Many thanks to our first group for leading us in some yoga exercises! In this class we discussed the objectives in teaching School Health Education and looked at B.C.'s IRP's for CAPP and Planning. We looked at some findings about substituting soybean-based meals in school lunches in "Soy Goes to School: Acceptance of Healthful, Vegetarian Options in Maryland Middle Schools" (April 2010) in the
Journal of School Health. Lastly we discussed the conventions of writing narrative and started writing about our personal health plan for the semester. On this prompt, you can share your narrative, or just a part of it, or, you can choose to include it in your reading log (private entry).
For next week, please bring a news article with recent information on a health topic related to Chapters 5, 6 & 7 in our textbook (for example: values, character, esteem, behaviour, mind, emotion, stress, healthy family relations, friends, dating, sex, marriage, planned parenthood, birth control, body health, female/male health, pregnancy/childbirth, care for infants/children, learning style, maturity, aging and death). I will be showing a DVD about depression and suicide, so to avoid redundancy, avoid those topics. (Reading for next week is just Chapters 5 & 6).
See you next week.
NW wrote:
ReplyDeleteSemester long project: Health goal
I have decided that I eat too much junk food. My goal this semester is to cut down on how much I consume. My goal is not to cut junk food out of my life, just have it in moderation. This is important for my over-aqll nutrition and fat/sugar intake. Also, jun food is expensive. Cutting down will also help me save money.
I plan to start this by assessing exactly how much junk food I eat in a typical week. For the next two weeks I will keep note of all the junk food items I eat for the next 2 weeks. Once I have a clear base line I can decided how much I want to reduce per week. I will start with defining what I think junk food is. This way I can have a clear idea of what I want to cut down on.
My definition of "junk food" is food is any ready to eat food such as chips, T.V. dinners, cookies, pop; any high calorie foods that contain high fat, salt or sugar content and low fibre. For convenience, I will simply note down when I have eaten such foods. I will not go so far as the measure the number of grams or the relative percentage of each type of nutrient. Basically, I'm counting the frequency to which I eat junk food and the goal will be to reduce this number.
Starting yesterday, I made a chart of the junk food I eat. Next week I will post the chart or summarize it.
Hey everyone,
ReplyDeleteSomething I was thinking about from last class was how schools are opting for healthy choices much more than they have in the past. When I went to elementary school, the only thing my school sold on a regular basis to the students were ‘gourmet lollipops’- essentially giant balls of sugary goodness. Everyone went crazy for those lollipops; they were very popular. Once I got to middle school, the vending machines were all chips and chocolate and the only fresh item sold there (we didn’t have a cafeteria at my school) were pepperoni cheese sticks. In high school, the ‘must have’ treat was fresh baked cookies (huge cookies) that were sold every morning break. My high school was also surrounded by fast food- McDonalds, A&W, Little Caesars, Panago, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen, and 7-11, among others, were all within a five minute walk. Working in schools now, it is really inspiring to see how much things have changed. Vending machines now do not hold any pop, chips, or chocolate and cafeterias are selling some of the healthiest lunches I have ever seen offered. On top of all these amazing healthy shifts in schools, it is also encouraging that many schools (at least the Coquitlam ones I have worked at) also offer healthy breakfast programs and many days will have a basket of fruit at the office for students to help themselves to. Working in one afterschool program I watched as a few of the elementary students I worked with devoured a box of cherry tomatoes- I certainly would not have touched those at that age. I am unsure how many schools sell soy products, but it is clear that schools are on the right track in terms of providing their students with healthy options.
