This section will look at different ways to help you improve your lifestyle to make it more healthy. Eating good food and making good lifestyle choices are important for your physical health and well-being. However, it is not just about what you eat and the amount of exercising you do.
A healthy person:
- Gets a good amount of sleep
- Avoids alcohol
- Is a healthy weight
- Does not smoke
- Eats a balanced diet
- Thinks positively
- Exercises regularly
It is important to have a good nights sleep, as it can help protect your mental and physical health. Not getting enough sleep can affect how well you think, react, work, learn and get along with others. It can also raise your risk of some long-term health problems.
Scientists have found that an average teenager needs at least 9 hours sleep a night. However, the average adult needs between 7 and 9 hours of sleep.
Tips on how to get a good nights sleep:
- Do not have caffeine or alcohol late in the day.
- Do not have a nap.
- Do talk about anything you are worried about before bed.
- Do relax and wind down 1 hour before bed- read a book, take a bath.
- Do turn your phone, computer and TV off 30 minutes before bed.
- Do make sure your bedroom is dark.
- Do sleep in a cold room .
Having a balanced diet allows your body to get all the ingredients it needs to function correctly. Without this you can become ill, feel tired or find it hard to focus. To have a balanced diet, you should:
- Eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day
- Base meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and starchy carbohydrates
- Have some dairy or alternative dairy (soya drinks)
- Eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meats and other proteins
- Drink 6-8 glasses of water or fluids a day
Drinking water can:
- Make you feel more energetic and improves your focus
- Moisturize your skin- keeping it fresh
- Regulate your body temperature
- Boost your immune system- helping you fight against cold and flu
How to build a healthy plate:
- Fill ½ your plate with fruit and/or vegetables
- Fill ¼ of your plate with protein
- Fill ¼ of your plate with carbohydrates and fibre
This consists of fast food products such as chips, fried chicken, pizza. However, they are not the only cause to an unhealthy diet. If you continue to eat an unhealthy diet, you can
- Feel tired.
- Gain weight.
- Affect how quickly you think, react and work.
- Increases your chances of heart disease and diabetes.
- Tooth decay – due to, too much sugar.
Drugs and medicine
Prescription drugs are used to help you feel better if you are ill and this is called medicine. However, some medicine can be harmful as well as illegal drugs as they can become addictive which means they can cause damage to your body.
Smoking:
Cigarettes contain lots of different ingredients including tobacco, this can damage your lungs and heart, which can develop into cancer. A drug found in cigarettes is called nicotine and this is very addictive, which is why people find it hard to quit.
Alcohol:
This is a drug found in drinks such as beer, cider & wine. You must be over the age of 18 to buy alcohol. The maximum number of units a week for both men and women are 14 units. This should be spread evenly throughout the week. However, there is no completely safe limit for alcohol as everyone is different. Drinking more than this amount can have damaging effects.
Snacking on Foods/ Drinks high in sugar
Small amounts of sugary foods/ drinks is fine now and then, but you should try and cut back when possible as they can cause serious harm to your health, if eaten in large amounts on a regular basis. Some example of these are: flavoured water, sports drinks, sweets, biscuits, cakes etc. Try and choose foods with natural sugars(whole fruit, honey etc) instead.
Regularly eating foods high in sugar can lead to a sugar addiction, this can make you crave sugar at any time especially times of stress.
It has also been linked too:
- Weight gain
- Tooth decay
- Increase risk of heart disease
- Bad skin
- Increasing your risk of diabetes
- Increasing your risk of cancer
- Increasing your risk of depression
- Draining your energy levels
Below are some examples of how much sugar is in foods and drinks we regularly have.
- 1 scoop of ice cream- 4 sugar cubs
- Bag of jelly babies- 54 sugar cubes
- A can of coke – 14 sugar cubes
- 3 Jaffa cakes- 8 sugar cubes
About Covid-19
Covid-19 is a new illness that first appeared at the beginning of 2020 in China. The first cases in the UK happened in February but before that a lot of other European countries such as Italy, Spain and France were all affected too. Covid-19 has spread to lots of other countries across the world and was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in March 2020. Stopping the spread of Covid-19 has affected how we all learn, work, travel and socialise.
