| A New Beginning ( Part 1 ) |
[03 Sep 2020|03:11pm] |
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Hi, I am a young lady currently attending high school. I have come to the realization that I'm unhealthy, and i want to change that. I want to live healthy, balanced life from now on. I want to eat better, get more exercise, yet still do things i enjoy. I want to moderate foods i enjoy, with foods i may not enjoy so much, but i should eat more of. I want to play more sports, maybe join a team sport, yet still do activities i like, like reading and watching TV, just maybe not so much. Overall i want to feel better than I do now. I want to have more energy and get fewer colds, and feel stronger. By changing my life i want to reduce my chances at getting diseases later in my life that can be avoided. Also being overweight i would like to get in shape. And i want to start now.
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| Healthy Eating (Part 2) |
[03 Jun 2006|07:09pm] |
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Eating healthy is eating enough, so that you body gets it's required amount of nutrients, yet not so much that it is getting to much food with nothing to do with it. Food provides the body with energy, and when it gets to much coming in to how much is going out, it stores the excess as fat. The energy content in food is measured in calories, things like donuts (which are pure sugar) have very high calorie content, where things like celery and lettuce have very few calories. Vitamins and minerals are also things food provide for your body, which assist in the chemical reactions that are happening within the body. Fruits and vegetables normally contain vitamins and minerals, making them a good thing to eat regularly. Fibre, also found in a variety of foods (cereal, fruits and vegetables) is a substance that is not digested but helps the fuction of the intestines.
There are four main food groups that should be included in a well balanced diet: Grains (carbohydrates), Fruits and Vegetables (vitamins, minerals), Dairy (calcium), and Meat (protein).
An Outline of what to eat in a day.
*Breakfast*
- Oat cereals containing fibre and carbs, and little to no sugar (mix with fruit to give it a sweet taste) And some Organic juice or milk.
(!or maybe some buttermilk pancakes!)
&Optional Snack
- piece of fruit, granola bar.
*Lunch*
- A sandwich of choice (try it on whole wheat bread), avoid adding to much of things like mayonnaise which contain tons of cholesterol. Fruit (maybe a little homemade fruit salad) and again Juice that is home maid or has a low concentration, or water.
&Optional Snack
- Some fruit, or a small bran muffin.
*Supper*
- Maybe some vegetarian pasta, something different like sushi or some salmon
some good places to check out recipes are
iVillage, Healthy Meals
Food Fit
Heart and Stroke Foundation
Health Recipes
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| Activities (Part 3) |
[03 Jun 2006|06:24pm] |
Active living is leading a active lifestyle. It is participating in community events, actively in a team sport. It is being active within the communities and physically. A person should get minimun 30 min of vigorous exercise on a daily basis. Other ways on exercise is to take daily walks with the family, ride a bike, or go jogging. Depending on how intense it is, will determine how long it should be done. Walking, for example, should be done longer than jogging or intense bike riding.
How i plan to get more active.
- instead of getting a ride, i will walk or ride my bike wherever i can
- I will get into a team sport within school
- learn how to swim, ice skate, and other activities i have never really learned to do
- instead of going to the movies with friends, go ice skating.
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| Young People (Part 4) |
[02 Jun 2006|08:18pm] |
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Young people today are the people most affected by today's unhealthy society. They are the ones the junk food companies target, and they are starting to develop habits and routines that will still be with them as adults. The main reason why i chose to change my life was because I still can, I would find it much harder had I waited until it was too late. More people die from over nutrition (over eating) than under nutrition. This is because portion sizes have grown larger and larger, in restaurants, and at home. We have been told to finish everything on our plate, even when there is simple too much, training ourselves to eat more than we need. Admit it, if you went into a restaurant and actually got the required portion size, you would feel ripped off.
And the main killer
Junk Food
Young people eat the most junk food, or food with no nutritional value. It is cheap, and it tastes good. It's also addicting, when we are hungry we aren’t craving an apple or a celery stick, we want I nice big bag of salty potato chips, or a sugar filled donut. Jung food contains tons of sugar, which are basically empty calories. There are so many calories in junk food that most of the energy isn't used, so it is directly stored as fat.