My second discussion point is the beginning of my personal narrative. I have always been a huge lover of dance- I think it looks amazing and the strength and flexibility needed to dance are astounding. I have played around with dance classes in the past- I’ve taken jazz, bachata, hip hop, and pole dancing- but never really pursued it past one class or with any purpose other than to try something new with a friend. All things considered, my rhythm and flexibility are not amazing, making me a less than fantastic dancer. Therefore, I’ve decided to pursue my personal fitness this semester in a way that jives with my desire to take more dance classes. I have made a schedule of fitness classes and gym dates that allow me to be active five days a week and focus in on some skills necessary for dance. I am enrolled in a Pilates class (for core strength), a yoga class (for flexibility) and a dance class, in addition to going to the gym twice a week for a regular workout. This week has been great- I went to all my fitness classes, even if I was tired or stressed or had any other excuse in mind as to why I shouldn’t go, and enjoyed all of them. However, my motivation started to suffer when it came to the end of the week and I was planning to go to the gym (Thursday night is meant to be a gym night). It didn’t happen. Now, I still have the weekend to make up the other gym session, but things keep getting busier and, even as I write this, I know mustering up the motivation to go is going to be a challenge. Next week another one of my many jobs starts up, and I think that will help create a more regular routine, making it easier for me to follow my fitness schedule. However, whether that is a practical consideration that will actually help me stick to my schedule or simply a well crafted excuse remains to be seen.
Hey everyone
ReplyDeleteMy first discussion point is talking about how much cafeteria food has changed since I went to school. One of my friends has a little sister who goes to the same high school that I used to go to and they actually don’t serve the pizza, chicken fingers, fries and burgers that used to be the staple diet of the high schoolers back when I went there. They serve a lot of salads and dishes that are lower calorie, lower fat and have more vegetables and less processed foods. And vending machines now have items that have a green checkmark. While that may not be as good as eliminating all vending machines or even eliminating the “bad” items from the vending machine, it helps students to make a healthier choice rather than eating junk food.
My second discussion point is a bit of my health goal narrative: In high school, in grades 9 and 10, I couldn’t wait until grade 11 when physical education wasn’t a mandatory class. I wasn’t athletic at all, I was horrible at playing sports and physical education was the only course that I didn’t get good grades in. Once grade 11 came, I relished in the fact that I no longer had to be forced to play sports that I didn’t want to or go for runs in the pouring rain when I just wanted to sit and read a book. However, after I graduated, I realized that I wasn’t active at all because I wasn’t doing any form of exercise at school or at home, which was detrimental to my long-term good health and well being. I decided that once I was in university, I would start going to the gym on campus and work out regularly.
If you compared my life to a poker hand, one could possibly say that I have been dealt a winning combination. Having a roof over my head, loving and caring parents, living in a country that is not associated with any civic dispute or war, and the opportunity to continue my education at Simon Fraser, it could be said that this is a sweet hand to be dealt. However, one hand that does not work in my favor is my family’s long history of health challenges. Terms such as cancer, high blood pressure and cholesterol, heart attacks and strokes, is evident on both sides of my family and these are concerning issues that confront me on a daily basis. One could view these health challenges as a disadvantage and issues to be afraid of; however, I see this as an opportunity because, at the young age of 23, I have a chance to be proactive and to prevent and to hopefully keep these health problems at bay rather than waiting until it is too late.
ReplyDeleteBesides having a healthy diet, I also enjoy running so that I can maintain a healthy heart and stay in shape. Lately, however, I am guilty of not maintaining my routine of running four times a week for at least 30 minutes. Yes, I can say there is not enough time or that I am too tired after a long day at school but these are just excuses for me not maintaining a healthy lifestyle. However, on a positive note, I did take one step forward and jump- started this routine again and went for a nice 3.3 km run on a Monday after our class. I usually like to run with my IPod and headphones at night because it is cooler (but I stay on the main streets though). Running with an Ipod makes it more enjoyable to this activity more tolerable because I have a certain playlist of songs that keeps me motivated and moving at a decent pace. From “St. Elmo’s Fire” to Rocky’s “Hearts on Fire”, each song keeps me motivated and more importantly, moving.
It really feels good when running with a nice cool wind in your face and upbeat music because all the day’s problems and worries disappear and you are free. At the end of a run, I feel a sense of accomplishment not only for completing the run but knowing that I am stepping in the right direction of maintaining my health. It is satisfying to know that I am doing my part to keep healthy.
