How to feel good at university with student Emily Lilburn

29/10/20241 min read

From ‘fresher’s flu’ to deadlines and smashing PBs, life as a student isn’t always easy – but our nutritionist is on hand to help

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Energy

Do you wake up yawning every day? Tired before you’ve even begun? Then you have a lot in common with student Emily Lilburn, who features in this wellness routine reset video.

No matter how much sleep she gets, Emily doesn’t feel rested – plus she has her high-pressure life as a university student to contend with. So we introduced her to another Emily (that’s Emily Foster, our in-house nutritionist) to find out if she can improve her mental focus, energy levels and sleep routine.

Emily’s current low-energy routine

Aside from her studies, Emily loves to play sport at uni and go running. Emily has no allergies and is generally healthy, but she says she’s always tired and has had low iron levels lately. Like many of us – could do with a little help with her sleep schedule.

Our expert's energising tips

Grab some early daylight
Emily wakes up feeling tired so our expert is ready with a solution. “One thing she could so here is get out in some natural sunlight as this will help regulate her circadian rhythm,” she says. If you don’t know, your circadian rhythm is essentially your internal body clock, which determines when you feel most tired or awake. She also recommends a ginseng supplement, which should be taken in the morning so it doesn’t affect her sleep.
Find your morning magic
We all do it... That early-morning phone scroll. But Emily is aware that staring at a screen in the morning isn’t good for her, so she tries to embrace journalling instead. Then it’s off for breakfast – her favourite meal of the day. Our expert is delighted to see she loves breakfast – it fuels Emily through her daily lectures and sport – especially as it includes a green juice, which she says is a “a great way to get vitamins and minerals in, especially if you’re not that big on frit and vegetables.”
Be ready to run
After she’s had her iron supplement (which our expert points out shouldn’t be combined with caffeine, as it impacts the absoprtion), Emily is ready for her 10k run. Or is she? She says she hates the feeling of her breakfast “sloshing around in her stomach” and feels she “hasn’t found the right balnce of exercise to food” in the mornings. Our expert’s solution? Swerve high-fat or high-fibre foods just before exercise and choose something lighter.
Remember: exercise feels good!
“I always start of a run thinking ‘I don’t want to do this’ but by the time I come back the endoprhins will have majorly kicked in and I’ll feel amazing,” says Emily. She says she’ll actually have more energy after her run. And our expert – who specialises in sports nutriton – agrees: “This is often referred to as ‘runners high’ due to the release of a hormone called endoprhin that helps you feel more positive during and after a run.”
Schedule that sleep
Emily knows that if she works late into the night, she won’t be able to switch off her brain later. So she does her uni work in the afternoon and says she’ll begin her evening at 7pm, leaving plenty of time to wind down before bed. Our expert is a big fan, not only because work keeps your brain active (the last thing you want before sleep) but also because blue light from screens “can interfere with sleep as they suppress our sleep hormone, melatonin.” She has plenty of other sleep tips too.