Wellness

You've got what it takes to help you stay healthy and fit.

• MCC Fitness Centers.
• Choose healthy options at our on-campus dining options.
• Bring fresh fruits and vegetables to snack on between classes.

Looking for something to do?

• Attend an MCC sporting event.
• Join one of our student organizations.

Take care of yourself.

• Learn a new relaxation technique to use when you are stressed.
• Take 10 minutes each day to unplug from phones, social media and your computer.
• Make time to listen, not compete, with your friends. Choose to get involved on campus.
• Learn about healthy relationships.

Make meaning out of life.

• Try a yoga class.
• Schedule some "me" time with meditation.
• Find a faith community that fits you or check out Oasis-Kansas City.

Bring value to your work.

• Discover your best fit best by taking a career assessment.
• Learn how to be a better team member and leader. Join a student organization.

Make campus your home away from home and contribute positively to the environment.

• Visit the MCC Carter Art Center or Cultural Arts Center.
• Join campus organizations that participate in community service activities.

Knowledge is power.

• Visit a campus library.
• Participate in a workshop, training and tutoring program.
• Take a service-learning course.

• Search and apply for MCC Scholarships.
• Take Personal Finance for college credit.

Physical activity is a helpful stress management strategy. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America reminds us that we can't avoid stress in our lives altogether. Still, we can proactively reduce its effects through activities like walking, running and yoga.

Below is a formula that may help you estimate your body weight range. However, you should also consider your bone frame size, muscle and genetics. Many people fall below or above these ranges.

Women: 100 lbs. for the first five feet plus 5 lbs. per inch for each additional inch over 5 feet. Then add and subtract 10% to get your body weight range.

Men: 106lbs. for the first five feet plus 6 lbs. per inch for each additional inch over 5 feet. Then add and subtract 10% to get your body weight range.

Ideally, your nutrients should come from the food that you eat. However, if you eat less than 1500 calories per day or avoid certain food groups, a supplement may be warranted.

The best supplement to take is a multivitamin with 100% of the recommended dietary allowance (R.D.A.). Taking supplements above the R.D.A. can be dangerous since some vitamins can become toxic at certain levels and reduce the absorption of other nutrients.

First, consider what may have contributed to your weight gain. A new schedule, eating out more often, a decrease in exercise or emotional factors may all play a role in your weight. It will be helpful to be aware of these factors. Second, be prepared that weight loss is not easy. For many people losing weight can be a difficult task, however worth the work as a healthier weight can be beneficial in many ways.

Begin by looking at your food choices. Are they balanced? Do you get too much of one group and not enough of others? How about your fat and sweet intake? Although these are fine to include in your diet, you may be having them too often. Make 1-2 changes in your diet per couple of weeks so that your changes are gradual and don't feel too restricted. Also, don't forget to look at your beverage intake; many people consume hundreds of empty calories without knowing it. Lastly, remember it should be a lifestyle change, NOT a DIET, as temporary changes often lead to gaining the weight back plus some. Below are some helpful hints:

• include at least 20-30 minutes of exercise 4-5 times a week
• keep a food diary to log what you eat in a day; this will provide you with the information you need to help make changes
• be aware of why you eat and how full you are when you leave the table
• watch out for extras like dressings, sauces, condiments
• keep an eye on beverages like sodas, juices and alcohol
• don't skip meals - this usually leads to eating more later in the day and may affect your metabolism
• have healthy lower-calorie snacks available for between classes
• 1-2 lbs. per week of weight loss is the maximum you should shoot for; otherwise, you may lose too much muscle

And don't forget each person is individual and your weight loss will be personal to you.

Don't underestimate the negative impact of sleep problems on your schooling, work, relationships and general well-being. Poor sleep patterns can sabotage academic performance. Not sleeping for more than 24 hours affects performance as much as a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit.

There's also evidence that an inadequate amount of sleep can:

• Increase moodiness
• Decrease ability to concentrate
• Decrease retention of new information
• Reduce your ability to manage stress
• Lessen your body's ability to fight off illness

One of the best ways to improve your sleep is to replace a poor sleep routine with one that promotes sleep. To get a good night's sleep, you need to:

• Strengthen your mind's association with the bed or bedroom as only a place for rest,
• Weaken the mind's association with the bed or bedroom as a place for stimulating activities that might interfere with sleep (like studying, watching T.V., eating, etc.)
• Develop a consistent sleep schedule.

