Period 8 Nutrients

There are three Macronutrients that your body needs to get from food for energy and for survival. They are carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Everything that you eat falls into one of these three categories. Your body needs all three. In order to optimize energy levels and health it is important to get all three in each meal that you eat.


They are carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Below are some examples of foods for each macronutrient.

Common sources of carbohydrates - starchy foods (like grain, bread, bagels,cereals and potatoes), fruits, milk, and yogurt. Other foods like vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and cottage cheese contain carbohydrates, but in lesser amounts. Fruit juice, energy drinks, sport drinks, and sodas.

Common Sources of proteins meats, poultry, fish, meat substitutes, cheese, milk, nuts, legumes(beans)

Common Sources of fat are meat, poultry, nuts, milk products, butters, oils, lard, olive oil, avocados, nuts, and coconut oil.

For this weeks blog I want you to think about everything you ate and drank throughout the day yesterday. Write it down if you have to and, using percentages, tell me what the macronutrient breakdown of your nutrition was for yesterday.

For example: Yesterday I had spinach(carb), eggs(protein) and ham(protein) with some almonds(fat) for breakfast. For lunch I had chili(Protein) with kale(carb) and guacamole(fat) and dinner I had two hamburgers(protein) on top of a spinach salad(carbs) with some more guac(fat). I only drink water and coffee so they do not count towards my macronutrients.

The breakdown looks like this:
Protein: 4
Carbs: 3
Fat: 3

Or as a percentage
Protein 40%
Carbs 30%
Fat 30%

Period 7 Nutrition

There are three Macronutrients that your body needs to get from food for energy and for survival. They are carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Everything that you eat falls into one of these three categories. Your body needs all three. In order to optimize energy levels and health it is important to get all three in each meal that you eat.

They are carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Below are some examples of foods for each macronutrient.

Common sources of carbohydrates - starchy foods (like grain, bread, bagels,cereals and potatoes), fruits, milk, and yogurt. Other foods like vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and cottage cheese contain carbohydrates, but in lesser amounts. Fruit juice, energy drinks, sport drinks, and sodas.

Common Sources of proteins meats, poultry, fish, meat substitutes, cheese, milk, nuts, legumes(beans)

Common Sources of fat meat, poultry, nuts, milk products, butters, oils, lard, olive oil, avocados, nuts, and coconut oil.

For this weeks blog I want you to think about everything you ate and drank throughout the day yesterday. Write it down if you have to and, using percentages, tell me what the macronutrient breakdown of your nutrition was for yesterday.

For example: Yesterday I had spinach(carb), eggs(protein) and ham(protein) with some almonds(fat) for breakfast. For lunch I had chili(Protein) with kale(carb) and guacamole(fat) and dinner I had two hamburgers(protein) on top of a spinach salad(carbs) with some more guac(fat). I only drink water and coffee so they do not count towards my macronutrients.

The breakdown looks like this:
Protein: 4
Carbs: 3
Fat: 3

Or as a percentage
Protein 40%
Carbs 30%
Fat 30%

Period 5 Nutrition

There are three Macronutrients that your body needs to get from food for energy and for survival. They are carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Everything that you eat falls into one of these three categories. Your body needs all three. In order to optimize energy levels and health it is important to get all three in each meal that you eat.

They are carbohydrates, proteins and fats.  Below are some examples of foods for each macronutrient.
Common sources of carbohydrates - starchy foods (like grain, bread, bagels,cereals and potatoes), fruits, milk, and yogurt. Other foods like vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and cottage cheese contain carbohydrates, but in lesser amounts. Fruit juice, energy drinks, sport drinks, and sodas.
Common Sources of proteins meats, poultry, fish, meat substitutes, cheese, milk, nuts, legumes(beans)

Common Sources of fat meat, poultry, nuts, milk products, butters, oils, lard, olive oil, avocados, nuts, and coconut oil.

For this weeks blog I want you to think about everything you ate and drank throughout the day yesterday.  Write it down if you have to and, using percentages, tell me what the macronutrient breakdown of your nutrition was for yesterday.

For example: Yesterday I had spinach(carb), eggs(protein) and ham(protein) with some almonds(fat) for breakfast.  For lunch I had chili(Protein) with kale(carb) and guacamole(fat) and dinner I had two hamburgers(protein) on top of a spinach salad(carbs) with some more guac(fat).  I only drink water and coffee so they do not count towards my macronutrients.

