Maintaining Healthy Habits
As a HDR student it can be difficult to maintain a work-life balance that promotes wellness and allows you to upkeep a healthy lifestyle. With study demands always changing, it can be impossible to avoid sacrificing a few hours of sleep, skipping a workout, or having a snack in lieu of dinner to spend more time on your work.
The most sustainable way to engage in a healthy lifestyle is to be compassionate toward yourself and strive to make compromises rather than sacrifices with your healthy habits when your workload grows particularly considerable.
Here are how some current HDR students maintain a healthy lifestyle:
"I exercise in a variety of ways, I meditate, I eat mainly healthy foods, I don't do work outside of work hours, including checking emails. I see a psychologist, I reach out to loved ones when I need support, I socialise with people I want to spend time with, I give myself time for myself." |  |
| "I try and set realistic goals and deadlines and not berate myself if I don't meet them. No working on weekends and make time to see people and do things I enjoy. I also try to have a regular sleep routine in the week." |
When we are under a lot of pressure and have high study demands, sleep is often the first thing to be sacrificed so that we can find extra time in the day to tend to our workload.
However when we do not get enough sleep...
Our concentration & memory suffers |
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Our ability to manage stress declines |
Our immune system weakens
How do we improve our sleep?
Our body’s circadian rhythm is our internal sleep-wake clock. Circadian rhythms are responsible for regulating our hormones, immune function, and most importantly, our feelings of sleepiness at night and alertness during the day.
We can improve our sleep through introducing routine into our sleep habits to regulate and maintain our body’s circadian rhythm.
| Following a consistent sleep scheduleWhen we follow a consistent sleep schedule, we can adequately reinforce and maintain our body’s circadian rhythm, resulting in increased quality of sleep and feelings of restfulness. To see how to create a sleep schedule for yourself, click here. |
Maintaining a bedtime routineWe can furthermore improve our sleep by following a bedtime routine. When we engage in soothing rituals before bed, we create cues which indicate to our bodies that it is time to sleep and encourage melatonin production. For more tips on how to engage in a bedtime routine, click here. |
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| Online sleep resourcesBoth the Sleep Health Foundation and Harvard’s Sleep Matters Initiative offer evidence-based online sleep resources to promote healthy sleep habits and improve the culture surrounding sleep. |
Speak to a professionalIf you are struggling with sleep, it may be helpful to visit a general practitioner (GP). The Healthy Sleep Clinic has a team of sleep experts who support those experiencing sleep-related issues and challenges with falling asleep, staying asleep, and feeling well rested. The clinic offers in-person services for those who have obtained a referral to a sleep professional from their GP. To book an appointment, call 9905 1428. |  |
Regardless of how we exercise, simply moving our bodies improves our wellbeing. Engaging in regular exercise invites a number of benefits, such as:
Our body releases feel-good hormones and decreases stress hormone levels |
When we exert energy through physical activity, our quality of sleep improves |
Exercise can reduce risk of disease and strengthen our bones and muscles |
We should be striving to do around two hours of physical activity per week with two days being dedicated to muscle strengthening activities. Our exercise schedules can be flexible to suit our needs, whether that be doing 20 minutes of exercise per day each week or having two or three days where we do longer workouts.
Getting startedIt will take time to adjust to an exercise routine and find a balance that is right for you. This is why it can help to start off small and set realistic and achievable fitness goals for yourself. Australian adults should aim to engage in around 2.5 hours of exercise per week. How you schedule this time is up to you, whether that be going on a 20 minute walk a day, or spending a couple of days a week engaging in a longer workout. The most important thing about exercising regularly, is that we are exercising in a way that is enjoyable for us, so that we can more easily maintain our exercise routine. |  |
| Persevering in busy timesOften our schedules can prevent us from doing our typical exercise regime, when this happens it can be helpful to compromise rather than sacrifice. |
Getting active at Monash
Monash offers many programs and facilities which can serve to help you integrate exercise into your routine.
Monash SportMonash Sport is the centre of active and healthy lifestyles across various Monash campuses. They have a wide range of services, programs, and facilities that students can access. For more information on how Monash Sport can support your fitness, click here. |
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| Join a clubThere are many clubs you can join that can make exercising an enjoyable and social experience. You can try out competitive sport with Team Monash or check out dance classes held at Clayton campus. Other social and sport clubs are available to explore your interests and connect with others. |
Free Fitness EventsMGA hosts free badminton games and yoga classes for graduate students at Monash's Clayton campus. For more information on how you can attend these fitness events, click here. |  |
Engaging in healthy eating behaviours is not about restrictive dieting or weight loss. Healthy eating is about taking care of your body and feeling good.
Poor dietary habits are linked to a number of mental health challenges and can leave us feeling down and fatigued. When we are mindful of the food that we eat, we can improve our overall wellbeing. Healthy eating helps our bodies to function more effectively, and in turn we feel better physically and mentally.
What is a balanced diet?A balanced diet involves eating in a way that ensures your body is getting the nutrients that it needs to function optimally. Check out the Victorian Government guidelines of what a balanced diet typically consists of. |
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| Our relationship with foodWhen we have an unhealthy relationship with food it can be difficult to sustain a balanced diet. Have realistic nutrition goals: Engaging in a diet with a lot of restrictions is unsustainable. Instead, try prioritising the right foods. Click here for a guide on how to practice this. Practice self-compassion: We can often feel guilt after eating foods we perceive to be unhealthy. When this happens, treating ourselves with compassion may improve our long-term eating habits and prevent emotional eating. |
How Monash supports a balanced dietMonash’s nutrition blog offers evidence-based tips on how you can best care for your body through healthy eating and cooking. The Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food also offers free recipe ebooks to serve as a guide on how to use food as medicine. Monash uses a traffic light system on campus classify the foods that retailers sell on campus according to their healthiness. |
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 | Monash Nutrition ClinicThe Monash Nutrition Clinic offers affordable consultations from an accredited practicing dietitian for nutrition-related issues or if you want to learn more about incorporating healthier habits into your diet. The Clinic accepts self-referrals and appointments cost $10-$20 for Monash students. To book an appointment simply call 03 9902 4270 or email base.nutrition@monash.edu. |
Substance UseUndertaking a graduate degree is understandably stressful, and it is valuable to have healthy coping strategies in place so that you can best protect your mental and physical wellbeing. However, it is important to be mindful of how you in engage with alcohol and other substances. When we begin to associate substance use as a way of coping with stress or difficult emotions, we are more vulnerable to developing a dependence or addiction to these substances. If you are worried about your current substance use, we encourage you to reach out to the support services available to you. To find out how to access mental health support, click here. If you prefer to access support specific to substance use and addiction, click here. |  |