The two essential ingredients for sleep are being tired and relaxed. Most research shows that when individuals are tired, they fall asleep within five minutes or less. Falling asleep is something you allow yourself to do, not make yourself do. When you focus on "trying" to go to sleep, this could increase stress, thereby making you less relaxed. Tell yourself that you are waiting for rest to come, and allow yourself to relax in the meantime.

If you are committed to following these instructions, you should experience sleep improvement. Remember, it will take time for changes to happen, so be patient and don't give up!

• Wind down for the night at least 30 to 60 minutes before bed.
• Eliminate caffeine and tobacco use late in the day (after 2:00 pm).
• Limit or avoid alcohol before bedtime. While alcohol consumption may initially help some people fall asleep, it interferes with a restful night's sleep by interrupting the sleep cycle.
• Exercising late in the afternoon or early evening can help. Still, you should avoid any significant exercise within 2 hours of going to bed.
• Relax before bed. Light stretching, a warm shower or bath, or any other activity that you find relaxing may be helpful.
• Have a light carbohydrate or dairy snack before bedtime, but avoid chocolate or sugar. A milk bottle puts a baby to sleep; the same principle can work for adults.
• Avoid drinking large amounts of fluid late in the day. A full bladder can interfere with sleep.
• Do not have a visible bedroom clock. "Clock watching" often intensifies insomnia. Turn the clock face away from you or put it in a drawer.
• Try to go to bed and wake up simultaneously each day.
• On nights that you are staying up late, try to go to bed within a few hours of when you would generally go to sleep. The more off-schedule you get, the harder it is to get back on schedule and stay rested and alert during the day.
• If you experience many distressing thoughts when you are trying to fall asleep, try scheduling a "thinking time" during the daytime. Pick 20 minutes to focus on the types of thoughts that come to you when you are trying to fall asleep. When these thoughts come to mind as you are trying to fall asleep, dismiss them and remind yourself that you will deal with them during the next day's "thinking time." If this doesn't work, keep a pad of paper by your bed so you can "download" your thoughts to reconsider the next day. After a good night's rest, you will better think and resolve those concerns.
• If you are dealing with a severe crisis or under extreme pressure a physician can provide some non-addicting sleep medications for short periods. Consider a consultation with a physician. Sleep difficulties can also be caused by other physical or mental health concerns such as depression. If you are having difficulty managing sleep patterns, you may want to consider discussing your concerns with a counselor by calling 816.604.1000 to set an appointment.

The pain of a muscle contraction headache is caused by the pulling of muscles in the neck and base of the head. The sustained contraction of skeletal muscles is usually part of a person's reaction to life stress. These are also called tension headaches and are characterized by a dull, throbbing pain felt on both sides of the head surrounding the scalp and occasionally affecting the shoulders and the neck.

Chronic muscle contraction headaches require a medical examination of the head, neck and neurological systems to determine the etiology of the pain. For milder tension headaches, the appliance of warm, moist compresses and a gentle massage to the muscles involved provide some relief. Relaxation training and biofeedback treatment can provide relief. It is often hard when you have a headache to relax on your own.

The pain of a migraine headache has recently been due to the biological abnormality of nerve cells and chemical messengers in the brain. During migraine attacks, biochemical changes occur in the brain, such as the depletion of the nerve-cell messenger serotonin. When prescribed medication stimulates serotonin action, relief from headache pain is often found at last. Migraine headache sufferers may find themselves depressed. They may also find that their sleep is fitful, and they may know family members who suffer as they do. Migraines are characteristically different from muscle contraction headaches because they can cause partial or complete vision loss.

People susceptible to migraines may find that weather changes, stress, bright lights, hormones and possibly food trigger migraine attacks. A spectrum of sensations or aura will occasionally precede some migraine attacks. Pain is often experienced on one side of the head and can be accompanied by vertigo, nausea and vomiting.

Relief is available for chronic headache sufferers. When performed under a physician's care, medication and acupuncture have helped many sufferers. Coupled with biofeedback and medicine, acupuncture can provide even more relief.

Headaches can also be caused by disease of the head, eyes, ears, teeth or high blood pressure. The pain from headaches having an organic base is generally different from the usual headaches.

You can help diagnose your type of headache by describing the headache and keeping track of each headache's occurrence.

Talking about the life stressors that may be an underlying cause of your headache helps relieve some types of headache pain. Relaxation training is also helpful and available.