Symptoms
Most people who catch Covid-19 will have a mild illness and some people might not even know they have it. There are some people who might experience a more serious illness who may need to go to hospital and sadly people across the world have died because of Covid-19. The main symptoms are a new cough, a high temperature and a loss of smell or taste. Throughout the year there are lots of viruses that cause cold and flu like symptoms so if you think you have Covid-19 because you have any of the symptoms you should ask to get a test. This can be arranged free of charge through the NHS.
Who is most affected if they catch Covid-19?
Older people
People who already have illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer or asthma
People who are very overweight
Men can be more affected than women
People who are from Black and other ethnic groups
How can you avoid catching it?
Covid-19 is mainly spread through close contact with other people when they breathe, cough or sneeze near you. The virus can also be spread when people who have it touch hard surfaces as the virus could be on their hands. There are some easy steps you can take to avoid catching it:
Wash your hands throughout the day for at least 20 seconds with anti-bacterial soap
Sanitize you hands with gel which is anti-bacterial – you will see sanitizer when you walk into most shops, business and schools.
Socially distance from people who are not part of your household. This means you should try to stay at least 2 metres away from people.
Wear a face covering when you are shopping or in a more crowded place such as school corridors, church or cinema.
You should follow the government rules about who you can socialise with and where you can socialise. There are different rules for meeting people inside your house or outside in your garden or outdoors.
Staying Connected during Covid-19
In March the UK government decided to Lockdown the UK. All the schools, businesses, restaurants and leisure centres shut down. People were not allowed to make unnecessary journeys and could only go out for exercise once or twice each day close to where they lived or to get shopping. This was decided to try and stop the spread of Covid-19 as when people meet up and are in close contact the virus can easily spread. It is very likely that there will still be some, or a lot of, restrictions about how we socialise over the coming months.
Keeping in touch with friends and family has been very different during Covid-19. We have not been able to visit people in their homes or to go to the social activities we took for granted. We can still stay in touch with friends and family through phone calls and using Apps that allow you to connect virtually.
Zoom
One of the main platforms which people use to virtually stay in touch is Zoom. You can download it onto your smartphone, tablet or laptop free of charge. This allows you to talk to people through video for up to 40 minutes. A lot of organisations, including Orchardville, use Zoom to keep in touch with participants when they can’t attend groups. Groups have fun playing quizzes, sharing stories, watching baking demonstrations, doing yoga and just keeping in touch with friends. You will need to have an internet connection in your house to be able to use it or mobile data on your phone.
This is another very popular way to send messages, photos and videos using your Smartphone or tablet. You can download the App for free and then call people 1-1 or set up group chats or video calls to keep in touch. On WhatsApp you can have up to 4 people on a group chat and there is no time limit on how long you can talk. You will need to have an internet connection in your house to be able to use it or mobile data on your phone.
…..and don’t forget good old fashioned phone calls!
Things to do to keep you busy
During lockdown a lot of people became very bored and frustrated as they could not do all the things they enjoyed doing before Covid-19. Other people stayed positive and used it as a chance to learn new skills, take up a hobby, get more fit and lose weight. Here are some ideas from Orchardville participants, of all ages, who found things to do during lockdown:
Learnt to bake cakes, scones and bread
Arts & Crafts
Walking the dog
Yoga and armchair aerobics
Learnt cookery skills such as making pasta, pizza and burgers.
Gardening – planting vegetables and growing flowers
Spring clean their room or house
Kept a diary and/or did creative writing
Listened to podcasts and learning about history or other interesting topics
Virtual tours of museums and sites around the world
Helped out around the house and garden
Online learning through google classroom – school or Orchardville site
The most important thing you can do if your life is disrupted because of Covid-19 is to keep busy and make sure your day still has structure. Try and get up at the same time each day, shower, eat meals at around the same time and go to bed at the usual time.