The breakdown looks like this:

Protein: 4
Carbs:  3
Fat:  3

Or as a percentage
Protein 40%
Carbs 30%
Fat 30%

Period 5 Stress

How You Can Deal With High School Stress

High school can be a pretty tough time for many students: classes become harder, you have more responsibility, you feel the need to fit in with your peers, and perhaps you even have to work. This article provides several tips on managing your stress level.
The following are six tips, adapted from about.com, that can help reduce your stress:
- Have a healthy escape from school
- Lighten up and laugh a little
- Give yourself a little reward for doing well
- Keep things in perspective
- Be positive

- Stay away from drugs and alcohol

A healthy escape from school means breaking your daily routine a little. Give yourself a little bit of 'me' time each day. A good idea is to use this 'me' time to do something physical: physical activity reduces stress. For example, take a walk or hike, play with your dog outside, shoot some hoops, jump rope, etc. However, don't just be creative with your physical activity, be creative about hobbies you may want to pursue. If you like the sound of a saxophone, you could try taking lessons. Even underwater basket weaving has its place if it helps you relax and have fun.

Even when you do your day-to-day activities, don't take things too seriously-laugh a little. Laughter can get rid of stress as well as exercise can, and it's another healthy escape. There are things you can do to promote a light-hearted nature: spice up movie night with a comedy, buy some funny books/magazines, and most importantly, be able to laugh at yourself even when things don't go your way.

You should reward yourself for doing well in school, on a sports team, or for doing all your chores and homework and other commitments without any complaints. This doesn't mean you should go buy yourself a new computer. Nor does it mean you should reward yourself for every little thing like just getting up in the morning. What this means is when you know you have performed well on a given task, don't be afraid to give yourself a pat on the back.

An important skill to have throughout your life is to keep things in perspective. A proper perspective actually reduces stress. For any situation that is stressful, take a second to look at it from a different point of view. Try to visualize how unimportant this stressful moment is in the whole scheme of life. This exercise is designed to help you 'let go' of the little stress triggers that everyone experiences.

Often associated with proper perspective is positive thinking. The next time a stressful situation happens, instead of focusing on how it can ruin your life, focus on the benefits of overcoming this little hurdle. If a big test is coming up, don't look at it with the attitude, 'If I fail, I'll do bad in the class.' Instead, look at it with the attitude, 'When I pass this test, I'll be closer to my class goal of an 'A'!'

You've heard before and you'll hear it again-stay away from drugs and alcohol! Imagine this situation: You have a really nice car, I mean, REALLY nice. The color, make, model, everything you want in a car. The car needs work done on it, so you take it to the mechanic. He spends a lot of time on it and you spend a lot of money on it. Finally you get it back. What's the first thing you do with it? You take out your dad's sledgehammer and beat the bearings out of it? Why would you do that? The same is true with your body and drugs and alcohol. You are given a truly remarkable body. You spend time improving it inside and out. So, why would you destroy all the work and money you've spent on your body? Good answer-you shouldn't.

What do you do to handle stress? For this weeks blog, let me know what you have used in the past to help you relieve stress. If you do not have any current strategies which ones listed above do you think would work for you?

Period 7 Stress

How You Can Deal With High School Stress

High school can be a pretty tough time for many students: classes become harder, you have more responsibility, you feel the need to fit in with your peers, and perhaps you even have to work. This article provides several tips on managing your stress level.
The following are six tips, adapted from about.com, that can help reduce your stress:
- Have a healthy escape from school
- Lighten up and laugh a little
- Give yourself a little reward for doing well
- Keep things in perspective
- Be positive

- Stay away from drugs and alcohol

A healthy escape from school means breaking your daily routine a little. Give yourself a little bit of 'me' time each day. A good idea is to use this 'me' time to do something physical: physical activity reduces stress. For example, take a walk or hike, play with your dog outside, shoot some hoops, jump rope, etc. However, don't just be creative with your physical activity, be creative about hobbies you may want to pursue. If you like the sound of a saxophone, you could try taking lessons. Even underwater basket weaving has its place if it helps you relax and have fun.

Even when you do your day-to-day activities, don't take things too seriously-laugh a little. Laughter can get rid of stress as well as exercise can, and it's another healthy escape. There are things you can do to promote a light-hearted nature: spice up movie night with a comedy, buy some funny books/magazines, and most importantly, be able to laugh at yourself even when things don't go your way.

You should reward yourself for doing well in school, on a sports team, or for doing all your chores and homework and other commitments without any complaints. This doesn't mean you should go buy yourself a new computer. Nor does it mean you should reward yourself for every little thing like just getting up in the morning. What this means is when you know you have performed well on a given task, don't be afraid to give yourself a pat on the back.

