How to live healthy and have fun in the best cities in Spain?

The word healthy sounds boring, but at least in Spain and its big cities it is quite the opposite. Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia provide fun options for a healthy lifestyle. Since at Vanguard the physical and mental health of our students is vital to us, we thought you might find a couple of healthy living tips helpful.

Rest!

In order to perform at your best you need to be rested and get the sleep your body needs. The recommended number is hours of sleep, although we know that it is very complicated to reach them as a student, we ask you not to go below 7 hours of sleep. Although 7 hours of sleep is not ideal, it is the minimum with which your body can perform at a high level. Anything below this figure has several negative effects:

• worse memory

• less attention and worse concentration

• increased anxiety and irritability

• low self-esteem

• fatigue

• less creativity and productivity

To make your experience the best possible we make sure that our floors are made to facilitate sleep so that you can start every day at 100%.

Sport is vital

Playing sports is a necessary part of our routines. In Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia there are two sports that stand out above the rest, basketball and soccer. It is rare to walk 20 minutes around these cities and not find a court of either sport. And if you want to join a team that practices these activities, you will not be short of options. There are also other very popular sports such as tennis or paddle tennis that in Barcelona and Madrid you can practice in clubs where some of the best tennis players of all time have played.

But not all sports are played with a ball. In Barcelona and Valencia, being so close to the Mediterranean, you have the option of windsurfing, sailing, or even swimming from buoy to buoy. In Bilbao hiking is religion and in Madrid there are many centers to practice sports and you will not lack anything.

If you are not convinced by these options you always have the possibility of walking, running, or walking in these beautiful cities. What is clear is that any activity is good for your body and for you.

Respect your body

• It all starts at the grocery store:

To eat in a healthy way it is very important to get your grocery list right. Without healthy shopping you will not be able to follow a healthy diet. The most important thing here is that instead of buying processed foods you focus on fresh produce. These foods should be varied. It is essential that you buy not only fruits and vegetables but also meat and fish. In Spain we boast of high quality food. Our supermarkets are full of healthy and delicious options. In other words: You will be spoilt for choice!

• You cook what tastes best:

Now that we have the foods we need we can cook with them. This is key because if you can't defend yourself in the kitchen, you will end up eating junk food, or whatever you find around the house. There are certain techniques that are of great importance and with which you eat more than healthy such as: steaming, grilling or baking. In the long run this will be very noticeable in the unnecessary calories you will stop consuming.

• Drink water!:

Every day we consume too many calories in drinks that are not necessary for our body. When you feel like drinking a soft drink, change your mind and grab a bottle of water. It is best to drink plain water which is refreshing and healthy, but if you find it hard to do this, there are plenty of flavored waters with no added calories that taste better than any caloric soda.

Take it easy! Say no to stress

I know what you're thinking! There are no students without stress, whether it's from a project, an exam or a myriad of personal possibilities. We're not asking you to magically de-stress either. We simply have a couple of ideas to help you calm down when it feels like the world is coming at you:

• Take slow, deep breaths.

• Take a warm soak in a bath.

• Listen to soothing music.

• Take a walk or do some other activity.

• Meditate or pray.

• Take a yoga class.

• Have your back rubbed or massaged.

From Vanguard we just want you to know that living healthy is not complicated. Spain and especially Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia, give many facilities to live healthy and enjoy life at the same time. If you follow the tips we have given you in this blog, we guarantee that you will perform at a very high level and your experience will be unbeatable.

For more information on how to improve your experience in your city, follow our blog and stay connected with Vanguard Student Housing