Advertising is a big factor, because most junk food companies direct their advertising at young people, using situations appealing to a younger audience. It pulls you in while your young, telling you that you will look this way, or feel this way if you buy it. The media tells you how to look, and if you don't look that way young people can be negatively affected. Young women some times go to the extremes and don't eat at all to achieve the slim "fragile" look that they are told it "healthy". Instead they just make themselves sick physically and mentally. Other kind of eating disorders besides anorexia are bulimia (eating tons then purging it after) and compulsive over eating (eating when they are depressed, etc.) Advertising has many negative effects on young people today.
Problems at School
There are plenty of advertising even in our schools; we have vending machines filled with soft drinks and various kinds of chips and candy in every corner. In the cafeteria there French fries and hamburgers for sale. Students will frequently make the unhealthy choice, and eat the fries, just the fries, and maybe some cake for lunch. There are few healthy alternatives available in schools. Many schools are privatized, which mean they have no say in what they serve, it's up to some one else, and they may not have the students health at mind. But one of the biggest problems is the schools funding, junk food is the cheapest making it the easiest way to provide food for the students, and another way to earn money for programs within the school.
Students are again affected by the media and the ideal "beauty" only in schools students have an "image". They are always being pressure with how to look physically, and how to act in general. If you are too thin, you suddenly have anorexia, if you are overweight you are unhealthy and aren’t at all active. We are always trying to impress someone.
Youths think that nothing will affect them. They abuse their body’s playing sports, eat nothing but junk. They think that because they see no effects now, they never will. They don't realize anything they do now will come into play later on.
Technology
While technology is a great thing, it helps us to do many thing quicker and more efficiently, it also has it's negative effects. Now that we have a car to get around, we don't walk as much. We have a television to entertain us, so you don't have to make our own entertainment. Everything we go now requires less work, meaning we need less energy. One problem, we have if anything started to consume more energy than before. Young people can now just go on the computer and communicate with friends instead of going over to their home.
Poverty
Fast food, and junk food is cheaper that organic fruit and whole wheat bread, so it is cheaper to eat unhealthy, making it harder for people who have less money to eat unhealthy. The fast food companies know this too and there are more fast food restaurants in poorer neighborhoods. Also the parents don't have time to pay attention to what their children eat because they are busy working in order to pay the bills, so the families eat few home cooked meals.
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| Consequences ( Part 5 ) |
[01 Jun 2006|10:48pm] |
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There are many negative consequences to living unhealthy, as I would know. You feel tired and because of that have problems doing simple things like paying attention in class. Even though you feel tired, when it comes to sleeping it just doesn't happen, and it's hard being active because you easily get tired.
Long Term Consequences
There are many long term consequence will an unhealthy lifestyle. One's chances of heart disease and stroke are greater and at risk of getting cancer and type two diabetes, as well as high cholesterol and sleep apnea. These are things that can be prevented if we lead a healthier lifestyle. True it doesn't eliminate it from happening, but it puts one at a lower risk of ever getting them.
Consequences in Society
Because few people lead healthy lifestyles, more people are getting sick, making things like health care costs go up. People don't live as long because few lead health and active lives. Because more people are sick they are absent more often, and that in the long run will cost a company money if their employee aren't showing up for work. People aren't as happy and caring, and even more feel depressed. Society in general lack the same reputation and pride it once had.
This can change, I made a change in my life, and I still am changing. Being healthy isn't all that bad.
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| Metal Health ( Part 6 ) |
[31 May 2006|11:28pm] |
Mental health and well being is feeling relaxed and happy, and a positive outlook on life. Mental health is very important to one's health.
Stress is the main cause of bad mental health, it is being tense and is the opppsite of relaxation. It is cause by happenings in one's life, combined with the pressures of everyday life. It effects us by making us worried and creates negative feelings towards things that would normally not bother someone.
I found myself under a lot of stress in school. One minute i am being assigned a project, then i have a test in another class, so i study for the test and don't work on the project leaving it until the last minute, and worrying about the project while i do the test so i end up failing. I'm currently working on managing my time better, and I already feel more relaxed.
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| Causes of Stress (Part 7) |
[28 May 2006|01:45pm] |
There are many day to day causes of stress. Simple things like studying for a test, or waiting in traffic can lead to stress. There are also larger causes to stress.
Risks within a child
There are factors within a child that can lead to poor mental health. How they feel about themselves, and if they have and disabilities, mentally or physically.
