First Draft - Project One

Ever since coming to Florida State it has become apparent to me that the workout culture is huge at this school. People are constantly rushing to one of the two gyms, headphones on not focusing on anything except their workout. Since coming here I personally have become an active member of the gym and started to adopt a somewhat healthier lifestyle. What I mean by a healthier lifestyle is to eat cleaner and more consciously, think more positively about myself and my surroundings, and work out enough to make my body feel good. Usually everyone just focuses on the gym and how helpful it can be to help make people healthier. However, there are other components to living a healthier life style, such as how you eat, how you think about yourself and your environment. This community has taught me how to be the best me and makes me want to come to the gym to better my body and brain which is why I chose to research this community. This leads to my research question: What at Florida State helps students between the ages of 18-21 create a healthier lifestyle? I will be researching this by interviewing a trainer from the Leach Gym named Jacob Fishback along with researching the correlations between different aspects of a heathy lifestyle in different age groups. All of these factors and others are how one can achieve a healthier lifestyle because health is about how you feel not how you look to others or the number on a scale. He was able to give me another perspective on what his opinions on a healthy lifestyle is how to make them work at Florida State.

Eating clean and in moderation is one of the main components that leads to a healthy lifestyle. At Florida State students have been lucky enough to be exposed to a wide range of food options. However, it isn’t always easy to pick what you should be eating rather than what you want to eat. Many different types of research and studies have been conducted involving how difficult it really is to eat healthy. In one article by the Oxford Academy, the main author J. Shepherd explains the barriers that students between the ages 11-16 face while trying to eat healthy. The barriers that were examined in this study were “poor school meal provision and ease of access to, relative cheapness of and personal taste preferences for fast food.” Shepherd tested 7 different school settings on how they were each going to implement different heathier eating options. In one specific example, in Norway, Connecticut a secondary school “increase the consumption of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole-wheat bread and low-fat dairy products, and decrease the consumption of high-sugar and high-fat snack foods.” Due to this, these students started to prepare their own food and snacks at homes and started to analyze nutritional facts. The overall outcome of all the studies was “Increasing the provision and range of healthy, affordable snacks and meals in schools and social spaces will enable them to exercise their choice of healthier, tasty options.” I have learned that healthy eating contributes to healthy grown and an overall feeling of well being. (J. Shepherd, Oxford Academy)

Exercising is another key factor in living a healthy lifestyle. Exercising does not only make you feel good, it also releases endorphins within your brain that make you feel happier and positive. It is very important to physical and mental feelings within oneself. At Florida State there are two amazing gym facilities: The Leach and The Health and Wellness Center. Both of these gyms provide adequate machines and equipment that help students with a wide range of workouts. There are also multiple other physical outlets that students can use, such as the IM fields and clubs, the Rez, and just being outside. In an article written by the National Center for chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CDC), they explain the importance between healthy eating and physical activity and how to portray this to different audiences. It is stated that “Students who are physically active tend to have better grades… improved cognitive performance…higher GPA’s, and standardized test scores.” The article continues to state that to accomplish this there should be physical classroom breaks and extracurricular activities that are incorporated with the student’s days implemented in schools, such as through physical education classes. The article continues to explain on how to take action and promote these activities in schools. “Provide physical education programs, recess for elementary students, classroom-based physical activity, and extracurricular physical activities (e.g., sports programs, physical activity club).” It is proven that healthier students are better learners and this is due to physical activities and is also true for college students. (CDC, Health and Academic Achievement)