Being Well, Staying Well

Liz Zelencich
Program Manager
Join us online at: http://www.thecourier.com.au/community
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Five years ago, Hayley was suffering from high blood
pressure, was unhealthy and unhappy. She and her
partner Brett made a conscious decision to follow a
plant-based diet. Since then, Hayley’s life has been
much healthier and she feels stronger, more alert,
and can now fight off those common winter colds and
bugs.
Hayley is a nutritionist. That means she has studied
lots of things about food, being healthy and staying
well. Hayley has been part of the health and wellness
industry for over 10 years so I think we could say
that Hayley is a nutrition expert! She understands
the benefits of healthy eating and that it is one of the
most important components of a healthy condition and
quality of life.
Hayley suggests that to improve our wellbeing, we all
should think about trying to:
4 Get plenty of sleep.
4 Go for walks with your family and friends.
4 Drink lots of water.
4 Eat more fruit and vegetables. Any green vegies
will make you strong eg spinach, broccoli, beans…
4 Spend time with your family. Being connected to
and talking to others is really good for your wellbeing.
4 Try new foods. You might just find something new
that you really enjoy - Be open minded!
4 Cut down on processed foods.
4 Try growing some food with your family. Establish a
vegetable garden and look after it together.
4 Remember some basic, simple rules of eating and
lifestyle. Things like: eat mostly plants, especially
leaves; eat your colours as they can help protect
against chronic diseases; eat whole grains, nuts,
dates, bananas and seeds.
Hayley
Lennon
Here’s
a great recipe
for you to try from
Hayley:
NANIE ICE CREAM
2 frozen bananas, medium
3 tbsp full fat coconut milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp vanilla extract
Add anything else you want for extra flavour.
-Berries - Strawberries and blueberries work great!
-Cacao/carob
-passion fruit
-mango
-dates - for a caramel flavour
Whiz everything up in the food
processor and you’re done!
Yummo!!
Physical, emotional, intellectual and
social wellness are all essential factors
in your development. Planning and
eating a healthy diet rich in fruits and
vegetables, whole grains and protein
will build a foundation for proper brain
function as well as providing proper
physical health.
Emotional wellness comes with being
able to express and cope with the
many emotions that a human feels.
Learning how to identify, experience
and express your feelings is essential
to your overall health.
Intellectual wellness is a key focus for
everyone. A strong foundation in an
educational setting as well as parental
involvement in the process will lead
to intellectual wellness. A large part of
the brain's make up is formed in the
first three years of life!
Social wellness is one of the most
important pieces of wellness. Being
able to share, be courteous, how
to communicate with others and
experience in a variety of social
situations will help to build the social
networking skills that will follow you
throughout your life.
The five dimensions of wellness
are described below.
Physical wellness
Physical wellness is the ability, motivation
and confidence to move effectively and
efficiently in a variety of situations, and
the healthy growth, development, nutrition
and care of the body. Healthy nutrition that
revolves around fresh fruits and vegetables,
whole grains, and adequate protein is a
necessary foundation for proper brain
function and emotional stability. Avoiding
sugary processed foods can calm your
nerves and reduce hyperactivity. Physical
activity also helps to reduce feelings
of nervousness and relieve tension.
Supplementing your diet with essential
vitamins and herbal supplements designed to
create an emotional balance can help you get
the nutrition you need for total wellness.
Emotional wellness
Emotional wellness is acknowledging,
understanding, managing and expressing
thoughts and feelings in a constructive
manner. Adversity is a natural part of life and
being resilient is important to overcoming
challenges and developing good mental
health. Connectedness, competency, helping
others, and successfully facing difficult
situations can foster resilience.
The path to emotional wellness may involve:
• Awareness of thoughts and feelings
• Using a positive attitude
• Seeking support and expressing
emotions in a suitable manner
• Setting priorities
• Accepting mistakes and learning from
them
Spiritual wellness
Spiritual wellness is an understanding
of one’s own values and beliefs leading
to a sense of meaning or purpose and
a relationship to the community. It is
important to come to an understanding
that life is sacred, that nature deserves a
certain respect, that your presence in the
world contributes to joy and goodness,
that things have a way of working out
(not always as we expect), that the
greatest joy usually comes from sharing
with others, and that while we don't
always get what we want, we can always
choose to make the most of what we get.
Try to build in enough time in your day so
that you can stop to enjoy the wondrous
moments of everyday life. Marvel at the
sun glittering on the snow. Stop and
smell the roses. Admire the rainbow.
Be still so as to simply be present with
yourself.
Social wellness
Social wellness is relating positively to others and is
influenced by many factors including how individuals
communicate, establish and maintain relationships,
are treated by others and interpret that treatment. The
social element of wellness encourages contributing
to your own human and physical environment to help
benefit our community. Social Wellness emphasises
our relationship with others and nature. It includes
the search for peace and harmony in your family. As
you travel along the path to wellness, you’ll become
more aware of your importance in society as well as
the impact you have on nature and your community.
Social wellness is having positive interactions with
and enjoying being with others. It is having comfort
and ease during work and leisure situations and
communicating feelings and needs to others. It
involves developing and building close and effective
listening, caring for others and for the common good,
and allowing others to care for you. It is recognising
the need for leisure and recreation and budgeting
time for those activities. Social wellnessideas:
Become active in a club, group, or organisation, call
or write to far-away friends or family, develop new
friendships outside of your family, turn off the TV and
or the computer and talk to people, or with your family
develop contact with a lonely person.
Discussion
Questions
• What is energy? Why does your
body need energy? How does your
body get the energy it needs?
• When do you feel like you have a
lot of energy? Describe how you
feel when you have a lot of energy.
• What do you like to do when you
have a lot of energy?
• When do you feel like you don’t
have any energy? How does it feel?
• When you’re full of energy, you feel like you could
tackle any challenge that comes your way!
• Brainstorm a list of ways to have
more energy.
• How does what you eat affect how much energy you
have? What types of food are best for giving you
energy and keeping you healthy?
• How does the amount of sleep you get affect your
energy level? What are some tips for getting a good
night’s sleep?
Yes or No
Do you feel too tired in the morning and want to stay
in bed?
Do you yawn a lot?
Are you irritable or bad tempered when you get
up?
Do you find it hard to concentrate on what you are
doing?
Do you make mistakes in really easy work?
Does it take you ages to learn anything new? Do you
try to get out of physical exercise because you don't
feel like it?
Do you want to sleep during the day?
Do you spend lots of time daydreaming?

