Health and Wellbeing Content Suite for Student Planners by Wave Ed

HEALTHY EATING Use the Eatwell Guide to help you get a balance of healthy and sustainable food. It shows how your diet should be split between each food group. STAY HYDRATED

Check the label on packaged foods Each serving (150g) contains

of an adult’s reference intake Typical values (as sold) per 100g: 697kJ/ 167kcal

Water, lower fat milk, sugar-free drinks including tea and coffee all count. Limit fruit juice and/or smoothies to a total of 150ml a day.

Choose foods lower in fat, salt and sugars Per day

2000kcal

2500kcal

= ALL FOOD + ALL DRINKS

Sweets

Chocolate

Cakes

Ice Cream

Crisps

Eat less often and in small amounts

THE EATWELL PLATE Fruit and vegetables Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day

Potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates Choose wholegrain or higher fibre versions with less added fat, salt and sugar

Oil & spreads Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins Eat more beans and pulses, 2 portions of sustainably sourced fish per week, one of which is oily. Eat less red and processed meat © Copyright Wave Ed 2021 www.wave-ed.co.uk

Choose unsaturated oils and use in small amounts Dairy and alternatives Choose lower fat and lower sugar options WEL01

LIVING HEALTHILY Regular exercise and healthy eating are extremely important as they: Help to maintain healthy organs and reduce the risk of disease Help to reduce body fat and prevent weight gain Can boost energy levels and concentration

Aim for a daily average of 60 minutes of physical activity. There are sporting activities to suit everyone, here are a few ideas:

Group/Team Sports Football

Netball

Rugby

Basketball

Cricket

Hockey

Tennis

Running

Water Sports

Cycling

Gymnastics

Athletics

Skateboarding

Archery

Rollerblading

Individual Sports

Alternative Sports Canoeing Horse Riding

Enjoy and achieve

Make a positive contribution

Remember, if you don’t want to compete in sport there are loads of clubs and organisations both in and out of school in which you can take an interest.

Get involved in your local school/community organisation.

Hiking

Find activities and subjects at school that you enjoy and help other people enjoy them.

Find more advice and information on healthy living at nhs.uk/live-well © Copyright Wave Ed 2021 www.wave-ed.co.uk

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STAYING SAFE ON THE INTERNET

As the internet allows you to do more online, it is extremely important to be aware of the dangers and how to stay safe. Social Media

Secure Sites

• We need to be aware of our digital footprint, which we add to whenever we like, comment, post or share. • Never give out personal details in messages or in personal profiles. • Never give your own, or friend’s details. • Never meet up with anyone you meet online, remember that people may not be who they say they are. • Remember that most reputable sites allow you to block messages from a particular sender. • Be careful about who you share photos and information with. • Remember to check security and privacy settings for sites that you use.

• Things to look out for online before submitting personal or payment details • A locked padlock in the corner of the status bar (at the bottom of the browser) • The letter ‘s’ after the ‘http’ in the site address, e.g. ‘https://’ • Your web browser may alert you if you are entering an unsecure site • You can find more advice about internet safety at www.thinkuknow.co.uk

OUT AND ABOUT

Unfortunately, the world in which we live is not always a safe one. It is important to always be aware of your surroundings and to remember that if it doesn’t feel safe, it probably isn’t, so always act on the side of caution.

When Going Out • Make sure a responsible adult knows where you are going and where you will be at all times. Call before you set off for home from a friend’s house • Remember that there is safety in numbers, wherever possible travel in groups • Always keep your mobile charged and topped up • Know your home phone number or parents’ mobile number and address • Never get into a car with a stranger • If you need to ask someone you don’t know for help, try to approach a family group or an official figure, such as a policeman • Don’t flaunt expensive personal possessions (such as mobile phones, watches, headphones etc) in places where they could be taken from you against your will

On Your Bike • Always wear a helmet • Always cycle on the left hand side of the road • Make sure you have reflectors on your bike, and if you are planning to travel in the dark, make sure your lights work © Copyright Wave Ed 2021 www.wave-ed.co.uk

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SLEEP WELL Getting a good night’s sleep is a really important part of a healthy lifestyle. 8 to 9 hours per night is recommended for teenagers.

Don’t eat too much before bedtime.

Try and establish a good routine.

Regular exercise can help you sleep more soundly.

