seem like the most common time to start diets, along with just before the summer holiday when women realise how they are gonna look in their bikinis. I personally don’t believe in dieting, but then again I am not the slimmest person on the planet. A diet implies a short-term solution, where of course there is no easy way out. If you do want to lose weight the best idea is to eat sensibly. What I mean by this is to eat a balanced diet. If you go on a junk food binge balance it out by eating healthily for a while. A healthy diet involves eating all the essentials; protein, carbohydrates and fat. The amount of each of these a person can eat before storing them as fat depends on their lifestyle, therefore if you want to eat more unhealthily you need to balance it out with more exercise.
So to lose weight it is best to reduce the amount of fat and sugar in your diet while including an exercise routine. Sounds easy doesn’t it? The government has recently been pushing the advice that people should eat 5 portions of fruit or vegetables a day to reduce the chance of developing cancer, but this is also good advice for general health, as the more fruit and vegetables you eat, the less fat and sugars you can eat.
Another essential part of anyone’s diet is water and very rarely do people drink enough of it. The average person needs to drink around 2 litres of day which is about 8 glasses. Also, you need to replace the water lost through sweating so the intake needs to increase when it is hot, and for every hour of exercise you do, an extra litre of water is required. Coffee, tea and Coke do not count, as they all contain caffeine, which is a diuretic and reduces the amount of water in your body. If like most people you don’t like water, the best way to get your daily water intake is through weak squash or herbal/fruit teas.
With a balanced diet the body’s required vitamin intake should be matched, but most of us don’t have such a balanced diet and occasionally require a vitamin boost. Since this is the season for colds and flu, it is a good idea to help boost your immune system through taking Vitamin C, Zinc or Echinacea.
The latest trend for supplements, if there is such a thing, is the probiotic yoghurt drink. The ‘good’ bacteria contained in these can also help improve resistance to illnesses.
Fitness
I have recently rediscovered exercise. Sounds silly but I had forgotten the high you can get after it. I think is important to find an exercise routine to suit you, as not everyone enjoys the gym.
The easiest way to incorporate an exercise routine into your life is through the method you use to get into college. This doesn’t of course include the students in Princes Gardens or Beit Halls. Even if you run to lectures, as I am sure you do, that doesn’t count as an exercise routine.
For the rest of us who live a little farther out, get on your bike! I am aware that London isn’t the safest or easiest place to cycle in but there are back streets you can dive down and wearing a cycle helmet is essential. Who cares about an exercise routine if you get your skull smashed in?
Walking is also an option, if you walk quickly enough to get slightly out of breath, half an hour’s brisk walk can be taken as aerobic exercise. Also small things like taking the stairs and not the lift can help.
For a more serious fitness routine there are many sports clubs and societies available, including the IC fitness club which runs aerobics classes, circuit training etc. There is the gym in the sports centre which is open from 7am – 10pm Mondays to Fridays and from 8am – 6pm at the weekend. Each session costs £1.20 for Imperial staff and students, but you must go for an introductory session first.
For a free alternative you can go jogging if you are feeling truly masochistic! Or invest in a fitness video to leap around your flat to, although student flats in London rarely have enough space to go too mad.
Exercise should be regular; the recommended amount is 20 minutes cardiovascular exercise about 3 times a week - that is, any form of exercise that gets you slightly out of breath for a minimum of 20 minutes.
Skin care
This section applies mainly to women, but there is no excuse for men to not take care of their skin! Men should always moisturise after shaving, as shaving is a harsh routine and moisture removed while shaving should be replaced. Soft skin doesn’t mean that you are soft and Nivea does a very good skin care range specifically for men.
Women are ‘allowed’ to care about their skin and this seems to have lead to an increasingly complicated skin care routine, but I shall attempt to simplify it for us lazy arse students!
It is important to have a reasonable quality face cream, which should ideally contain an SPF of about 15. Even in winter you should protect your face from the sun as it is a main cause of wrinkles! Another important part of facial skin care is to clean your skin in the morning and before you go to bed, no excuses even if you have drunk far too much. I find the easiest way to do this is with a mild facial wash, not a Clearasil or Oxy 10 wash because these type of facial washes are very harsh and strip any moisture from the skin. But even with a mild facial wash you should moisturise afterwards.
Another good skin care method is to use an exfoliator to get rid of dead skin cells. You can buy these easily or make a home-made version by mixing a few spoonfuls of oatmeal with some grapefruit juice to make a paste, this is then massaged into the skin and then rinsed off using warm water. This may sound silly but it is best to pat your face dry with a towel rather than rub it dry.
For a treat, indulge in a facial sauna. Get a bowl of boiling water and allow to cool slightly, add a few drops of your favourite essential oil, and then place a towel over your head and your face over the bowl. You should be at least 10cm away from the surface of the water and shouldn’t do this if you have sensitive skin. A quicker version of this would be to place a warm, damp flannel over your face and leave for about a minute.
Mental health
Well, this should be a comprehensive guide to health. Your body can be very fit but if you don’t feel healthy you won’t look it.
A common student affliction and cause of poor health is stress, and though there is no easy cure to this it is important to have a coping mechanism. It is far too easy to overwork yourself when you are stressed, but the best idea is to take regular short breaks to help chill out. Find something that distracts you for while and makes you relax, it may be reading a book, watching TV, listening to music, or my favourite solution; taking a bath with a few drops of some de-stressing essential oils in the water, including camomile, lavender and/or sandalwood.
Of course, exercise is the best cure for stress but be careful not to overdo it. Another herbal remedy that gets me through exam periods is Bach Rescue Remedy, which is readily available from Boots.
A common mental condition this time of the year is depression, post holiday blues or SAD, seasonal effective disorder. A herbal aid for depression is St. John’s Wort, but the best cure is to talk to someone about it, whether you’d rather share your woes with a mate or talk to IC’s trained student counsellors available at 5 Princes Gardens, telephone number: 020 7594 9430.
Well, I think I have preached enough for now. No doubt many people disagree with my advice, especially since I have talked about homeopathic remedies to a college full of scientists. Still, being healthy is about developing your own routine and feeling good about yourself.
