Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle
Click the above link to view Word documents for all the handouts and the Instructor Manual for this chapter.
Most Magnificent Possession
To begin the discussion on health, ask students to imagine this scenario:
You are rich and can have anything you want. Imagine your most magnificent possession. Maybe it is a mansion on the ocean, a luxurious sports car or a race horse. Think a moment about your most magnificent possession. (Pause for reflection.) Any thoughts about what your magnificent possession would be? Ask students for some examples. Imagine being with your magnificent possession. What would it look like? How does it feel? Pause for reflection.
Now think about how you would care for this possession. Something this magnificent would require attention. If it were a car, it would be waxed and polished to perfection. Only the highest quality gas and oil would be used. Regular tune-ups and maintenance checks would be a high priority. You would take the time to read the owner’s manual.
Now suggest that each student already has a magnificent possession that is more valuable that what they previously imagined. Our good health is priceless. Would anyone trade their good health for their previously imagined magnificent possession?
How do we take care of our health? Do we read the owner’s manual (literature about health) and go for regular checkups. Do we take care of our bodies by eating the right food and getting enough exercise? This chapter on health reviews the ways to take care of the magnificent possession which is our good health.
This exercise provides the opportunity to look at one college student’s diet and analyze it in terms of food groups and recommended servings. In Ollie American's Diet, students are asked to calculate Ollie’s Body Mass Index (BMI). In this example, his BMI is 31.2, which places him in the obese category.
Students struggle with figuring out food groups and servings, as in real life. Here are some hints to help your students:
§ A large pizza has approximately 16 ounces of cheese. An ounce and a half of cheese is equal to one cup of milk. The 16 oz of cheese is equal to about 11 cups of milk.
§ The dough in a large slice of pizza is like having 2 slices of bread. Each slice of bread is equivalent to an ounce of grain.
§ A hamburger bun is approximately 2 slices of bread (2 ounces of grains).
A teenage boy or active man needs approximately 2,800 calories to maintain his current weight. Many of the items in Ollie’s diet are high in calories:
§ 12 ounces of soda or beer has 150 calories.
§ A small bag of chips (1 1/2 ounces) has 230 calories.
§ Small candy bars average 300 calories each.
§ One half of a large pepperoni pizza has 700 calories.
§ A large hamburger has approximately 500 calories.
§ A large order of fries has 450 calories.
In this example, Ollie has consumed approximately 3680 calories, which are 880 more than an active man needs. He has had very little physical activity on this day.
After this exercise, assign students to look at their own diets with the exercise, How Healthy is Your Diet?
Assignment: Live to be 100
Assign students to complete an online longevity assessment. Here is an excellent site:
http://www.livingto100.com/ Complete this exercise yourself and then explain to your students how it works. Questions are asked about your health habits and based on your answers, an estimate is given on how long you will live. Suggestions are given for improving your longevity. Click on this link to view the Live to Be 100 exercise.
In groups, have students brainstorm ways to live to be 100. Have them write their five best answers on the board. Use the answers written on the board as an introduction to or as a summary of the health chapter.
Tell students that much of what you will find written on the board is common knowledge. We know how to protect our health, but do not always do it. Have students write three intention statements about their health. Share ideas. In later sessions, ask if any students have kept their intentions yet.
This nutrition test only has two questions:
Have students write down the answer to this question. Call on students to ask what they have written. Usually they choose very nutritious breakfasts for this child.
Have students write the answer to this question. Call on students to read their answers. Many students have no breakfasts at all. Some make very poor choices (a cigarette and a piece of gum, a soda and chips). This is a good introduction to a discussion of good nutrition. It points out the difference between what we know is right and what we actually do.
Nutrition Exercise: How Many Teaspoons of Sugar?
Bring a can of soda to class, some sugar, a teaspoon and a glass. Hold up the can of soda and ask students to guess how many teaspoons of sugar are in a glass of soda. As students are guessing, start measuring out teaspoons of sugar into the glass. There are 9 teaspoons of sugar in a can of soda. After you measure out the 9 teaspoons of sugar, pass the glass around the class.