Try and have at least 30 minutes of screen-free time before going to bed.

Try to avoid having devices in the bedroom at night as the light from screens interferes with sleep.

Cut off caffeine - such as cola, tea and coffee - at least 4 hours before bed. © Copyright Wave Ed 2021 www.wave-ed.co.uk

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MENTAL WELLBEING Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, act and feel. It can determine how we handle stress, the decisions we make and how we relate to other people. Everyone has mental health - we all have good days and bad days - so it’s really important that we look after our mental health. In this section, we’ll talk about how we can look after our mental health and wellbeing including looking at some useful tips and techniques, as well as services to contact if you’re struggling.

BUT WHAT ACTUALLY CAUSES POOR MENTAL HEALTH? Well, there’s no simple answer - because it could include a lot of things! It could be that you’ve experienced trauma or are under a lot of stress.

Perhaps you tend to not be very kind to yourself and don’t practice a lot of (or any!) self-care…

Maybe you aren’t very confidentand have low selfesteem.

Not to worry, these are all things that we can work on by building up our resilience!

The mental wellbeing advice and guidance provided here was created in conjunction with the school mental health experts at Your Emotional Support Service (YESS) www.yess.uk 10p from the sale of these pages goes to support the services that they deliver. © Copyright Wave Ed 2021 www.wave-ed.co.uk

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RESILIENCE WHAT IS RESILIENCE? Resilience is our ability to cope with difficult situations - how quickly are we able to bounce back after tough times. Resilience isn’t something you either have or don’t - it’s something that you can build on and improve with time!

WE CAN THINK OF IT AS A BATTERY…

When our resilience battery is fully-charged, we’re better able to cope with any stress that comes our way! However, as our battery starts to run out of charge, so does our ability to cope with pressure. This might be when you find yourself feeling really irritable, maybe snapping at others, perhaps even feeling really emotional… This is when self-care becomes really important - it helps to recharge our batteries and help us be able to cope with life and all the stresses that comes with it!

Why not write below what helps to recharge your batteries and also what things can cause it to run out of juice… It’s always good to be aware of the things that may cause our mood to dip and also have a reminder of what can help us to feel like ourselves again!

WHAT

RECHARGES

DEPLETES

YOU?

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RESILIENCE SO HOW DO WE BUILD UP OUR RESILIENCE?

LOOKING AT WHAT WE CAN CONTROL

LOOKING AFTER OUR MINDS AND BODIES

Now we’ve started to think about our little resilience battery - let’s talk about different ways we can give it a bit of a boost! We’ll be focusing on…

REFRAMING OUR NEGATIVE THINKING

REACHING OUT FOR SUPPORT

Hopefully by the end of this section, you’ll feel like you’ve learned how to be more resilient and have picked up some tips and tricks on how to look after your mental health. So let’s get started! © Copyright Wave Ed 2021 www.wave-ed.co.uk

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OVER-THINKING FOCUSING ON WHAT WE CAN CONTROL Ever found yourself up late at night because your brain won’t switch off? Or found yourself worrying so much about something that you spiral into a pit of sadness and despair? If so, it might be because you’re an over-thinker! Not to worry, lots of us are… and there are ways to manage it. But first of all, what actually is overthinking?

OVER-THINKING

A cow will:

Another common term used for over-thinking is RUMINATION. Fun fact, this comes from the word for how cows digest their food:

chomp down on some grass

regurgitate it (gross, right?)

swallow it

chew it over once more

When we over-think, this is what we’re doing with our thoughts - going round in circles thinking about it, chewing them over again and again, like the cows with their grass.

CYCLICAL THINKING It can also be referred to as cyclical thinking, where we get stuck in a vicious cycle of our thoughts going round and round, feeling like there’s no escape from these thoughts and it can often lead to a downward spiral if we don’t break the cycle, like we see here... What may be something small soon spirals into a huge problem due to that pesky overthinking! © Copyright Wave Ed 2021 www.wave-ed.co.uk

What if I fail?

...then I won’t get into college ...and then won’t get into uni

I don’t think that test went well

THE WORRY SPIRAL

...and won’t get a job

...and won’t be able to pay my bills ...and so on!

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OVER-THINKING THINK ABOUT IT... WE NEVER OVER-THINK GOOD STUFF, DO WE? It’s always those negative, intrusive thoughts, where we find ourselves brooding over upsetting thoughts and replaying them in our minds. Particularly for people who have experienced trauma, this can be detrimental both physically and mentally as it floods our body with stress hormones and makes us feel like we’re reliving these distressing situations.

