5 Ways to Stay Healthy (and Sane) in Law School

I was going through my "drafts" folder here on the blog recently and I found a whole bunch of posts that apparently I wrote during law school but never finished/never posted! Whaaat? How does that even happen? I went back and looked at my law school years and seriously? I pretty much didn't share ANYTHING while I was in law school! Whyyy?! No clue. Anyway, rather than waste these posts, let's pretend I'm back in law school, shall we? After all, someone is always out there who wants to know more about the ins and outs of law school.

Here are 10 ways you can stay healthy in law school, brought to you by me....from 4(?) years ago! I was a 2L I guess at that point. So I knew more about law school than I did when I was a 1L but I wasn't yet a bored (or overworked) 3L.

1. "Study time" is not 100% of the time. Look, I get it. Between classes, reading cases, law review, honor societies, clinics, and possibly even a job or internship, you don't have much time.  And the time you do have you probably want to commit to getting ahead on your workload. I have spent many a Friday and Saturday in the library trying getting a jump on my coursework. However, take time for yourself.You won't regret it. Take a walk, go to the gym, cook yourself a healthy dinner, or just sit and stretch for a few minutes. You won't regret it. Escaping for a little while will help rejuvenate you for when you (inevitably) slog back to the books and work. And seriously, if the professor cold calls you and asks an off the wall question that isn't in the case you wouldn't have had a chance even if you spent more time reading the cases. Trust me. It's happened to me multiple times.

2. Drink water. You probably don't relish the idea of schlepping case books to class. And if you're like me and you don't live on campus, schlepping books can mean lugging (almost) all of your casebooks from your apartment, to your car, to class, to the library, back to your car, back to your apartment on the daily. I know the last thing you want to do is add YET ANOTHER THING to your bag to juggle throughout the day. But seriously, when I started bringing a water bottle with me everyday it was a game changer. Not only is staying hydrated good for your skin and all that jazz but it also can help stave off hunger. Did you know that sometimes when you feel hungry you are in fact just thirsty?? That's why they say to drink a glass of water before you eat. And there are so many adorable water bottles out there. Plus, then you can be THAT girl who always has a water bottle with her and is super healthy! Lol.

3. Get involved in extracurricular clubs. You probably have a lot on your plate with classes and work and all but consider joining an extracurricular club. It's a great way to be active (I know one club that has pick up basketball or flag football games at least once a week) and you can meet fellow classmates. Law students notoriously live in a bubble of home, school, work, sleep. So if you join clubs you get your nose out of the books and some "people time" that will do wonders for your sanity!

4. Don't buy snacks/food at school. Or at least try your best not to. Too many times I have been hustling between classes and stopped into our cafe for a quick bite to eat. I'll admit that I never chose the salad options. But meal prepping and planning is NOT hard and packing a healthy lunch and however many snacks you need to get through a busy day does not take much effort. I like to pack my bag (yes, yet another bag to carry around) with some healthy options to eat throughout the day so I can control things like calorie intake, portions, and general awareness of where my food came from. It keeps me out of the caf (and  therefore their pizza!) and away from the vending machines. Plus, having a protein ball or tiny snack that I could sneak during class keeps me focused and engaged in class because I wasn't thinking about how hungry I was. Plus, on the meager law student budget I have, preparing my own snacks is a much better economic choice than buying lunch/dinner every day.

5. Get enough sleep. Don't fool yourself, pulling an all-nighter is never a good idea. Not getting enough sleep not only impairs your mental stamina and acuity but it also can seriously damage your health. Someone deprived of sleep is way more likely to get sick. I know law school is a mental marathon, but be sure to rest your brain each night.

Above all, the best advice is just to listen to your body and be kind to yourself. Sure there will be weeks you're slammed with work and can barely shower or eat let alone try to workout. And that's okay. Just do your best to eat well, stay active as best you can (maybe take the stairs!), and sleep a good amount each day. You'll feel better and you'll be better able to tackle the insane schedule that makes you wonder aloud to yourself what the hell am I doing here? at about 11:23 p.m. in the law school library. Not that I've done that or anything...