Discuss with students the following ideas:
§ How many sodas do you drink each day?
§ Students interested in weight loss could consider deleting or reducing sodas in their diet.
§ Balance off each soda with an equal amount of water. Drink a can of soda and then drink a glass of water.
§ Soda does not provide water for the body. The caffeine in soda serves as a diuretic and removes water from the body.
Drinking soda instead of milk can result in reduced calcium intake and weaker bones in old age.
Click on this link to view an interesting article, Water or Coke? This article outlines the reasons for not drinking sodas. It has a list of practical uses for soda as a cleaning solution.
Health Improvement Exercise
The
Health Improvement Exercise is a good assignment which summarizes longevity
and nutrition. Students are assigned to go to
http://www.mypyramid.gov/
and
http://www.livingto100.com/ and then write about their results.
Alcohol Abuse
A group activity and handout, Critical Thinking about Alcohol Abuse is available in the printed text and can be used as a supplemental activity for the online text. This exercise provides some basic facts about alcohol abuse on college campuses and challenges students to think about ideas for improving the situation.
AIDS Game
Count out a 3X5 card for each student in your class. In the middle of the stack place a small red X on the back. Pass out the cards. Ask each student to get up, walk around and get 3 readable names on their card. It is important to have students stand up and walk around the room for this exercise to work. The instructor can participate also. When this is done, ask students to turn over their cards to see who has the red “X.” For the purposes of this exercise only, assume that this person is HIV positive. Ask this person to stand and read the names of people on their card. Ask these people to stand because they are now possibly infected. Each person reads the names on his or her card and each person is asked to stand up. Very soon everyone is standing including the instructor. Announce that the purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate how infectious diseases are spread.
A variation of this game is to place a letter on each card before the cards are distributed. Label each card with an “A,” “B,” “C” or “D.” The card in the middle of the deck still has an “X”. After all the students are standing, announce that there are letters on the back of each card. The letters have the following meanings:
A. You were abstinent and therefore you are not HIV positive.
You may sit down.
B. You were wearing a condom, but it broke so you must remain standing.
C. You were wearing a condom and were not infected. Sit down.
D. You were not wearing a condom and are now HIV positive. Remain standing.
End this exercise by discussing the difference between safe sex and safer sex. Condoms will reduce risk, but they are not absolutely safe.
This has been a great exercise that I have done successfully many times. One caution is that occasionally you will have students who are HIV positive in the class. Usually they understand and support giving this important information in class. If you know that a student is HIV positive, speak to them before the class to see if they are comfortable participating and are willing to share their personal experiences. It is best to do this exercise toward the end of the term when there is a higher level of trust and comfort in discussing this sensitive issue.
Updated HIV/AIDS Statistics
Share some of these figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: (From the San Diego Union Tribune, June 14, 2005, “CDC Reports 1 Million in U.S. have HIV”)
· At least a million people in the US are living with HIV
o Half are gay or bisexual men
o 27% are high risk heterosexuals
o 22% are intravenous drug users
· Ethnic breakdown:
o 47% are black
o 34% are white
o 17% are Hispanic
o 1% are Asian/Pacific Islander
· Nationwide, one in four HIV infected people does not know they are infected.
· In San Diego County, 10,300 people are living with HIV or AIDS.
· In San Diego County, there are approximately 400 new cases of HIV yearly.
What is Your Stress Index?
Use this checklist located at the end of the chapter to begin the discussion on stress and relaxation. It is integrated into the Web edition.