Now that I am starting to get back into a routine of running, I can no longer say that I have no time to fit in exercise as I am now aware of the times that I can go in the morning before school or on my days off. My health goal for this semester is to continue my routine of running, four times a week for 30 minutes and losing 5-10 pounds by the end of this semester. A priority is to keep the health challenges my family faces to a minimum risk and to accomplish this, I have two options. Firstly, I can choose to not continue my routine, to get limited physical activity and to wait until I am in older to act; however, by that time, it may be too late. Secondly, I can choose to engage and to actively maintain my newly established routine to help prevent these health problems now in order to enjoy and long and healthy life. I am not a rocket scientist but I think the second option might be the one to go with here.
Tawnya wrote:
ReplyDeleteLOG BOOK ENTRY--- Narrative
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Now that summer is over (and my trip to Hawaii has come and gone oh-so quickly) and the good food and sweet drinks are coming to an end it is time I get back on track in terms of eating healthy and feeling good inside and out. I have decide that I am going to do a two week cleanse in order to rid myself of all the junk food, and sweet beverages that I indulged in over the summer holidays. Not only do I want a fresh start, but I am hoping that by doing this cleanse I can also maintain better eating habits throughout the winter months. Thus, my goal is to ensure that I am eating small (healthy) meals/snacks throughout the day which will encourage me to eat smaller portions at dinner time. Also, I want to try my very best to stop eating after 8:00pm. If I do decide I am hungry and need a snack, I want to make sure my snacking choices are healthy (such as fruit or veggies). It is also important that I stay motivated and keep on top of my workout plan as much as I have been over the summer. As the weather gets colder and conditions get worse (snow), I need to ensure I don’t develop the habit of choosing the couch over the treadmill.
The cleanse that I am going to do is a two week all natural whole body cleanse; I have done it once before and I feel it is superior to other cleanses that are out there. This particular cleanse is recommended to be used when there is a transition in seasons. Thus, I am also taking part in this cleanse to rid myself of spring and summer toxins such as household cleaners, pesticides and fertilizers, plant pollens, bug sprays, and sun block. This cleanse supports detoxification of the whole body including ones intestines, liver, gall bladder, circulatory and lymphatic systems. Its purpose is to remove toxins, feel cleaner and lighter and to rejuvenate one’s body. What makes this cleanse even better is that it uses all natural herbs and plants that work in harmony with the body’s built in purification system. Another reason I like this product is because you are encouraged to change your eating habits in a healthy and safe way. You are not told to stop eating; instead you are encouraged to eat healthy, cut back on caffeine, dairy and wheat and to drink lots of water. They even say it’s ok to cheat occasionally as this wont ruin the outcome of the cleanse. Thus, the Whole Body Cleanse encourages people to develop health eating habits (by focusing on eating more fruits, vegetables, and proteins such as chicken and fish) that you can continue to use once the cleanse is complete!
The countdown is on… wish me luck!
My first discussion point will also be about school cafeteria food. I was a kid who always had her lunch packed by her mom every morning, and always had fully balanced nutritional lunch (water, sandwich, fruit, vegetables, and perhaps, one snack item like chocolate pudding). I remember always being jealous of the kids who got to bring in left over pizza or had fresh baked cookies. Once I got to middle and high school, my schools both had a cafeteria with actual food to buy (not just a vending machine with chips and chocolate bars). In middle school, every day the cafeteria kitchen would feature a different fast food option: Subway, Pizza Hut, McDonalds,etc. There was also cookies, candy, slushies and french fries. These types of foods were extremely popular, but didn't offer anything healthy to eat. When I got to high school, our school had a culinary program which allowed those students to cook the daily lunch feature in the cafeteria. There would be salads, pastas, burgers, fries, and pizza available every day, but one special item, such as stir fries or sushi platters, also available. The cafeteria lineups were also huge because the food being served was fresh, and mostly healthy options. I think it is so important for schools, especially secondary schools, to have culinary programs like this that allow kids to make healthy choices when buying their lunch. Obviously we cannot control students from going off campus to eat fast food, but giving them the option to have a chicken ceasar salad instead of a cheeseburger and fries, then over time that will hopefully allow to students to keep making those healthy choices.
