I am glad to be forced to take a look at my personal health and to develop a plan for my future. For the last few years it has been a subject I chose to ignore. Faced with this assignment and the desire to do well on it, I am forced to take a hard look at myself and decide the next steps.
Once upon a time I was tall and thin and on the outside all evidence pointed to a much healthier version of myself. I was thin, I exercised 3 or 4 times a week and did everything I knew to do to maintain my weight and keep my physical body in good shape. There are times I look at myself in a photo and I barely recognize that person from 20 or even 10 years ago.
Today I am not thin, I am lucky to get to the gym once a month and from the outside it would
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I exercise but there is no real frequency that I follow. I might walk on the treadmill for one hour several days in a row, then do nothing for a week. I have not lifted weights in years. My husband and I practiced yoga on a regular basis but stopped when I started school and received the promotion at work. I garden and I move around some but for the most part I am sedentary. I almost pains me to say it and I just cannot believe the condition I am in. Physical fitness was important to me; I loved to take kickboxing classes and weight classes but a couple of injuries put me out for a while, and when I returned I pushed myself to hard and reinjured myself. I want to be in shape but I do not know how to get there …show more content…
Stress is a major cause of heart disease and my stressors have increased. I know I must do something to offset the effects of it our I will end up like many of my ancestors— dead by the age of 60. Once I incorporate these two changes in my life I expect my stress levels to lower and the effects will be more than simply weight loss and physical condition.
According to our text book, health is “by simplest definition, being sound in body, mind, and spirit” (Hales, 2003). It is impossible to improve your body and mind without the spirit coming along too. I feel as though I am spiritualty fit, I have purpose and I live in a state of gratitude and optimism as much as possible but I am excited to see how much better it can be once I reach my goals.
As I stated earlier, outwardly I need some work and I am the only one who can do it. I am spiritually fit and grateful that I can see the good in most situations and maintain a positive outlook on life. Going back to school is a major hurdle for me, I started 30 years ago and I feel that I need to finish it. My attitude and my feelings about my self-worth improved when I returned to school and, although I have less time for my activities, I feel good about my decisions. I know that in the end that I am going to be a smarter, more physically fit being and I am taking the steps needed to get
Disparities in cancer are caused by the complex interaction of low economic status, culture, and social injustice, with poverty playing the dominant role (Freeman, 2004). So I ask the question: Does socioeconomics impact a man’s prostate health?
My motivations in life have always been centered on my desire to maintain independence and happiness. My passions for physical therapy and health originated from those same motivations. Throughout my childhood, I repeatedly found myself in tough situations that required a level of self -dependency and perseverance that I don’t believe many young minds possess. My parents’ divorce put my life on a trajectory that could have easily been destructive. As a young girl, I realized that despite the lack of control I felt in my hardships growing up, I had control over my academic and future successes. I vowed that I would remember the struggles I faced and concentrate my energy on creating a better life for myself. To this day, it is important to me
-Go to the gym 3 to 5 times a week. Work out for half an hour to an hour, combining both cardio and strength training programs.
Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and compulsive over-eating are extremely serious illnesses that must be recognized before they can be treated. The media is blamed for so many distorted images of the body. People are beginning to refuse the idea, however, that thinner is better. Body shapes are known to go in and out of style. In the 1800s, plumpness was a sign of wealth and class. Thinness became a sign of beauty in the 1970s with the British super-model Twiggy. There are many treatments for eating disorders today. One of the hopes of many psychologists is that humans will begin to feel happy about the way they are, even if it is a little bigger than the media portrays as ideal.
This journal made me see the problems and solutions to what I eat and do. Also I will explore the factors that are helping or hindering my life expectancy.
I am writing this letter because I am highly motivated to do the Health Psychology master’s program and I want to be considered as a candidate. I have a Bachelor’s Degree of Psychology from Budapest, Hungary with the highest grade 5. My qualification has already been sent to UK NARIC and the Statement of Compability will arrive to you shortly at the beginning of September. I am applying for this course because I have always wanted to be a psychologist and the Cardiff Metropolitan University can provide my next step to do so.
When thinking of my overall health, a few aspects stand out that I think I could definitely improve on. When I think my current personal wellness I think it is fairly decent. There are definitely people out there far worse than myself. It could be better because there is always room for improvement. I’m a big fan of personal growth. To me if a person decides to stop growing or wanting to better themselves either mentally, physically or emotiontally. Then whats the real purpose for living? I am a fairly active person. I love to hike, stay fit and eat healthy. Living a healthy lifestyle isn’t hard for me which I think definitely contributes to a wellness.