Stress Reduction Cards
Pass out one blue 3X5 card to each student. Discuss the concept of stress-reducing thoughts and provide some of your personal stress reducing thoughts or review those presented in the text. Ask each person to come up with at least 3 stress-reducing thoughts and write them down on the card. Ask each person in the room to share a stress-reducing thought. Tell the students to write down the ideas of other students if they like them. Ask them to carry the card in their pocket or purse and read the thoughts when they feel stressed. While students are writing these thoughts on cards, I play some music to stimulate their thinking. I usually play Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” which repeats the refrain, “Don’t worry about a thing because every little thing’s going to be all right.” Sometimes a relaxing thought can be some music in your head. Ask students for examples of relaxing music.
Group Activity: Stress Reducing Thoughts
Use the road rage example in Stress-Reducing Thoughts as a group exercise in the class. Have students discuss the news article and suggest stress-reducing thoughts for Mr. Road Rage.
Another way to use this exercise is to divide students into two groups. One group brainstorms thoughts that could have calmed the teenager. Give the teenager a name to make the exercise more personal. Have the second group suggest thoughts that could have calmed down Mr. Road Rage. As a summary, discuss how use stress-reducing thoughts in stressful situations and how to deal with angry people.
Physical Relaxation Exercise
Use some relaxing music to lead your students through this physical relaxation exercise. Any music store has relaxation music. Look in the “New Age” category for many options for relaxing music. I use the CD “Cristophori’s Dream” by David Lanz.
Introduce the exercise by explaining what you will be asking the class to do. For example, you will ask students to take a few deep breaths. Have students take a few deep breaths with you and explain how taking deep breaths helps people to relax. Have students tense and relax a few muscles. If you are working with a younger group, ask the group to remain quiet so that others can relax. Give students permission to just put their heads down on their desks if they do not wish to participate. In this way, you minimize interruptions. Here is a suggested script. Ad lib as you see fit:
I’d like to take you through an easy and relaxing exercise that will take about l5 minutes. Once you learn the sequence, you can give yourself the gift of relaxation whenever you need it. To begin with, I invite you to get as comfortable as possible. Close your eyes if you like. Uncross your arms and legs and just allow your body to let go and relax to the best of your ability. Take a deep breath and slowly let it out. Let your body begin to relax and unwind. Take another deep breath and as you exhale, let it carry all the tension out of your body. Allow a feeling of peacefulness to descend over you.
With your eyes closed, I’d like you to focus on your breathing. Become aware of your breathing as you allow yourself to breathe deeply and comfortably. Feel the air enter your nose and throat as you inhale. Notice the rhythm of your breathing as it flows in and out of your body. Simply breathe in a comfortable and relaxed fashion. Focus on your breathing. When you focus on your breathing, you automatically slow it down and slow yourself down. Now take another deep breath, in through your nose and exhale through your mouth slowly and comfortably, allowing even deeper relaxation. With each breath that you take, allow yourself to feel more and more heavy and more and more relaxed.
As you continue to breathe in an easy and relaxed fashion, feeling more and more comfortable and relaxed, you may become aware of some areas of tension in your body. Right now I want you to focus on any area of tension you may be feeling. Notice where you feel tense right now. Focus on one of these tension spots and exaggerate the tension. Perhaps your shoulders are aching or your back feels tight. Tighten that spot. Tighten it. Hold that tension, and then let go. Feel the difference between your tension and relaxation. Once more scan your body for any tense areas and then focus on a spot that feels tight and increase that tension. Hold it. Hold it. And now let go and enjoy again the feelings of comfort and warmth that accompany relaxation. Continue to breathe deeply in through your nose and gently out through your mouth. Simply enjoy the rhythm of your breathing and realize how slow, deep breathing can produce a state of wonderful relaxation.
Now I’d like you to tighten both of your fists. Tighten them now. Tighten your biceps and forearms. Hold that tension. Hold it. Hold it and let go. Relax and feel the warmth and tingling sensations of deep relaxation that follow increased tension. Again, this time make a fist with both of your hands imagining that you are squeezing the juice of an orange. Squeeze it and let go. Relax and feel the increasing warmth and heaviness in your arms and your hands. Allow your arms and your hands to simply sink into the chair and when you’re ready, begin to notice your breathing again, enjoying the increased relaxation you experience whenever you focus on your breathing, paying attention to its natural flowing rhythm.