ReplyDeleteAs for my personal health goals, I am trying to eat healthier. At home, I eat healthy for all meals, mostly thanks to my parents not buying typical junk food items, such as ice cream, chips or cookies. However, because I work at a restaurant, I tend to eat at funny hours due to working through typical lunch and dinner hours. Also, because I get food at work at a discounted price, it's extremely tempting to eat at work after every shift, which often tends to be late at night. Even if I don't eat at work, then I will stop by McDonalds or Subway on the way home from work. My health goal is to cut fast food type meals completely out of my diet for the remainder of the semester.
Balance work and play would be an ideal goal for everyone. I think balancing work and play doesn't mean the time you spend on work and play is the same, for me, it is more about the feeling part. In my own concept I think balance work and play means you think the time you spend on work and play make you feel good and appropriate. Although everyone would like to achieve balance work and play, it is really difficult to have a balance in reality. In reality it is quite easy for people to so focused on work or play, if some who are too focused on work and study he/she would easily got too stressed because they got too little time for relax, if some who are too focused on play he/she may easily feel like they don't have a target in their life and would worry about their own future, both these 2 cases would easily develop into emotional problem. In the past one of my friend has met the situation, she has been too focused on studying and do not let herself relax, at the period of time she always keeps on crying, frustrating and suddenly eating many, I think it is one of the bad example showing the effect of not balancing work and play.
ReplyDeleteAs I am a student, some may think that it would be easier for us to achieve balance work and play, but I don't think it is the case. We have to spend many time on studying, revising and preparing for lessons, sometimes when there are exams and many homework I would feel stressed also. For me, achieving work and play balance does not mean I spend the same time on both work and play. Actually if I really spend the same time on both work and play, I would definitely spend less time on studying and my result must be poorer and I would feel stressed also. Therefore in my case, to balance work and play, I have spent some of my leisure time on sports this week. There is some researches saying that during sports there would be a hormone produced in our body and made us feeling happier. Except doing some sports, I have also gone out with my friends. By talking to my dearest friends about what I am thinking and worrying these days made me feel relaxing, although I know the problems still haven't been solved I feel much better after talking with friends. I know I am still quite stressed because of studying, but I would try to achieve balancing work and play in this semester, I definitely think sports and talking with friends could make me feel more relaxing.
Cafeteria food in elementary school and high school was extremely different to how it is now. I attended a private elementary school and the food that was served in the cafeteria was extremely unhealthy. However, it was food that was affordable. So naturally, most children bought their lunches from school as opposed to eating a packed lunch. With gigantic pizza slices for only a dollar a slice and burgers with fries at just two dollars, nobody wanted to eat homemade sandwiches full of vegetables or fruit cups for lunch. I myself stood in line waiting for my pizza or burger, wasting the precious little time we were given for lunch break. In high school, the students’ overall health was considered, but to an extent. Despite the fact that there were still so many vending machines serving chips, soda and chocolate bars, our cafeteria served foods that semi-considered serving healthy food choices. Celery and carrots were served with our turkey sandwiches and fruit was served with yogurt for a snack. Although healthy food choices were available to students, the cafeteria also offered other foods including extra large pizza slices, French fries, chicken strips and of course, soft drinks. In high schools, students who ate lunch were more tempted to devour pizza and fries as opposed to a healthy sandwich with celery and carrots. We were given a choice and towards the end of lunch, the pizza and fries were always the first to run out. I have two younger sisters going to the same high school I attended and they prefer to take their own lunches because the vending machines now offer granola bars, and fruit-to-go bars and vitamin water. Sometimes, they prefer not to eat a lunch at all because they don’t have time to pack one in the morning and the food offered in the cafeteria isn’t as appetizing.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, despite the schools’ best efforts of encouraging healthy eating habits, it’s the students who decide whether they want to or not. I believe that they’d rather go hungry and not eat anything at all than eat something that isn’t as appetizing to them. Cafeteria foods shouldn’t all just be fruits and vegetables. While it’s a good thing to encourage eating healthy, students will only consider eating it if they are offered a balance of both healthy and not so healthy foods.
