Wachusett Wellness Newsletter

Helping students adopt and maintain healthy behaviors is at the core of our school counseling program. To have healthy behaviors students must first start with education and awareness.

"A healthy outside starts from the inside." - Robert Urich

"For me, exercise is more than just physical - it's therapeutic." - Michelle Obama

Monday, May 3rd is the first day of Screen-Free Week, which ends on Sunday, May 9th and is put on by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood located in Boston, Massachusetts.

Take the pledge at https://www.screenfree.org/ and make this year's week-long celebration work for you "by unplugging for one day, shutting off your phone at dinner time, spending more time outdoors, or taking the whole week to only use screens for work and school and enjoy some serious offline fun!" Look at their website for a whole list of activities you can do without a device (baking, cooking, walking or hiking - just to name a few)!

For every Saturday after Screen-Free Week is over, you can pledge to join Screen-Free Saturdays, which is setting aside one day a week to unplug and unwind! With the nicer weather here, we all could use that!

The first step to positive nutrition is increasing the understanding of what your body needs. Whether you choose to eat or choose not to eat vegetables, meat, eggs, and other products,

The one thing that all of us need is water.

Each day the recommended daily water intake is 8 standard water bottles (or 96 ounces). This means that if we are all awake for 16 hours, a bottle of water should be consumed every two hours. Try to start taking note in school, a good goal would be to have 4 water bottles from when you arrive to school to when you leave.

Water is good for the body - keeps joints, bones and teeth healthy, and helps the blood circulate. Water also has a strong impact on improving your mood, memory and attention.

With regards to food, building positive eating habits now helps you maintain positive eating habits later. Try to focus more on meals over snacks, prioritize 3 meals a day if you can! Try to have a little bit of color on each plate. If you can incorporate three different colors into each meal you will typically be creating a healthy and sustainable meal to move you through the day!

Take 10,000 steps a day in the month of May!

There are many benefits to being active. Physical activity or exercise has multiple benefits, not only for your physical health but for your emotional health as well. Therefore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend at least one hour a day of exercise for adolescents. Walking is a great way to get in regular exercise and improve your overall health because it:

1. Releases endorphins in your brain that boost your energy and mood

2. Can help decrease feelings of stress and anxiety and encourage feelings of relaxation

3. Leads to having stronger bones, muscles, and a more efficient cardiovascular system

4. Can improve your sleeping habits, such as falling asleep faster into a deeper and more restful sleep

5. Improves cognition and memory

6. Increases your immune system

7. Lowers your risk for chronic diseases and other health problems later in life

(Sources: CDC and Mayo Clinic)