Hi! My name is Leah and I will be your insider for the fall 2018 semester. I’m excited to spend this semester sharing my wellness journey and everything campus rec with you!
If you’re a returning reader and followed Elly’s blog I will be touching on some similar topics but also introducing some new ones. I hope everyone is ready to have a fun, healthy, and safe semester!
So a little about myself, I’ve been active my entire life, growing up playing competitive soccer and basketball. It wasn’t until I started here at URI three years ago when I truly found my passion for health and wellness. I’m currently a member of the women’s track and field team, being a division one athlete is very demanding and keeps me quite busy but over the past few years I’ve somewhat learned how to balance school, track, and my social life.
At the start of track season freshman year I started gaining lots of muscle, I became very interested in nutrition and what I should be eating in order to promote muscle growth and enhance my performance. I also became interested in muscle recovery, learning how to foam roll and attending yoga classes at Anna Fascitelli really helped! I found a love for yoga when both my mind and body began to benefit from attending classes. When faced with stress and anxiety I like to take longer, deeper, slower yoga breaths in order to work through it.
Throughout college, I’ve learned to navigate my way through the dining halls as well as the Stop & Shop in Narragansett. Nutrition wasn’t something I had to really worry about until I got to college (oh how I miss my mom’s cooking), learning how to find healthy options in the dining hall was just as much of a struggle as learning how to cook a few meals off-campus.
Even as an athlete I have to mix up my exercise routine some days, I like to use my off days to keep active and do something fun, my favorites include taking a spin class or going for a walk on the beach!
I’m working on my finishing my degree in Kinesiology and studying to become a strength and conditioning coach. My goal is to one-day train collegiate athletes like myself!
Overall, health and wellness is a total balancing act, as college students, we’re all just striving to do our best. We’re faced with so many questions; What should we eat before our big exams? What time is the best to workout? What are the healthiest snacks to munch on while studying? How many days per week should I exercise? Over the semester I would love to hear your feedback so we can talk about some of these questions and find answers together! So let me know in the comments what you’d like me to write about!
See ya next week!
-Leah