One of the main things I will take away from psychology class is the effect sleeping, eating, and exercising can have on our health. As it is commonly known, it is recommended that us college students average almost 9 hours of sleep per night. I have always put sleep as a priority in my life and after learning the effects it can have on mood and emotion I will make sure that it remains a critical necessity in my life.
Secondly, I want to emphasize the effect of exercising in my life. The Department of Health and Human Services recommends that you lift weights twice a week and have either 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of intense aerobic activity per week. As a general goal they recommend aiming for 30 minutes of exercise per day with a higher goal of 300 minutes per week. I have always been very active with soccer and psychology has taught me how important that really is to the well being of a person. Overall, I found no evidence claiming that you can exercise too much per week. The minimum amount you should exercise in one week if you want to be fit should be 30 minutes per day.
Lastly, I want to emphasize the effects of eating healthy in my life. I have never had a problem with weight gain or anything like that but psychology has taught me how vital it is to make sure your body has access to a wide range of nutrients so that you can be healthy not only now but also when you are old. I found it interesting that some of the longest living people in the world focus a lot on eating soy and vegetables and do not eat a whole lot of meat. I am going to try and stay away from the processed foods and eat more natural from now on as a result of this class. Overall, these three things have really had an impact on how I live my life and psychology has helped reinforce and better educate me in my decision making processes.
Biology of Sleeping, Eating and Exercising
Even through high school before taking AP psych, I always knew that regardless of how much homework or anything I had to do, it was always best to sleep and try to function with less homework done but having slept running on all cylinders. And since starting college this fall, walking around campus and everything adds up to well over 75 minutes a week of exercise!
The section of Psychology was very interesting to me. I tend to need at least 10 hours of sleep a night in order to be able to properly function the next day. Finding the time to get this much sleep was originally difficult to incorporate in my life when i first came to college but i have founds ways to fit in the time now. Because of this I am well aware of how not getting enough sleep can effect our physical health. Great blog!
Great post! I definitely think you've got it right: sleep, eat right and exercise! I exercise regularly and eat rather well but until we took the quiz in discussion about sleep habits and the effects of too little sleep I hadn't really realized just how ridiculous my school/work schedule was... I knew I was exhausted and that I wasn't getting nearly enough sleep but I hadn't really taken stock of what I was doing to myself. Following that discussion day I reduced my work hours and have been much happier and healthier. That is something I will for sure take away from this class.
This post was awesome! I'm glad you decided to touch on my three favorite things in life (mainly sleeping). All three topics are vital to humans and a delicate balance is required. To maintain a healthily lifestyle we must be disciplined in all of these aspects learning not to over or under do any of them.
I really take pride in my well being and your post made a clear demonstration on easy ways to prioritize that to others. I also try to get 9 hours a sleep every night, generally it doesn't happen, but its worth the attempt. I love eating healthy. When i eat fresh foods and exercise, I feel better about myself and I am in an overall better mood.
This was a very well thought out post. I think that people really underestimate the importance of these three things. I firmly believe that these three things are what college kids lack the most. People eat terribly, don't get much sleep, and feel like they don't have enough time to exercise.
One of the main priorities in my life is to get enough exercise on a weekly basis. I am at the rec center 4-5 days because it's something that I enjoy to do and because it benefits my health. Also, a good diet is key to reaping the benefits of exercise. If you exercise a lot but can't provide your body the nutrients and calories it needs, you might not progress as fast or efficiently.
I am the same way. I have always had gotten enough sleep, its always a priority of mine to get the necessary amount each night. If I have work to do but it starts to get late, i will stop my work and go to sleep. I feel like i need to be in bed before 11 every night. Also I have always been athletic and ate healthy, and it definetly makes a difference in our overall health. Because there was a point in my life where I didnt eat so healthy and didnt exersize like i used to, and i felt more tired, less energized and unhealthy. So I totally agree with you, and this was a great section to learn in class.
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I also enjoyed the aspect of how important physical health is for our psychology, whether from self actualization or actual physiological distress. Our TA had described how kids cannot be administered psychology tests if they haven't eaten that day, which is just an example of how important health is to us.