I CAN’T

IMPOSSIBLE

A lot of the time, our anxious thoughts stem from us feeling like we’re not in control and wanting to regain that sense of control.

By bringing to our ATTENTION the things we DO HAVE CONTROL of in a situation, this can help soothe some of those anxieties.

Anything we

DON’T HAVE CONTROL of,

we can put to one side and (try) NOT TO WORRY about them.

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CIRCLES OF CONTROL THE CIRCLES OF CONTROL EXERCISE This is a great way to really visualise what is (and isn’t) within our control.

I w ill f o c

n t r o l. ..

MY ACTIONS MY BEHAVIOUR MY WORDS

Other people’s behaviour

’

MY FEELINGS

Other people’s actions

MY THOUGHTS

Other people’s feelings

t hin gs

Other people’s words

In the outer circle are the things we cannot control - such as other people’s behaviours, actions, thoughts etc.

the

In the smaller circle are things that we can control - such as our thoughts, actions, behaviours, words etc.

Other people’s thoughts

let

CA sI g et of the thing

I w il l

t hi n g s I CA

r o l.

the

...

Why not have a go for yourself? Try drawing your own version!

dl AN et g IC s g e t of t h e t h in

’T

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BRAIN DUMP ANOTHER TOP TIP: BRAIN DUMP The best way to get rid of ruminative thoughts is to get them out of your head. If you can talk to a friend or family member about what’s worrying you, that’s great and having them listen to you may help lessen those anxieties. You can also try to journal about these thoughts getting all your feelings down on paper so they’re not just going round in your head.

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NEGATIVE THINKING REFRAMING OUR NEGATIVE THINKING Sometimes, without even thinking, a negative thought may creep into your head… these are known as AUTOMATIC NEGATIVE THOUGHTS, or ANTS, which are irrational and negative thought patterns that fit into any of the following categories:

MAGNIFICATION AND MINIMISATION When a person exaggerates or minimizes how important an event is. The individual might believe their own achievements are unimportant, or that their mistakes are excessively important.

OVERGENERALIZATION Making broad interpretations based on a single or a few events. For example, you once gave a speech and it didn’t go very well, so now you think “I always mess up when I speak publicly, I can’t do it without making a mistake”.

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS This one is very common, where people interpret the meaning of a situation with little or no evidence. This can be broken down into two typesMIND READING - interpreting the thoughts of others as evidence, e.g. “She didn’t say hi to me so she must hate me” FORTUNE TELLING - expecting that a situation will turn out negative without any adequate evidence

DISQUALIFYING THE POSITIVE Only recognising the negative aspects in a situation and ignoring the positives. So for example, you might receive lots of compliments on a piece of work however you only focus on a single piece of negative feedback.

“SHOULD” STATEMENTS Believing that things should be a certain way, which puts pressure on ourselves to be a certain way. For example, “I should be happy”, “I should be able to do this myself” or “I should exercise every day”.

...any of these sound familiar? Now we’ve got you thinking and maybe starting to recognise some of those negative thoughts, let’s talk about how we can challenge them! © Copyright Wave Ed 2021 www.wave-ed.co.uk

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NEGATIVE THINKING CHALLENGE THE ANTS The good news is that, with some work, we can learn to challenge our negative thoughts. The important thing to remember is that these thoughts are (usually) not rational, meaning that when we apply rational thinking to challenge these thoughts, we find that there is not a lot of evidence to back them up. So, with that in mind, here are a few simple ways to challenge these thoughts...

BEING AWARE OF THEM

STOP THEM IN THEIR TRACKS

ASK CHALLENGING QUESTIONS

The first step in challenging Following on from the last point, when Another way to stop these some of these negative we are aware of these thoughts, we thoughts in their tracks is thoughts is being aware of can then take steps to stop them. to ask yourself questions them. Our minds will convince When you notice a negative thought about how reasonable and us that these thoughts are creep into your mind, stop and reflect accurate that thought is. real, however try to bear in on how accurate this thought is. If you Your job here is to act like mind the different types of notice yourself spiralling into a dark a top-notch lawyer and put cognitive distortions we’ve hole of negative thoughts, you can this thought on trial! Here mentioned and notice even literally say STOP out loud to are some questions you may them when they crop stop the spiral in its tracks. Sounds want to ask yourself... up. silly but it can work!