Are you getting enough sleep?
If you do not have any health or learning problems
and if you answered 'yes' to at least half of these
questions, your body could be telling you that maybe
you need to check how much sleep and exercise you
are getting - and did you have your breakfast?

Intellectual wellness
Intellectual wellness is the development
and the critical and creative use of the
mind to its fullest potential. Intellectual
wellness involves developing your critical
thinking skills, nurturing your ability to see
the difference between facts and opinions,
and using proper logic to make good
decisions without all the answers. Without
intellectual wellness, we’d never really
go anywhere; we would be at a standstill.
There are many different ways to increase
your knowledge, and intellectual wellness
is not ONLY just about reading books or
going to school. It also involves developing
an inquisitive attitude about the world
around us, asking questions, appreciating
creative endeavours such as music and art,
and generally seeking to understand how
information fits into establishing a better
understanding of life. Try these: Read
something every day. Create something.
Take a different route. Listen to music.
Healthy websites to visit:
Teachers: http://www.healthpromotion.com.au/Documents/HPSPS/Nutrition_Resources_Classroom.pdf
Students: http://www.dolesuperkids.com
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson054.shtml
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/readeat.html
http://nutritionforkids.com/kidactivities.htm
NIE Activities:
4 Look through the food ads in your newspaper
and find something that is selling by the kilo. How
much would it cost if you bought three kilos?
Seven kilos? Half a kilo?
4 You have been given $100 to feed yourself for
a week. Look at the food ads in your newspaper
and shop for your food. Make meal plans of
balanced, nutritious meals for that week.
4 Find a recipe you like in the newspaper and
then go to the food ads and figure the approximate
cost of the recipe’s ingredients.
4 Prepare a mobile using pictures and words
taken from the newspaper depicting various
groups of foods. Examples might be favourite
foods, party foods, picnic foods, snacks, etc.