Couple works to keep their CampusFit
When Jeremy Shih went on his first date with Caroline Weeks, he tried to talk about anything but fitness and nutrition.
Shih, a graduate music student at Indiana University, taught himself the concepts of nutrition and fitness “from the ground up.” He fell in love with the gym and found out that his “outlook on life improved when [he] was on a regular exercise regiment.” But after working sales for GNC and working as a personal trainer for Gold’s Gym, Shih became very jaded with the exercise industry.
That is, until he met Weeks, a sophomore viola performance major at Indiana University with an “untainted enthusiasm” for being healthy. No matter how he would try to drive the conversation on that date, Weeks was adamant to learn more about nutrition and exercising from Shih, who eventually showed her the ropes at the gym.
About one year later, the couple has co-authored a popular blog called CampusFit, which helps their peers find ways to get healthy and stay healthy. CampusFit targets people age 15 through 30 (pre-college, college and post-college stages) and provides tailored information for those with time-constraints and college budgets through basic nutrition principles and exercise techniques, Shih says.
The blog was born when friends and classmates of Weeks came to her with questions about ways to get healthy after seeing her success. As the couple began logging common questions, they decided the blog was their “call to action.”
“We really want to help our fellow peers know how to sift through all the crap out there and live healthier lives,” Weeks said. “For us, fitness and eating right is a lifestyle. It’s just a way of being, a way of living. So fitness for fitness sake is not the answer. Fitness instead should just be a tool to get you from point A to point B -- to help you have the energy during the day to help you reach your goals.”
Though they are just starting out, Weeks and Shih hope to co-author a manual for all college students on exercising efficiently and eating correctly.
“Nutrition-wise I always tried to… make good choices,” Weeks said. “But little did I know, how little I knew about the subject. What I thought was eating well was completely not.”
Tips from the pros
Shih and Weeks say exercise is very important aspect of being healthy. Shih says though many college students feel like they have to set aside an hour to do a proper exercise, this remains a myth. For quick, accessible exercises, he suggests:
• Push-ups (either regular, against a wall or inclined with your feet propped on a bed or chair)
• Squats and lunges
• Planks (front, side or walk-out)
• Mountain climbers
Despite the myths about crunches and sit-ups, Weeks says abs are built “in the kitchen.” For college students who are always on the go, four-course meals can be a struggle. Shih’s suggested quick snacks:
• Vegetables that lend themselves to portability like baby carrots and sliced bell peppers
• Fruits like bananas and apples
• Nuts that are dry-roasted or smoked like almonds, cashews, pecans and walnuts
• Greek yogurt
Shih also says water is one of the most important things needed to be healthy. Proper hydration, he says, leads to:
• Healthy skin, hair and nails
• Building muscles
• Staying sharp and functioning at your best
Kara Rose is a Spring 2012 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.
This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.