This time tighten your shoulders and raise them up to your ears. Increase the tension in your shoulders. Hold it. Feel the tension in your neck and shoulders. Hold it. Let go. Relax your shoulders and neck and enjoy the feelings of warmth and the feeling of heaviness in your neck and shoulders. Enjoy that feeling of relaxation now and allow it to move down into your arms and into your hands and fingertips. Allow your body to sink into the chair feeling heavier and heavier and warmer and warmer.
Now I’d like you to arch your back as you take a deep breath into your chest. Hold that tension now. Now exhale and let go. Relax, smoothing out all the muscles in your back. Once again arch your back. Arch your back. Tense it. Hold it. Hold it. And now relax. Let go. Allow yourself to feel more and more heavy and more and more warm and increasingly more relaxed and comfortable.
Now I would like you to focus your attention on your legs and feet. Pull your toes back toward your face, tightening up your shins. Tighten them up now and hold that tension. Hold it. Relax, let go and feel the warm tingling sensations of relaxation throughout your legs and feet. Now with your attention still on your legs, point your toes downward toward the floor. Hold that tension. Hold it. Then relax and let go, allowing your legs to feel heavier and heavier, warmer and more and more comfortable. Now with your legs all comfortable, with your arms and back feeling as relaxed as they can, and with your shoulders and neck feeling all loose and calm, I’d like you to simply feel the sensations of warmth and relaxation seeping into every area of your body. Breathe deeply and comfortably.
Imagine that you are lying on a warm, sandy beach. The sun is streaming down and warming your body, relaxing your shoulders, neck, back, arms, legs and feet. Feel that sensation of warmth and allow it to spread throughout the whole body. Continue to breathe in a relaxed fashion. Imagine that you can feel all the muscles in your body relaxing and feel that inner peace that comes with deep relaxation. Allow yourself to be quiet for just a little while longer, letting your mind wander to pleasant thoughts, to pleasant places, to pleasant times. Just allow yourself to relax and be comfortable.
Give yourself whatever time you need. Continue to breathe slowly and gently, enjoying the calm and quiet. When you feel ready, count backward from five to one. Then you will open your eyes feeling refreshed and revitalized knowing you can return to the peace and tranquility of deep relaxation whenever you choose.
Summary:
When you are finished with the exercise, review these elements of relaxation with your class: music, breathing, tensing/relaxing, visualization, and positive suggestions. Encourage students to experiment with the technique at home and to make it a habit.
Summary Activity
Use the Evaluate Your Health exercise to help students think about their actions that promote or detract from their health and to write some intention statements for the future.
Video
Play about 10 minutes of Magic Johnson’s “Time Out” video available free from Blockbuster Videos. It has great comedy sketches about the importance of using a condom.
Speaker
Invite a speaker from Public Health or your college Health Office to talk about HIV/AIDS and services available. Provide information about testing for HIV.
For Online Classes
Online Discussion Question
Chapter 12 contains health information for college students in the areas of nutrition, avoiding addictions, protection from disease, getting enough sleep and dealing with stress. It is based on the premise that we will be living longer in the 21st Century. Also a college education is a big investment and it is important to enjoy it over a long lifetime.
Choose one of these questions for discussion:
1. These health facts are obvious and well known:
· Smoking causes lung cancer
· One out of three Americans is overweight or obese
· Illegal drug use is addictive and limits success
· Not getting enough sleep is harmful to health and learning
· Not practicing monogamous or safe sex can lead to STD’s including AIDS
Knowing this information, why do people continue to smoke, overeat, take illegal drugs, miss out on sleep or practice unsafe sex?
2. Assume that you are writing magazine article, "The Five Most Important Steps to Maintaining Your Good Health." What ideas would you include in this article?
