Unit 2 Reflection

     Health is a combination of maintaining balance in the different pillars (nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, and being social). It involves an understanding and awareness of how you treat your body through the foods you in take and what nutrients are in those foods. Good health requires dedication to exercise frequently and sustain consistent cycles of sleep. Someone who is healthy is aware of their 5 pillars and spends time achieving each of them to their maximum abilities. Health affects everybody and everyone should do their part to taking care of themselves for the benefit of current fitness as well as long-term wellness.
     In terms of the 5 pillars, I do not fulfill the needs of each of them and my health tower is unbalanced. I spend a lot of time dedicated to exercise and the social pillar, however my nutrition, sleep, and stress can all improve. Because of the strenuous and long practices for color guard, I participate in 11+ hours of exercise each week. I'm also very conscious of the amount of time I spend with my friends and family, making sure I have fruitful conversations during dinner time and catching up with my friends outside of school over the weekend. On the other hand, my weakest pillar would be sleep, as I often don't get a decent 8 hours of sleep each night. I have a tendency to procrastinate my schoolwork and as a result, have to sleep later and/or wake up earlier to finish working or studying. On average I sleep 6-7 hours and most of that sleep is not very restful or refreshing because there's usually a lot on my mind; leading to my next lacking pillar- stress. I feel mildly stress constantly, but many times because of academics and busy schedules, I stress myself out more than I need to and forget to take time to relax. I get very caught up in what I have to do and sometimes don't have time to spend with myself.
     Most people at Saratoga High School have unbalanced pillars, as studious students, we often pack our schedules with school and extracurricular activities leading towards a lack of sleep and high levels of stress. Though some of us attain a healthy diet and choose good foods to eat regularly, many of us find it difficult to resist and delicious cookie or a can of soda, making our nutrition not as complete and well-rounded as needed. Through our community, teachers, and peers, we should all strive to promote an importance in getting enough sleep and managing our stress. By emphasizing the importance in receiving a good education for the purposes of learning and not getting good grades to please colleges or other people, Saratoga students can focus on having better maintenance of their well being. A larger selection of healthy foods should be offered at the cafeteria and all science classes should include a lecture about the importance of the 5 pillars of health. 

 

     

     The major themes in this unit were the 5 pillars of health: nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, and social. A understanding of the importance of each pillar is crucial, as different cycles and chemicals play a role in maintaining our body's energy and well being. I learned that sugar is a big part of the Western diet and can be very toxic to our bodies if consumed excessively. Your body has 3 Metabolic Pathways when it undergoes energy usage, each phase relying on a different chemical process. The harder and more vigorous the intensity level of an exercise is, the less time you need to spend doing it in order to attain more benefits. Your brain collects waste throughout the day, and by sleeping, it is able to clear out those wastes, making you refreshed for the next day. Without sufficient amount of sleep, your brain is unable to clear out those wastes, leaving you feeling foggy the next day. I still don't fully understand what glucagon does for our body and how it's the opposite of insulin.
     Next unit, I plan to spend more time understanding the notes after I have written from the lecture in class and actively write in the "HOT Questions" column throughout the notes to better understand the material and relate it to what I already know.
     There are Nutrition majors offered at many colleges, and you take classes that help you further understand biology and chemistry along with analyzing public health, diets, hospital work, and even education. These people study how the nutrition in our food affects the public health and helps investigate and research safety in places across the world where food standards are less regulated and strict.