Creating a Healthy
Lifestyle
Chapter 2
Dr. Jared DeBenedictus PT, DPT, ATC, NASM-CPT
WEX-101 Dynamics
Fall 2022
What do you think a
healthy lifestyle looks
like?
Components of a health lifestyle
• Regular and appropriate physical activity
• Consuming health nutrients to fuel the body
• Maintain a low amount of body fat
• Getting sufficient quality sleep
• Managing stress
• Eliminating controllable risk factors such as:
• Alcohol
• Smoking
• Drugs use
Benefits of a health lifestyle
Encourages you to prevent illness by improving your positive well-being in various ways
including
1. Develop yourself physically
2. Express your emotions effectively
3. Maintain good relations with those around you
4. Pat attention to ethics, values, and spirituality
5. Be concerned about your decision-making abilities
6. Have a healthy sense of drive to succeed in your career
7. Having an interest in a variety of problems in the environment in which
you live
8. Be comfortable with your financial situation
*These are the 8 Domains of wellness*
Planning to be Well
• A Key component of wellness
and includes
• Assessing you lifestyle
• Setting goals, planning your
program
• Implementing the program
• Rewarding yourself for
achieving goals
• Reassign your goals and plan
Whose responsibility is it
to strive for a health
lifestyle?
Importance of
sleep
• Most people, regardless of age,
don’t get the necessary amount
of sleep they require to
maintain an optimal level of
physical health or mental health
• Recommendations
• Adults: 7-8hrs
• Teenagers: 9-10hrs
• School-aged children: 11-
12hrs
• Infants: 16-18hrs
Importance of sleep con’t
Physiological effects of insufficient sleep
• Breakdown of the immune system
• Increased risk for hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease
• Increased risk of weight gain
• Decreases ability to retain and process new information learned as well as
recall information previously learned
• Increase likelihood of developing feeling of sadness or depression
Steps to good sleep
hygiene
• Go to bed and wake up at the same
time every day
• Avoid eating a large meal within 2
hours before bedtime
• Do not drink alcohol before bed
• Avoid strenuous exercise at least 1
hour before bed
• Turn off all electronic screens at least
2 hours before bed
• Do no consume caffeinated beverages
within 8 hours of sleep
What can stress do to us?
Effects of stress
• When in excess (DISTRESS)
• Increases the likelihood of developing certain
diseases
• Interferes with the performance of daily tasks
• Reduces the quality of ones life
• However not all stress is bad (EUSTRESS)
• Certain amount of stress is needed to stimulate
growth and development
A fine line that separates the two, and often is related to how the stress is interpreted
What are some examples
of good vs. bad stress?
What dictates our reaction to stress
• An interrelated process that includes
• The presence of a stressor
• The circumstances in which the stressor occurs
• The individuals interpretation of the situation
• That individuals typical reaction
• The resources that person has available to deal with the stressor
The physiological
response
3-stage progress
Regulated by the Nervous system and the
endocrine system
• Alarm
• Fight or flight (primarily a nervous system
response)
• Increased Heart rate
• Increased blood pressure
• Increased respiratory rate
• Resistance
• Adjusts to the stress and returns to normal
balance
• Exhaustion
• Occurs when the stress persists for a long
time
• May result in illness or death
Stress Management
• Coping
• An attempt to effectively manage or control stress bu using techniques that alter the
physiological and psychological consequences of stress
• Can be negative or positive
• Defense Mechanisms
• Techniques to persevere harmony within a person and provide some senses of
adequacy
• Not actually dealing with the stress
• Stress management
• Involves techniques that attempt to reduce both the quality and the quantity of stress
in your life
Stress Management (cont)
• Realizing you are responsible for your own emotional and physical well-
beings the first step to managing stress
• You can’t control the events themselves but have complete control over
your perception of the events
• Utilizing relaxation techniques (reducing the tension from muscles which
regulated from psychological responses) can help you learn to control your
through processes regarding stressful situations
• Brain to muscle relaxation (yoga, mediation, mental imagery)
• Muscle to brain relaxation (massage, biofeedback, progressive
relaxation)
Preventing Coronary Artery
Disease
• Individuals who expend a minimum of
2,000 calories of energy a week in
physical activity significantly reduce
risk of CAD
• Diets low in fat and cholesterol, in
combination with comprehensive
lifestyle changes have been shown to
be effective a reducing risk and
significantly regressing changes
caused by CAD.
What is cancer
• Cancer
• Abnormal cellular behavior, changing the the cell functions
• Although not easily identified, the onset of cancer has been attributed to
• Certain environmental factors
• Viruses
• Radiation
• Alcohol use
• Tobacco use
• Fatty diet
• Genetics
Cancer
Effects of diet and exercise
• Physical activity has shown an
association of decreased risk of
certain types of cancer
• The production of enzymes
that reduce the formation of
free radicals that are
associated with higher risk of
developing chronic illnesses
Cancer
Effects of diet and exercise
• The American cancer society
recommends the following dietary
precautions:
• Reduce total fat intake
• Ear more high fiber foods
• Eat foods rich in vitamins A & C
• Include vegetables in your diet
• Avoid smoked, cured, or charred
foods
• Limit alcohol consumption
• Avoid overeating (obesity)
Lifestyle habits to avoid
In order to maintain healthy living
• Tobacco use
• Increases likelihood of developing heart disease or stroke
• Increases risk of certain cancers
• Increased the risk of developing periodontal disease
• Decreases lung capacity/efficiency
• Drug abuse
• Increases feelings of anxiety, depression, irritability, and
restlessness with prolonged abuse
• Disorganized mental function
• Hallucinations
• Loss of appetite
• Alcoholism
• Lose of motor coordination
• Increased inflammation int he stomach
• Malnutrition
• Increased risk of certain types of cancer
• Liver damage
Summary and take away points
• Individuals must take responsibility for their own health
• The decisions that people make relative to their lifestyles have an effect on their health
• Creating a health lifestyle incorporates aspects of intellectual, physical , social emotional,
and spiritual health in a manner that allows you to enjoy the highest leevel of health and
well-being possible
• Sleep is essential and needs to be sufficient in both quality and duration to maintain
optimal health and fitness
• Stress is a normal part of life that you can’t change, but you can change how you respond
to the stress leading to a more optimal effect on your well-being
• Most of the leading causes of death world wide have been shown to be significantly
reduced with individuals who live a health lifestyle and maintain activity levels.