on Wellness

SPIRITUAL SOCIAL PHYSICAL

VOLUM E 8 EMOTIONAL

ISSUE 2 M A RC H 20 1 2 INTELLECTUAL

In This Issue:
Bad to the Bone Whats for Dinner? Giving the Lord a Portion of Our Time I Love You More Than. . . Relieving the Stress of the Season

The Wellness Center

Tucked away in a corner of the Hart building is the Wellness Center. Many students have heard of it, but what is it? What is done there? The Wellness Centers webpage (http://www.byui.edu/ CampusWellness/) says the ultimate goal is to help contribute to the overall health and quality of life of the BYUIdaho campus community. Students have goals, whether it is to bench press half their weight, to become leaner, or maybe to just become healthier overall. The Wellness Center can help with each of these goals. Friendly staff members are trained in how to help in all of these areas. Free fullbody assessments are available to all students. The wellness staff takes your blood pressure, resting heart rate, body Campus Wellness Center
152 Hart Building

Are You Socially Turned Off?

mass index (BMI), and tests your flexibility, muscular strength, and endurance. Sure, it can be a bit intimidating, but this is what they are there for. Many students may think its embarrassing to be scrutinized by another person. Yes, weight and skinfold tests are taken, but really, what is more important? Your ego or physical health? The staff is there to help students, not judge them. At college, students work, play, socialize, and study. With such a demanding schedule, its easy to be negligent of your health, which makes an hour in the Wellness Center well worth the time. The Wellness Center will help you to set goals of where you want to be in terms of health and if you truly want to make a lifestyle change.

Why Visit the Gym?

Its free. Its close and accessible. You dont have to exercise outside in the freezing cold. You will be healthier. You will be happier. Its fun!

Phone: 208-496-7491

Email: wellness@byui.edu

Bad to the Bone

Recent studies show the consumption of milk is declining in society and is being replaced by soda. WebMD says that, in teenage girls alone, the past ten years show a decrease in drinking milk by 25% while soda consumption has tripled. Soda has never had a good reputation for being a healthy beverage. Consumers know it is loaded with sugar and lacks the vitamins and minerals essential in sustaining the body. But did you know soda is also associated with high risks of osteoporosis? Medline Plus states that osteoporosis causes bones to weaken and break easily and is typically more common in women than men. Osteoporosis is typically a genetic disease, but its appearance has been creeping up more in recent years. Carbonation in soda was once thought to be the contributor, but DukeHealth reports that recent studies show how phosphoric acid (an important ingredient in sodas) is the main cause of bone loss. After drinking soda, the body attempts to neutralize the excess acid by using up calcium stored in your bones, thus causing them to become brittle and fragile. To help prevent osteoporosis, WebMD gives helpful suggestions: A Treat, Not a Beverage You dont have to give up soda entirely. Dont drink soda every day, and think of soda more as a treat than a beverage. For every can of soda you drink, balance it out with a nice glass of milk or orange juice in order to get those necessary vitamins. A person can consume only a certain amount of liquid a day, so make sure some of it is nutritious. Get As Much Milk As You Can! Use milk instead of water when making things like pancakes, waffles, or oatmeal. Try adding nonfat powdered dry milk to various recipes, such as pudding, breads, cookies, soups, casseroles, and gravy. You can add three tablespoons per cup of milk in puddings, cocoa and custard; four tablespoons per cup of hot cereal (before cooking); and 2 tablespoons per cup of flour in cakes, cookies, and breads. Exercise Be sure to do weight-bearing, resistance, and flexibility exercising, keeping your bones firm and strong. Remember and apply these tips to your daily dietyour bones will thank you later.

Whats For Dinner?

For most college students, time is precious and so is the money in your checking account. Its hard to dream up dinner after a long day on campus, especially when there is a Little Caesars just a few blocks away. But by considering the following guidelines, both your time and your wallet will benefit now and in the future: Plan Ahead Keep the ads that come with the Scroll and search for good deals on food, especially produce and meat.

you wont run out the door empty handed; leftovers work great! Cook It Up Take the time to make meals that you like, whether theyre from your mission, childhood, or a recipe you found on the internet. Create a monthly/weekly dinner calendar to satisfy those What do I want for dinner? moments. Make lunches the night before so Cook foods that can be doubled and stored in the freezer for later on. Thinking ahead helps keep your budget in check and your body healthy.

Giving the Lord a Portion of Our Time

Finding the time to fulfill our responsibilities is often a very difficult task. In an Ensign article, Real Life Education, President Henry B. Eyring said, Some of you may feel overwhelmed by the lack of time. But there is another way to look at this. You can see it as an opportunity to test your faith. Choosing to put the Lord in our schedule shows that our faith in Him is real. In the article, President Eyring spoke of his experience in a competitive graduate program where his time on Sunday, even though he knew his fellow students were getting ahead of him: I found joy in . . . loving the Lord, and trusting that somehow He would keep his promise. He always did. Not only did the Lord make up for the time President Eyring lost in his studies, but He blessed him with joy in knowing he was doing what the Lord wanted him to do.

he was extremely busy and often needed more time to study than he had. Still he chose to give the Lord

I Love You More Than . . .