An important skill to have throughout your life is to keep things in perspective. A proper perspective actually reduces stress. For any situation that is stressful, take a second to look at it from a different point of view. Try to visualize how unimportant this stressful moment is in the whole scheme of life. This exercise is designed to help you 'let go' of the little stress triggers that everyone experiences.

Often associated with proper perspective is positive thinking. The next time a stressful situation happens, instead of focusing on how it can ruin your life, focus on the benefits of overcoming this little hurdle. If a big test is coming up, don't look at it with the attitude, 'If I fail, I'll do bad in the class.' Instead, look at it with the attitude, 'When I pass this test, I'll be closer to my class goal of an 'A'!'

You've heard before and you'll hear it again-stay away from drugs and alcohol! Imagine this situation: You have a really nice car, I mean, REALLY nice. The color, make, model, everything you want in a car. The car needs work done on it, so you take it to the mechanic. He spends a lot of time on it and you spend a lot of money on it. Finally you get it back. What's the first thing you do with it? You take out your dad's sledgehammer and beat the bearings out of it? Why would you do that? The same is true with your body and drugs and alcohol. You are given a truly remarkable body. You spend time improving it inside and out. So, why would you destroy all the work and money you've spent on your body? Good answer-you shouldn't.

What do you do to handle stress? For this weeks blog, let me know what you have used in the past to help you relieve stress. If you do not have any current strategies which ones listed above do you think would work for you?

Period 8 Stress

How You Can Deal With High School Stress


High school can be a pretty tough time for many students: classes become harder, you have more responsibility, you feel the need to fit in with your peers, and perhaps you even have to work. This article provides several tips on managing your stress level.
The following are six tips, adapted from about.com, that can help reduce your stress:
- Have a healthy escape from school
- Lighten up and laugh a little

- Give yourself a little reward for doing well
- Keep things in perspective
- Be positive
- Stay away from drugs and alcohol
A healthy escape from school means breaking your daily routine a little. Give yourself a little bit of 'me' time each day. A good idea is to use this 'me' time to do something physical: physical activity reduces stress. For example, take a walk or hike, play with your dog outside, shoot some hoops, jump rope, etc. However, don't just be creative with your physical activity, be creative about hobbies you may want to pursue. If you like the sound of a saxophone, you could try taking lessons. Even underwater basket weaving has its place if it helps you relax and have fun.
Even when you do your day-to-day activities, don't take things too seriously-laugh a little. Laughter can get rid of stress as well as exercise can, and it's another healthy escape. There are things you can do to promote a light-hearted nature: spice up movie night with a comedy, buy some funny books/magazines, and most importantly, be able to laugh at yourself even when things don't go your way.
You should reward yourself for doing well in school, on a sports team, or for doing all your chores and homework and other commitments without any complaints. This doesn't mean you should go buy yourself a new computer. Nor does it mean you should reward yourself for every little thing like just getting up in the morning. What this means is when you know you have performed well on a given task, don't be afraid to give yourself a pat on the back.
An important skill to have throughout your life is to keep things in perspective. A proper perspective actually reduces stress. For any situation that is stressful, take a second to look at it from a different point of view. Try to visualize how unimportant this stressful moment is in the whole scheme of life. This exercise is designed to help you 'let go' of the little stress triggers that everyone experiences.
Often associated with proper perspective is positive thinking. The next time a stressful situation happens, instead of focusing on how it can ruin your life, focus on the benefits of overcoming this little hurdle. If a big test is coming up, don't look at it with the attitude, 'If I fail, I'll do bad in the class.' Instead, look at it with the attitude, 'When I pass this test, I'll be closer to my class goal of an 'A'!'

You've heard before and you'll hear it again-stay away from drugs and alcohol! Imagine this situation: You have a really nice car, I mean, REALLY nice. The color, make, model, everything you want in a car. The car needs work done on it, so you take it to the mechanic. He spends a lot of time on it and you spend a lot of money on it. Finally you get it back. What's the first thing you do with it? You take out your dad's sledgehammer and beat the bearings out of it? Why would you do that? The same is true with your body and drugs and alcohol. You are given a truly remarkable body. You spend time improving it inside and out. So, why would you destroy all the work and money you've spent on your body? Good answer-you shouldn't.

What do you do to handle stress?  For this weeks blog, let me know what you have used in the past to help you relieve stress.  If you do not have any current strategies which ones listed above do you think would work for you?

