Helping students adopt and maintain healthy behaviors is at the core of our school counseling program at WRHS. Education and awareness is a critical piece of our students feeling well and making healthy choices.

• The quality of the food you eat can impact your overall physical and mental health. Eating nutritious foods can go a long way toward achieving a healthy lifestyle.
• Studies have found that young people with the healthiest diets are about half as likely to have depression compared to those with the diet highest in junk and processed foods. Students with diets high in junk and processed food are 80% more likely to have depression
• It only takes between 10-30 minutes of daily physical activity to improve your mood. No gym membership? Take a short walk, or use the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Studies have shown that every time you move your body, a number of beneficial neurotransmitters, including dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin and acetylcholine get released into your brain. These substances can help decrease feelings of anxiety and depression.

(Mental Health America, 2022)

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

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

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, as it 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)

Join Mental Health America as we challenge ourselves each day this May to make small changes – both physically and mentally – to create gains for our overall health and well being. Each day of the week will have a theme for a type of activity, so get ready for #MindfulMonday, #TastyTuesday, #WorkplaceWednesday, #ThoughtfulThursday, #FitnessFriday, #StressFreeSaturday, and #SleepWellSunday - but feel free to do the challenges in whatever order suits you best.