Is there another way of looking at this?

Is this fact or opinion?

What would I say to a friend in this situation?

What evidence is there?

Is this thought helpful?

Am I making assumptions?

CHALLENGING A NEGATIVE THOUGHT

What’s the worst that can logically happen?

How likely is it that this will happen?

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SELF-CARE LOOKING AFTER OUR MINDS AND BODIES SELF-CARE isn’t selfish - it’s a necessity. If we don’t look after ourselves - mentally or physically - that’s when our resilience battery can start to run seriously low, which means we may not be able to cope as well with any stressors and won’t be able to be there for those around us either. SELF-CARE doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive - it’s literally any activity that makes you feel good and has a positive impact on your wellbeing.

TOP TIP: SELF-SOOTHING

If you’re struggling to find a place to start when it comes to self-care, a great tip is to practice what is known as self-soothing - this is when we use our senses to help bring ourselves comfort. So for example:

SIGHT

you could watch your favourite film, go for a walk

TOUCH

you could use a weighted blanket, other sensory items

SMELL

you could do some baking, use scented lotions

Self-soothing is also great for when we’re feeling overwhelmed by an emotion, such as sadness or anxiety, as it’s also what’s known as a GROUNDING TECHNIQUE. The purpose of grounding techniques is to help bring your awareness to the here and now, refocusing your thoughts on the present moment - a bit like mindfulness. They help you to pull away from any negative or challenging emotions, unwanted memories or flashbacks. A really popular and easy grounding technique is the 54321 technique (see below for more details) - again, it involves going through the five senses to help you to focus on your surroundings as opposed to what’s going on in your mind.

things you can SEE

things you can FEEL

things you can HEAR

things you can SMELL

things you can TASTE

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SELF-CARE ANOTHER GREAT TECHNIQUE FOR WHEN WE’RE FEELING OVERWHELMED IS TO THINK OF THE ACRONYM, STOPP The aim is to help you to stop and think, as opposed to acting impulsively or spiraling down with your worries. By following this helpful acronym step-by-step, it gives you a chance to think and again brings you back into the here and now.

STOPP TECNIQUE

Stop

just pause for a moment

Take a breath

take some time away from others

Observe

ask yourself how you’re feeling

Put in perspective

take a step back to gain perspective

Practice & proceed

use your coping skills - what’s the best thing for me to do right now?

ANOTHER IMPORTANT FACTOR WHEN IT COMES TO SELF-CARE IS SLEEP How well you sleep has a significant impact on how you’re feeling - have you ever noticed how you’re more irritable and/or more anxious after a bad night’s sleep?

Here are a few tips to get you started on perfecting your sleep pattern TECH-FREE BEDTIME - try to avoid being on our phone for at least an hour before going to sleep, as the blue light from gadgets will stop the production of sleep hormones and will prevent you from feeling well-rested

CONSISTENCY IS KEY - try sticking to the same time, both for going to bed and waking up, as this is the best way for your body to get used to this new sleep schedule

OPTIMAL ENVIRONMENT - make sure your bed and bedroom are as comfy as possible to aid you in getting good rest. We’re aiming for a cool, quiet and dark environment to help send you to sleep

MAKE TIME FOR RELAXATION - add some relaxing activities into your night-time routine to really help you wind down before going to sleep. These may be activities like yoga, journalling, reading a book... © Copyright Wave Ed 2021 www.wave-ed.co.uk

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FURTHER SUPPORT REACHING OUT FOR SUPPORT Finally, let’s think about where we may be able to access support if we are struggling. Asking for help and talking about your mental health can feel scary and strange. It can take a lot of courage to reach out - remember, there’s no shame in asking for support. Do you have anyone around you who you can go to for support? It can be a friend, family member… anyone that you can trust. You might want to write down their names and contact details below… Name

Contact Info

Some people find it easier to talk to someone they don’t know - and that’s okay too. Here are some organizations that you can reach out to.

Text SHOUT to 85258 (available 24/7)

Call: 116 123 Email: jo@samaritans.org (available 24/7) Call:0808 808 4994 or use online chat service (11am-11pm)

Call: 0800 111or online chat (7:30am-midnight)

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