Personal Narrative:
I love sports. In high school I was a part of many teams, one of them being soccer. I have played soccer for over nine years and only stopped when I began my first year as a university student at SFU. I worked part-time, coached high school students, reffed games on the weekends and went to school full-time. Committing to a soccer team just wasn’t possible at the time. Currently, I am in my third year and have stopped reffing soccer games. I gave up being a coach and became an assistant coach instead. Having much less responsibility I did three years ago, my health goal for this semester is to try to get back into shape so I can begin to play again. A huge part of getting back into shape includes conditioning and running. Once I’ve built up my stamina again, I can work on the necessary footwork I need to play soccer again. Although I love sitting back and cheering on my favourite teams when, watching hockey, football, basketball and soccer, the feeling of actually playing and doing what I do best is incomparable. Therefore, my personal healthy goal for this semester is to get back into shape so that I can be good enough to join a league and play soccer like I know I can.
Personal Narrative
ReplyDeleteFor this semester the personal health goals that I have set for myself is to be more active, sleep more and stay away from the late night fast food. I find that my body is better at shutting off if I exercise moderately and not excessively. In the past, I would over work myself at the gym because I didn’t go very often. This in turn caused my body to ache and I was not able to fall asleep as easily. Kind of like a chain reaction, when I cannot fall asleep at night, I get hungry from all the tossing and turning. Eventually I would just get out of bed and find a way to satisfy my hunger.
Living alone, most of the time I do not have food readily available in the house so I would drive out and get some late night McDonalds or other fast food that is available at night time. The plan that I devised for myself is to exercise regularly. I would incorporate three workout sessions and two cardio sessions a week. All of the activities that I will be do will have to be limited to less than two hours. After the work out, I’m going to stay away from the computer because I heard that the radiation from the monitor tends to make it more difficult to fall asleep.
Basically by controlling my exercise routine and not going on the computer late at night I’ll be able to accomplish my other goals such as sleeping more and not eating fast food late at night.
Last class we discussed different ways students can maintain healthy behaviours. Students must consider three domains of health: physical, mental and family. These three domains must be considered in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The goal of schools is not only to practice good behaviour but also reduce the risks of getting any diseases when the students become older. Almost all schools have begun to serve healthy meals during lunchtime. The vending machines have much healthier alternatives and do not serve pop. This is a big change from when I was in high school because we had chocolate bars, candy, and pop in our machines. In class we discussed how one school has converted its meat products to soy products. I believe this is a good start to providing healthy options because soy products are lower in fat, cholesterol and calories than regular meats. By providing students with these healthy alternatives, they will already be cutting their calories and fat intake by half. However, schools have no control over the students once they are home. Then it is the parents’ job to ensure that their child is getting a healthy meal. They must take the time to cook a healthy meal and avoid buying fast food for the whole family. If schools and parents can work together then we can see a huge improvement in a healthy lifestyle among youth.
ReplyDeleteFor my narrative, I am going to eat healthy and exercise four times a week. I am going to make a schedule to make time to go to the gym and also have enough time to study and work part-time. I will also try to minimize my fast food intake as much as possible and bring a packed lunch from home. I will also make sure I eat the recommended fruits and vegetables per day and drink at least 8 glasses of water. I will try to get 8 hours of sleep every night because sleep is very essential to my health. Moreover, I love to play sports but have been very busy with school and work to play. My goal is to incorporate that into my schedule because it gives me a reason to get my required physical activity for the day. Other than that, I will make sure I am not exceeding my cholesterol and calorie intake. By the end of this semester, I hope to be much healthier as well as physically active overall.
Blog:
ReplyDeleteClass three my group introduced some yoga exercises and I hope most of you enjoyed it. I wanted to let people know that if they were interested in pursuing yoga as a possible health activity in their weekly routines, Bikram Hot Yoga offers many special deals for first time yoga students.
