Issue

Overall physical wellness is a combination of many factors, including genetics. However, there are three areas that many people, including on-line distance education students, neglect when it comes to physical wellness: exercise, diet and sleep.

Issue    ~  Exercise   ~  Diet   ~  Sleep   ~  Links

Exercise

It is easy to forget physical exercises when you are engaged in academic ones. Physical exercise is especially important if you sit at a computer all day. Research has shown that going for a walk once a day can improve memory. Health Canada recommends three types of activities to stay fit: endurance, flexibility and strength activities.

Health Canada's Physical Activity Guide: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hppb/paguide/

Are you fit? Click here to take Health Canada's Physical Activity Quiz.

• Endurance Activities (4 - 7 days per week)
  Endurance activities help your heart, lungs and circulatory system stay healthy and give you more energy. They range from walking and household chores to organized exercise programs and recreational sports.

  Here are some examples to get you thinking about how to increase your endurance activities:

  • walking          golfing (without a cart)          yard and garden work
  • cycling           skating                               continuous swimming
  • tennis             dancing

   

• Flexibility Activities (4 - 7 days per week)
  Flexibility activities help you to move easily, keeping your muscles relaxed and your joints mobile. Regular flexibility activities can help you to live better, longer, so that your quality of life and independence are maintained as you get older. Flexibility activities include gentle reaching, bending, and stretching of all your muscle groups.

  Here are some ideas to help you increase your flexibility activities:

  • gardening          mopping the floor          yard work
  • vacuuming         stretching exercises     T'ai Chi
  • golf                   bowling                        yoga
  • curling              dance

   

• Strength Activities (2 - 4 days per week)
  Strength activities help your muscles and bones stay strong, improve your posture and help to prevent diseases like osteoporosis. Strength activities are those that make you work your muscles against some kind of resistance, like when you push or pull hard to open a heavy door.

  To ensure good overall strength, try to do a combination of activities that exercise the muscles in your arms, mid-section, and legs. Strive for a good balance - upper body and lower body, right and left sides, and opposing muscle groups. 

  Here are some ideas to increase your strength activities:

  • heavy yard work, such as cutting and piling wood
  • raking and carrying leaves
  • lifting and carrying groceries
  • climbing stairs
  • exercises like abdominal curls and push-ups
  • wearing a backpack carrying school books
  • weight/strength-training routines

Issue    ~  Exercise   ~  Diet   ~  Sleep   ~  Links

Diet

The lack of emphasis students place on nutrition is legendary. Students often try to exist on Kraft dinner and coffee. Health Canada recommends eating a variety of foods within four food groups: Grain Products; Vegetables and Fruit; Milk Products; and Meat and Alternatives. 

• Eat a good breakfast; it's the most important meal of the day
• Control your meal portions and try to eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day>
• Use sugar, salt, fat and alcohol in moderations
• Eat these foods more often:
  • whole grains and enriched products
  • dark green and orange vegetables, and orange fruit
  • dried peas, beans and lentils
• Choose lower-fat milk products and leaner meats like poultry and fish more often
• 30% or less of your daily calories should come from fat 
  - 10% or less from saturated fat and the balance (20% or less) from unsaturated fats

Issue    ~  Exercise   ~  Diet   ~  Sleep   ~  Links

Sleep

All-nighters seem routine when assignments are due. Many people think that sleep is lost time. The mind and body do not shut down during sleep. Sleep allows the brain to consolidate the day' s learning into memory and improves the ability to learn skills, such as working on a computer. 

Are you getting enough sleep? Click here to take the National Sleep Test.

Sleep Maintenance
During sleep, the body does maintenance work – replacing old cells with new ones and re-energizing organs and muscles. The "work" that sleep does during the night is vital for you to function optimally during the day. Getting the right amount of sleep and getting a combination of light and deep sleep provide the most restorative benefit.

Sleep Loss
Sleep loss that accumulates from one night to the next is known as a "sleep debt" or sleep deprivation. Even a modest loss may produce a serious sleep debt when sustained over several nights. The only way to reduce this debt is to get the amount of sleep your body needs. 

Most people who are tired sleep for fewer than six hours or because they have irregular sleep habits. Sleeping for nine or more hours a night is not necessarily beneficial to health. Recent surveys in the US have shown that adults who are either long or short sleepers tend to die younger. The reasons are unclear.

Issue   ~  Exercise   ~  Diet   ~  Sleep   ~  Links

Links

Excite Canada's Dietary Guidelines
http://www.excite.ca/health/diet_and_nutrition/dietary_guidelines/
A portal to websites that provide dietary guidelines.

Better Sleep Council
http://www.bettersleep.org
Discusses the importance of sleep to good health and quality of life, and the value of the sleep system and sleep environment in pursuit of a good night's sleep.

Issue   ~  Exercise   ~  Diet   ~  Sleep   ~  Links

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