Family risk factors
There are many common factors within a family that make if difficult for families to have stable lives for the children.
-Divorce and separation
- Bereavement
- Domestic violence
- Parental illness
The above factors can have many negative effects on a child's mental health.
Environmental Risks
There are several factors that affect mental health. Things like disaster are significant examples, but problems within school like bullying and peer pressure are also large factors. If a child misses a lot of school, or is discriminated against it will have negative effects on how they veiw situations.
Young people who are abused physically, sexually, emotionally, or neglected particularly vulnerable to mental health problems. Foster children are also at risk,.
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| Handling Stress (Part 8) |
[27 May 2006|02:33pm] |
There are many was to deal with stress. If one instead of having negative thoughts, tried to think of things positively. they would probably see reduced levels of stress. Next time when taking a test, say "I can do this, i know this." Instead of "Oh no, what am I doing! I don't know this."
Some pressure is good, because then you get things done and remember to do them. When there is pressure on one to do something it makes one recognize the importance of the task. Ways to cope with stress are to talk about it to a friend or family member. If there is no one around that can be trusted there are places to call, like the Kids Help Phone, 1-800-668-6868.
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| Consequences of Stress (More of Part 8)(Part 9) |
[25 May 2006|02:36pm] |
There are several consequences of stress. In the short term stress can cause tension, anxiety, problems focusing on small tasks, and sudden anger .Stress can lead to heart disease, stroke, cancer, eating disorders, diabetes, sleeping problems, and difficulty learning are some of the negative results of one under great amounts of stress. In order to prevent these one need to deal with their stress.
Some things i do to reduce stress.
Be creative
- I like to draw, paint or write poems about how i feel. Other ways are dancing, singing, and acting.
Tell some one
- Tell someone close to you how you feel, don't let your emotions bottle up.
Take time off
- Read a book, see a movies, listen to music, whatever suits you best.
Go Out
- go have fun with fiends, or join a local activity.
Get active
-exercise is a great way to get rid of stress, and to meet new people.
There are many ways to help yourself avoid the future health risks of stress.
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| References (Part 10) |
[20 May 2006|03:09pm] |
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Bias is viewing things from one side, and not thinking of how others are being effected by ones views. Bias is sort of like being in a box, they refuse to see another's point of view. One example is racism, few people who are racist care about how those of colour feel about what their opinions.
Sources
Supersize Me- The director, Morgan Spurlock created it to show the dangerous toll that fast food a taken on the world today. Those who Eat out a lot at fast food restaurants, and want to change will benefit because they will hopefully be more motivated to change. It was biased because he wouldn't show any positive information, yet again he was trying to prove a point. It provided information on consequences of junk food and unhealthy diets, along with information on advertisement within schools. It was a very useful resource in learning more about how society as a whole has become the victims of advertising.
The Weight of the World- Was created by David Suzuki to tell us about the latest man made epidemic, obesity. It is beneficial to those everyone willing to make a change. It is biased because it views as an uncontrollable disease. It provided a lot of information on ways to change ones life and on getting active. It was useful in thinking of ways society can change.
Diet and Nutrition- A movie created by schools to educate their students on the imortance of nutrion and their diets. They give a lot of extra information on food that are good for you and ways of improving one's diet. I used it to help my diet and look at things i could change. I didn't think it was bia, but a very good educational movie on diets.
Canada Healthy Eating and Living Guide- Was created by the government to show canadians how to eat properly, and educate them on healthy living. It benefits canadians who wish to live a healthy lifestyle. It is biased because it assumes we are all unhealthy. It provided information on the positive effects healthy living has on the body. It was useful when it came trying to figure out what i need to alter in my life, and what i needed more of.
Handling Stress: Today and Tomorrow- It was made by schools to talk about the effects of stress on young people. It benefits young people under stress so they can identify their causes and how to deal with them. It was bias because says all young people are under stress. It providing information on stress and dealing with it. It was useful in finding ways to deal with stress and made it easier to identify.
Wired For Health - Was created by a program looking to improve young people's health. It helps educate young people and people looking to help young people by discussing issues young people face. It is biases because it is assuming young people don't know how to make the right choices. It provided information on the causes and effects of today's society on young people. It was useful in looking at ways young people can be helped.
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