Period 8 Sleep

Hope you enjoyed your break.  We will finish out the semester using our blog to focus on lifestyle factors that influence our health. These lifestyle factors may seem minor but can have a huge impact on our well being. These posts will be a bit longer and will require you to do some reading.

Our first topic is sleep. Please read the following information on teens and sleep from The National Sleep Foundation.

Sleep is food for the brain. During sleep, important body functions and brain activity occur. Skipping sleep can be harmful — even deadly, particularly if you are behind the wheel. You can look bad, you may feel moody, and you perform poorly. Sleepiness can make it hard to get along with your family and friends and hurt your scores on school exams, on the court or on the field. Remember: A brain that is hungry for sleep will get it, even when you don’t expect it. For example, drowsiness and falling asleep at the wheel cause more than 100,000 car crashes every year. When you do not get enough sleep, you are more likely to have an accident, injury and/or illness.

FACTS:

•Sleep is vital to your well-being, as important as the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat. It can even help you to eat better and manage the stress of being a teen.

•Biological sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during adolescence -- meaning it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00 pm.

•Teens need about 9 1/4 hours of sleep each night to function best (for some, 8 1/2 hours is enough). Most teens do not get enough sleep — one study found that only 15% reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours on school nights.

•Teens tend to have irregular sleep patterns across the week — they typically stay up late and sleep in late on the weekends, which can affect their biological clocks and hurt the quality of their sleep.

•Many teens suffer from treatable sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy, insomnia, restless legs syndrome or sleep apnea.

CONSEQUENCES:

Not getting enough sleep or having sleep difficulties can:

•Limit your ability to learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems. You may even forget important information like names, numbers, your homework or a date with a special person in your life;

•Make you more prone to pimples. Lack of sleep can contribute to acne and other skin problems;

•Lead to aggressive or inappropriate behavior such as yelling at your friends or being impatient with your teachers or family members;

•Cause you to eat too much or eat unhealthy foods like sweets and fried foods that lead to weight gain;

•Heighten the effects of alcohol and possibly increase use of caffeine and nicotine; and

•Contribute to illness, not using equipment safely or driving drowsy.

SOLUTIONS:
•Make sleep a priority. Review Teen Time in this toolkit and keep the Teen Sleep Diary. Decide what you need to change to get enough sleep to stay healthy, happy, and smart!

•Naps can help pick you up and make you work more efficiently, if you plan them right. Naps that are too long or too close to bedtime can interfere with your regular sleep.

•Make your room a sleep haven. Keep it cool, quiet and dark. If you need to, get eyeshades or blackout curtains. Let in bright light in the morning to signal your body to wake up.

•No pills, vitamins or drinks can replace good sleep. Consuming caffeine close to bedtime can hurt your sleep, so avoid coffee, tea, soda/pop and chocolate late in the day so you can get to sleep at night. Nicotine and alcohol will also interfere with your sleep.

•When you are sleep deprived, you are as impaired as driving with a blood alcohol content of .08%, which is illegal for drivers in many states. Drowsy driving causes over 100,000 crashes each year. Recognize sleep deprivation and call someone else for a ride. Only sleep can save you!

•Establish a bed and wake-time and stick to it, coming as close as you can on the weekends. A consistent sleep schedule will help you feel less tired since it allows your body to get in sync with its natural patterns. You will find that it’s easier to fall asleep at bedtime with this type of routine.

•Don’t eat, drink, or exercise within a few hours of your bedtime. Don’t leave your homework for the last minute. Try to avoid the TV, computer and telephone in the hour before you go to bed. Stick to quiet, calm activities, and you’ll fall asleep much more easily!

•If you do the same things every night before you go to sleep, you teach your body the signals that it’s time for bed. Try taking a bath or shower (this will leave you extra time in the morning), or reading a book.

•Try keeping a diary or to-do lists. If you jot notes down before you go to sleep, you’ll be less likely to stay awake worrying or stressing.

•When you hear your friends talking about their all-nighters, tell them how good you feel after getting enough sleep.

•Most teens experience changes in their sleep schedules. Their internal body clocks can cause them to fall asleep and wake up later. You can’t change this, but you can participate in interactive activities and classes to help counteract your sleepiness. Make sure your activities at night are calming to counteract your already heightened alertness.

For this weeks blog, answer the following questions:

How much sleep on average do you get each night and how does that compare to the recommended amounts in the information above?

What are some of the consequences of not getting enough sleep?

Which strategies listed above would help you to get more sleep