Tir-City bikram: http://www.bikramhotyoga.ca/
Vancouver Bikram: http://www.bikramyogavancouver.com/
Surrey Bikram: http://fahrenheityoga.com/bikramyogasurrey/
Another topic was also mentioned and I thought I could share some links as well was SFU intramurals leagues which offer many different team sport which are both fun and keeo you on track with your healthy goals. I used to volunteer there and all participants really enjoyed the variety of leagues available. SFU recreation also offers different classes such as Yoga, Tai Chi, Dance and much more.
Here is the link that offers more information: http://students.sfu.ca/recreation/
Another important topic, which we did not have time to discuss a lot in class but it was discussed in the book, is the topic of Media Literacy. This topic is of interest to me because of I am a communication major and many of my courses are concentrating on media and its effects on citizens. I find Media literacy in the classroom to be highly important and of value due to the increasing amounts of content being bombarded to children at younger and younger ages (from advertising, impossible ideal beauty images and hyper-sexuality on the media). A great book, which discusses critical media literacy extensively, is called Media/Cultural studies by Hammer, R. & Kellner, D.. The first chapter in the book summaries the importance of Critical media literacy within the classroom and introduces different ways of doing so.
Narrative:
I consider myself to have a love hate relationship with my health status. It usually works like this, two weeks of intense healthy living changes and then two weeks of slowly changing back to binging and making up for all the healthy choices I made. This occurs in three different sections of my health life: my eating habits, my physical activity and my spirituality. I want to change that by making my healthy living changes reasonably and easy to comply with. I would like to go to the gym at least 3 times a week (compared to my unrealistic goal of at least 5 times a week). I have an annual pass at a gym that is only 7 min drive away from my home. For my eating habits, I usually enjoy eating healthy foods because I know how to cook; however, it is when I am out with friends at restaurants that it becomes a shore to be healthy, since even “healthy options” at restaurants aren’t even that healthy. I have downloaded an app which allows me to count calories for any food item in almost all restaurants worldwide. This application on my iphone has helped me understand the nutrition facts in various restaurants foods, allowing me to make healthier decisions. As for my spirituality, I consider myself to be a devote Christian and my spirituality is something really important to me. I do notice the difference in my attitudes and my behaviors when I am at a better spiritual ground. That is why I would like to set a goal for meditation/prayer before I go to bed just at least 5-10min allowing me to focus on my relationship with God. I see this to be my connecting health goal to all my health changes. This will also help me strongly with my bad sleeping habits.
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ReplyDeleteIn terms of a healthy diet, I am also glad to see how much schools have changed their food sources so that students are now inundated with healthier choices as opposed to unhealthy ones. The soy article which we read during class was very interesting, and I think it was a good concept to instill into schools. Other options are indeed a better way to maintain a healthy lifestyle for children, who may not be living the most healthy lives. When I went to highschool, we had a cafeteria program where students could take a class, I believe it was called cooks training, and they created meals for the other students. A requirement was that it had to incorporate all four of the food groups and there always had to be a vegetarian option as well. It also helps that, as others have mentioned, the vending machines are trying to offer healthier snacks as opposed to sugary snacks. However, I do believe that nutrition is only part of the issue.
ReplyDeleteAnother concerning factor regarding children’s health is the lack of exercise. PE for my highschool was only mandatory until grade 10, from then onwards; a lot of people (including me) opted not to take it during the last two years of schooling. I think that it would be integral to incorporate more exercise in children’s everyday life because it does affect performance in school as well. Exercise creates adrenaline and releases endorphins that make us feel better and, in some studies, happier as well. That’s why, for my personal narrative, I chose to increase my daily exercise because I have come to see how little I exercise and it is a growing concern. I always seem to come up with excuses such as transiting is faster because I am on a tight schedule, or that I won’t have enough time if I walk to here or there. But I will try to opt for walking, in as many instances as I can. I will also try to go to the gym twice a week, or as often as I can given my busy schedule.