Physical and Mental Health

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University of Phoenix

Physical and Mental Health

Current Fitness and Nutritional Habits

My current fitness level is probably slightly above average. My employer has a very large campus that houses thousands of employees. This large campus has multiple departments that require much walking at a higher pace than average to get to your department and break areas in a timely fashion. My phone has a app called Samsung health that records all my steps, water intake, heart rate etc. I average 13,000-18,000 steps per day depending on my job for that day. My job is physical in nature, and this keep me moving and very busy. This is equivalent to walking 6 to 9 miles per day, 5 times a week. I also drink many cups of water daily, due to the physical nature of the job and all the walking/sweating to stay hydrated. I tend to get motivated to work out and go to the gym during the warmer months of the year. I went to the gym 3 to 4 times a week this past summer, and all of this changed when the season changed. Now, my nutritional habits consistent of home cooked meals or work 4 to 5 times a week, consistent with chicken, fish, beef, and sides like potatoes and vegetables at times. Recently, I have been eating out at restaurants, eating meals such as fried chicken, sodas, fries, and a lot of chips and snack foods due to stress. My eating habits change drastically during the winter months, and I tend to want more sugar and snack foods until the spring season. After reading chapter 3 about stress, I learned that my elevated stress level has been driving my constant desire for sugar and other comfort foods I enjoy like fried chicken. I am very aware of the need to eat balance meals and to balance my diet with fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy. My work environment is prone to many sweets like donuts, cookies, and homemade food brought in by employees, and I usually partake of the sweet snack foods.

Goals to Improve Health

One goal I can make to improve my mental and psychological health is to find out if I suffer from seasonal depression and find ways to keep the same energy that I have in the spring and summer timer. Some people say that you can take peels that give you the same effect as the sunshine and I really feel that the weather controls how we feel. Our emotions and psychological process are all built into our environment and the weather has a large basis on our day and how we plan our activities.

The second goal that I can make is to work on reducing the number of empty calories and junk food that I am consuming at work and at home. I previously took a nutritional class and I am fully aware that junk foods, sodas, chips, and sugary snacks provide no calories and they are not very good for your body. However, they are comfort foods and provide a short energy boost from the sugar. I must work on building positive habits and changing the things that I eat. I must develop a desire for good sugars like fruits and add them to my diet daily.

The researchers stated that strong evidence shows physical inactivity increases the risk of many major adverse health conditions including:

death (from any cause)

coronary heart disease

high blood pressure

stroke

metabolic syndrome (including obesity and abnormal blood cholesterol levels)

type 2 diabetes

breast and colon cancer

depression

Because a large proportion of the world’s population is inactive, this link is a major public health issue.

10 Health Problems Related to Stress

Heart disease. Researchers have long suspected that the stressed-out, type A personality has a higher risk of high blood pressure and heart problems. …

Asthma. …

Obesity. …

Diabetes. …

Headaches. …

Depression and anxiety. …

Gastrointestinal problems. …

Alzheimer’s disease.