Nutrition

Nutrition is important when you are trying to be healthy.  We did a food log for class and it made me think about all the bad and unhealthy foods I am eating every day.  We had to keep track of all the food and drinks we had for three days straight.  Then we had to outline all good food in yellow and all bad food in red.  When I saw my list, I saw that most of the foods I had were in red.  I had candy, french fries, hamburgers, chicken strips, and Dr Pepper.  I did not have any fruits and only one vegetable.  It made me see that I need to start eating better foods if I want to be healthy.

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In module 7 of our lessons, it talks about that it is important for us to make good choices for food now while we are teenagers.  It says that choices we make now will be with us when we are adults.  That is why I want to start eating more healthy foods. In Lesson 3 it talks about healthy and unhealthy foods. Healthy foods have lots of vitamins.  The lesson says you should watch how much protein, carbohydrates, and fats each of the foods has.  Some foods have lots of fat like french fries or frozen pizzas and too much fat is really bad for us.  I eat lots of french fries and frozen pizza so I need to change that and start eating different foods instead.  The lesson also talks about sugars and eating too much sugar is also unhealthy.  That means I need to drink lots more water or milk instead of soda and eat good snacks instead of candy.

Nutrition is important for our bodies.  We need to eat good food if we want to stay healthy and be able to do activities and exercise.  I am glad I had this lesson so I could see that I need to start eating foods that are good for me.

Reflection

We had to create SMART goals during our class.  For my first set of goals, I decided I would try to get more sleep at night and to also spend more time with my brother.  For the first goal, I wanted to try to get 7 hours of sleep at night.  I decided I would try to do this by not playing video games with friends late at night and go to bed instead.  I decided I needed more sleep to help me be able to think better and to also not be too tired to do exercises.

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I didn't do very well with this goal.  It was really hard because now that it is summer, I want to play video games at night and talk to my friends.  Sometimes it is the only time I get to talk to my best friend because he still has to stay home all the time because of the virus.  It is also hard because I don't have to get up super early like I do for school.  I decided I would keep trying to get this goal though.  I am now practicing for football every morning at 6:00am and it would be good to go to bed early and get enough sleep so I am not tired every day.

My other goal was to spend more time with my brother.  I have an older sister and a little brother and I thought it was important to spend more time with him.  It was hard too because he likes to play video games with his friends too.  Sometimes we play the games together.  I made time to go outside in the backyard to play catch with him or have him hang out with me and my friends.

I want to keep working on this goal too because I will get to spend more time with my brother.  If we do sports or exercise together then we will be able to be healthy too.

Selecting Physical Activities

In module 4 Lesson 2 it says that there can be different things to consider when choosing physical activities which includes health conditions, personality and attitude, participation reasons, and environmental and weather reasons.  First, health conditions can help you choose what activities you can participate in because you may not be healthy enough to do sports that are hard.  An older person might have a really hard time running up and down a basketball court compared to a teenager.

Personality and attitude are another thing to think about.  I love sports.  I really love baseball and football.  I think my personality is good for these sports because I love to be part of a team and I really love to compete with my teams and win games.  I don't like sports or activities where I have to do things alone.  I want to play with friends and teammates and win things together.

The reason for participation can also help decide which activities you want to do.  I started baseball when I was six years old.  I was born deaf and playing baseball and meeting new people helped me to not by shy and worry about being deaf.  It was good to be part of teams that were nice to me and didn't care that I was different.  It helped me to love baseball and football even more.

In the lesson it also talks about environment and weather and how they can help you choose or stay away from activities.  It's really hot here in Vegas and you have to get used to playing in the heat if you want to play sports.  I have played for a long time now and I am used to playing even when it is really hot and I sweat a lot.  My friends are used to it too.  We just know that you have to do things to help you get through the game like drinking lots of cold water or using cold towels to help you cool down.  Sometimes our parents have pop up tents that provide shade and that helps.  I have family that comes to visit and they complain how hot it is.  They would not want to play sports outside when it is hot because they are not used to the sun and the heat.

All of these things can help you decide what activities or sports you want to play.  It's important to do something you like so that you will want to keep doing it.

Lifestyle Guidelines

Physical activity is important for everyone.  It keeps us healthy and well and can help us live longer and happier lives.  Below is a chart showing a Physical Activity Pyramid that tells us what kinds of physical activities are important for us to do.  In Module 5 Lesson 1 titled "Lifetime Wellness", it talks about the different kinds of physical activities we need to do.  It says cardiovascular can be both aerobic activity like swimming or running, or aerobic sports like baseball or soccer.  Cardiovascular activities help your heart work right and gets your system moving right. 

Activity Pyramid image source by https://goo.gl/images/6TMxKe

In Lesson 1 it also talks about flexibility activities such as dance.  These are important because they help you do normal activities that you do every day.  They help your muscles.

Assessing Health and Fitness

You can see what your health and fitness levels are by using objective assessments.  In module 3 lesson 4, it says that objective assessments is true information about your physical health.  The lesson says these assessments include things like Weight, Resting Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, Body Mass Index, and Circumference Measurements.

Weight can be measured by using a scale.  The lesson says you should always use the same scale and try not to wear too many clothes.  If you know your weight then it can help you decide what changes you might want to make.

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Resting Heart Rate is described in lesson 4 as the number of times your heart beats per minute while you are resting. It said it's best to do it first thing before you get out of bed.  You do it by placing your fingers on your artery in your wrist.

Number of beats for 10 seconds times 6 = beats per minute

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The lesson says blood pressure measures the amount of pressure on arteries.  It also says body mass index or BMI measures your body in comparison of weight to height.  It says the way to measure is weight/height2. You want a body mass index of less than 25 in order to be healthy. More than that means you are overweight.

The lesson also talks about circumference measurements.  We did this for two assignments.  I had to measure around my waist and hips, chest, thigh, and upper arm.  This is to see how big around your body parts are and it can help you track if you are losing or gaining weight or getting muscles.