Health psychology is a relatively new concept rapidly growing and could be defined as the biological and psychological influences affect ones behaviour also bringing in social influences of health and illness (MacDonald, 2013). Biological determinants consider genetic and biological factors of an illness whereas psychological determinants focus on the psychological factors such as why people behave the way they do when dealing with issues such as anxiety and stress. Models such as the Health Belief Model and Locus of Control were developed in attempt to try and explain psychological issues around a chronic illness such as breast cancer (Ogden, 2012). Sociological factors can cause an enormous amount of pressure for one to behave in a certain way for example gender roles in society and religious considerations when dealing with health beliefs. Health Beliefs can be defined as one’s own perception to their own personal health and illness and health behaviours (Ogden, 2012). There are also theories and models used to explain pain and coping with diagnosis such as Moos and Schaefer (1984) Crisis theory and Shontz (1975) cycle of grief people go through when being diagnosed with a serious illness.
the time, anyway. I realize I don’t naturally look like the typical fit, ripped, slim person;
Knowing what each of these dimensions of wellness requires can feel overwhelming. However, one should not be discouraged because of what they lack, but look forward to the improvement we are capable of bringing to our own lives. Becoming more spiritual will always be beneficial. Anytime one can improve their relationship with God one can improve their life astronomically. Emotional wellness is possible even for those who have been through horrible experiences. Practicing emotional wellness can bring healing. Physical and nutritional wellness will lead to a longer, pleasanter life and social wellness will make that life worth living. Sharing a well life with family, friends, and God will make time on this earth an irreplaceable experience.
When picking a health habit that I would like to challenge myself, there were many that I want to choose but I want to choose something that I know that I can fully commit to it and know that I can do it. I want to start something small and then in the future if I want to challenge myself then I will gradually go for a health habit that is more challenging. The health habit that I decide to go with was eliminating my intake on soft drinks or drinks that have high sugar including drinks that contain high-fructose corn syrup. In addition, I want to drink more water because I notice that I do not drink enough water, therefore, I want to incorporate that into my life. I chose this health habit because I notice that my intake of sugar is high and I want to stop myself from doing it but I cannot be commit to it.
Health psychology has been an appealing subject to me because it is relatable on many levels. Of the topics we have covered in class I think unit 3 have left the deepest impression. Stress is something everyone can relate to but probably understood on the minimum. Stress is a common experience for university students and without an exception I fall victim to it every time an exam or presentation comes up. Learning about this topic, what stress is, what it does to your body, how it affects your behavior has lead me to reflect upon past experiences in a way that I can learn to better cope with the effects of stress.
Wellness is defined as “an active life-long process of becoming aware of and making choices to achieve optimal health and a more successful and balanced existence” (Ren et al., 2007). Wellness incorporates the spiritual, emotional and social wellbeing of an individual. When it came to thinking, planning and developing my SMART goal I decided to focus on my physical health as this was an area that I needed to improve the most and would also contribute positively to my spiritual, emotional, social, intellectual and environmental wellbeing aswell. In this reflective essay I will discuss and reflect on this journey. This reflection will include why I decided to focus on this specific SMART goal aswell as how I found the SMART goal journey. I will then discuss my own view on my attitudes for health and wellness and will discuss what a SMART goal is and the importance of them in order to start working towards those goals and to positively change behaviours and habits. This reflection will also include challenges that may be experienced in relation to behaviour change. These may include time management and motivation.
For someone in a similar situation as myself, there will have been an abundance of personal scrutiny already undertaken. As a freshman in college, I have had to look at many aspects of myself, then decide and plan accordingly to put myself on a path of success. When speaking of the successes I wish to attain, I believe that being a wholly well person is high on my list of priorities. In discussing the aspects of wellness,
I have learned a lot about my health and wellness thorough out this semester it is truly amazing. The impact these seven different dimensions have on our health they are, physical, intellectual, psychological, spiritual, social, environmental, and occupational all play a role in our health. All in so many different ways working together to make a brighter and happier healthier us. These seven dimensions make up whom we are and how we live our life is all based upon how we balance these dimensions.