Have you ever played I Love You More Than . . .? Its a game where one person says I love you more than [all the leaves in the rainforest] and the other person responds with I love you more than [all the snowflakes in Antarctica] or some other image with a very large number attached. Believe it or not, God plays this game with us all the timethough its not a game to Him. In last General Conference (October 2011), 39 talks were given and nearly every single one (35 of them) explicitly stated the idea, God loves you, or implied it through phrases like, God wants to bless you. One talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, You Matter to Him, is another round of I Love You More Than . . . from Heavenly Father. President Uchtdorf says, Astronomers have attempted to count the number of stars in the universe. One group of scientists estimates that the number of stars within range of our telescopes is 10 times greater than all the grains of sand on the worlds beaches and deserts. You could take this as a reminder of how small we are compared to God, but President Uchtdorf continues: God Himself said we are the reason He created the universe! . . . the vast expanse of eternity, the glories and mysteries of infinite space and time are all built for the benefit of ordinary mortals like you and me. Looking at the universe, we should feel that God is telling us, I love you more than anything. I made all this for you. Dont ever forget how much God loves you! He constantly sends I

Love You More Than . . . messages. Your part is to look for them. Youll find them in the scriptures, in General Conference talks, in church, in your patriarchal blessing, in nature. God promises that when you do your part to seek Him, you will find Him (Jeremiah 29:12-13). As you find Him and feel the great love He has for you, your relationship with Him will be strengthened and you will be strengthened spiritually.

Relieve the Stress of the Season

Stress can be harmful. As you well know, stress can make you feel the same symptoms you feel when you are sick. Dr. Christopher Lowry of the Psychology Department says that to relieve any stress, you must first recognize your stressor, or what is causing you stress, and then decide if you have control over the stressor or not. If you have control over your stressor, you should use taskoriented coping strategies. This means that you do things that will help the situation you are in. For example, if your stressor is an upcoming test in your hardest class, you can relieve your stress by dropping the class, by meeting with a tutor, studying more often, or organizing a study group. As a result of these efforts, your hardest class will be manageable, and it wont stress you out as much. Now, if you do not have control over the stressor in your life, you cannot cope in this way. For example, if you have a family member pass away (you dont have control over that situation), you cant use task-oriented coping strategies. You should use emotion-focused coping strategies. You can listen to music, exercise, socialize, or do something that you like to do. This will ease your mind and help you feel more whole. However, there is a possible danger in seeking to relieve your stress. As Dr. Lowry warns, most people have a problem when they use emotionfocused coping strategies when they should be task-oriented. For example, if you try to relieve stress caused by that upcoming test in your hardest class by going shopping all weekend because you like to shop, you will have a problem. Though you would enjoy your time, this stress-relief actually creates more stress for you overall as you wont be prepared for that test.

Socially Turned Off?

On a cold morning as I was hiking up the hill to the Hinckley building, many young adults crossed my path. The majority were completely oblivious to a smile, the nod of the head, or even simple eye contact. They were all too distracted by their music or conversations on their cell phones. As I walked, my mind reflected on years past, before cell phones were common, before MP3 players existed, and what a simple hello sounded like from a complete stranger. At BYUI, it is easy to neglect social interaction with peers. Many students send text messages before class, avoiding talking with the person sitting next to them. Others are busy on their computers, surfing the internet. Some are afraid of confrontation or rejection, so they
Supervising Professor: Steven Stewart Editor-in-Chief: Lisa Taylor

ask a guy or a girl out through text messages or social networks because it is less threatening. If we as a society keep using impersonal methods to interact, what will become of us? It is probable that, if we reduce communicating face to face, we will cease to know how to interact with others. The television show SeaQuest DSV from the mid 90s gives us an idea of what a socially disconnected civilization might be like. In the
Design Team: Alex Wells, Ainsley Felton, Sara Kim, and Jana Irish Editors: Ashley Bohman, Laurie Hansen, and Nate Somsen

show, the main characters are pushed forward 250 years into the future and find a great city thats uninhabited. They learn that people in the future had stopped interacting, and that they had turned to socializing through video games. Ironically, only one young man and one young woman are left. They are socially awkward when they see each other face to face for the first time. Even though the thought may be scary or humorous, this is not far from reality at this point. Our society is increasingly becoming socially disconnected. Next time youre walking to class, put away your cell phone, your MP3 player, and say hello to someone you dont know. You might even make a new friend.
Authors: Ainsley Felton, Lisa Taylor, Laurie Hansen, Ashley Bohman, Alex Wells, Jana Irish, and Nate Somsen