Nutrition

Chris Bosley

Exam #2

11\28\03

Nutrition

#1)

Each day you make many decisions that affect your health and how you feel. You may decide to use a seatbelt, drink milk instead of soda or go to sports practice. While each of these decisions may seem small, taken together, day after day and year after year, they have a big effect on your physical life. They influence your daily energy level and self-confidence, as well as your future health.

Emotional Health

Emotional health is a part of well being that deals with the mind, the chemistry of the brain, and how you view the situations you encounter. Your emotional health affects your body and your life more than you may realize. For example, a depressed person may lose his appetite, then this starts a cycle where he catches colds and flu's because his body does not have the energy to fight off viruses. This person then may feel more run down, and this can start to affect his life at school or work. If his performance drops, he may find that he is depressed for a longer period of time.

To ensure emotional well being, make sure you have someone whom you trust that you can share your feelings with. This tends to help take the load off and relieve stress. It is very important to have a good social support system. One must make sure you hang around people who are positive, who care and love you, and will listen to you.

Body Image\Weight Maintenance

In our society, we all want to look and feel our best. This is not always easy, considering the busy life everyone leads and the many responsibilities they may have. It can be tough to find time for exercising and eating right, not to mention controlling stress. Sometimes we can feel pressured to look and feel a certain way. We live in a culture that puts much emphasis on physical appearance. Youth is admired as well - not just in terms of age but also in terms of young attitudes and outlooks on life and physical fitness. When I used to be a little pudgy my body image fell as well causing my physical health to fall right with it. Interesting!! Developing and nurturing a positive body image and a healthy mental attitude is crucial to our happiness and wellness, as we move through the different stages of our lives.

Our health, which we sometimes can and cannot control, affects not just how we feel but how we look. Our body image - how we feel about how we look - can change when we have a health condition or illness, such as a skin disease or a disease like cancer. The good news is that information truly is power. Learning about how our health affects our body image is an important first step in developing a positive body image. As we live longer lives and enjoy far greater social, economic, and reproductive freedom than we have ever before, our risk for chronic diseases and other health concerns increases. Chronic diseases and health concerns can have a definite affect on a person's body image. Pretty much any outside factor will affect this.

Nutrition

Nutrition and eating right should be thought of as a way of living - a lifestyle; therefore, eating right is something that should happen on a daily basis without even thinking. Good nutrition is maintained by balance. You should ensure you gain balance by eating a variety of different foods and moderating how much of each type you eat. It is okay to eat high fat foods as long as they are offset with low fat foods.

Nutrition is the relationship of foods to the health of the human body. Proper nutrition means that you are receiving enough foods and supplements for the body to function at optimal capacity. It is important to remember that no single nutrient or activity can maintain optimal health and well being, although it has been proven that some nutrients are more important than others. All of the nutrients are necessary in different amounts along with exercise to maintain proper health.

There are six main types of nutrients used to maintain body health. They are: carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water. They all must be in balance for the body to function properly. There are also five major food groups. The groups are: fats and oils, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, grains, and meats. I have just started the South Beach Diet and I follow these main nutrients and the food groups and it definitely helps me eat healthier

The Role of Relationships

Relationships are a big part of staying healthy. This can include strong ties with your partner, child, family friends e.t.c. Relationships help you health most when you get support and satisfaction from them. Not having them can put you more at risk for early death and illness.

We know that married people live longer than those who have never been married. Also, a human's health risk is greater than if he\she is not married. Breakdown in a relationship can seriously harm a human's health as well. What's more, it can hurt other relationships. I myself had a beautiful and loving girlfriend for two years and when she was ridiculing me on moving for a job I was mean and pushed her away. Now I pushed her away for good and it caused me to be severely depressed and after four months I still can't stop thinking about her. Any human faced with this situation(like me) could lose his\her self-esteem, become depressed, take on more risky behaviors(alcohol\drugs).

Good communication is one of the most important parts of a healthy relationship. Without it, two people never really get to know each other or grow close. Healthy communication is two-way communication. In other words, listening is just as important as speaking. In fact, I think it is a relaxing activity. When you listen, your blood pressure drops. It's also important that communication be open. Although this may be hard for us, it is essential to all relationships. For example, if you and your partner can communicate your needs, you will probably feel closer and both be more satisfied in the relationship creating a more stable and controlled physical you.

Parenting

All parents know that keeping physically healthy is a great asset when you are parenting energetic youngsters. Many keep to an exercise regimen, others keep it in mind, and yet others, perhaps because of personal circumstances, are unable to do the physical exercise they would like to. But what about your mental health? If we are normal, functioning