Column: All about Health Services with BroncoFit

BroncoFit is a component of Boise State’s Health Services that focuses on becoming “America’s healthiest learning environment” by helping students, faculty and staff learn about all things health and wellbeing. 

Throughout the year BroncoFit holds different events to educate the community on the eight dimensions of wellness: emotional, environmental, physical, spiritual, financial, intellectual, occupational and social.

“I think of spirituality as intent. It is connecting to something bigger than yourself,” MarLee Harris said. “Food can connect us to family, community, and culture bigger than ourselves.”

Harris has been BroncoFit’s nutritionist for the past five years and has helped students and faculty understand their diets and health in an educational and beneficial way.

“Our job is to create a space where anyone in our Boise State Community — faculty, staff, and especially students, feel they can thrive,” Harris said. “That’s our main goal and that’s why we focus on all dimensions of wellbeing.”

With the semester ending all in-person classes on March 13, BroncoFit had to reorganize some of their events such as Dog Therapy Thursdays and Beyond Comparison. According to Harris, the BroncoFit team wants to continue to be a resource to students by helping them adjust to social distancing and staying at home. 

One of the initiatives they are pushing is to expand their efforts to aid students in creating nutritional home-cooked meals that are simple and easy for everyone to make. 

“Simple is okay,” Harris said. “It is sometimes valuable to remember to focus on what looks good to you. Food doesn’t have to be picture perfect.”

Harris recommends to begin with basic foods and add different ingredients or try new recipes as the person cooking feels more comfortable. On BroncoFit’s website, there are different tools for students, faculty and staff to find resources such as recipes under $5, how to build a grocery list and meal planning.

“There’s a lot of stress that’s going on, a lot of unknowns. I hope that we can take some time to be calm, that we can use food not as a stress inducer but as a time to relax. If we can sit down and have a good meal, that can be time to just enjoy your food,” Harris said. “If you have some people that you can connect with either virtually or physically to enjoy some food together, that can be a great time to just focus on being grateful for a meal together.”

For any students struggling with food insecurity or concerns about food reach out to BroncoFit at wellness@boisestate.edu or the Dean of Student’s food pantry for help.

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