Lesson 3: Health

Your Health and You

Your health is your number one asset. Never take it for granted.

Many people forget how precious health is — if you don't have it, it makes finding and keeping employment difficult.

Keeping healthy not only feels good, it shows you have respect for your body and are taking responsibility for your own well-being. Responsibility and respect for one’s body, for one’s self, and for others are all qualities a prospective employer will respond to positively.

Diet — The Basics

Magazines and social media are full of diets. It can be confusing.

These diets are best ignored: many of them are fads, and some are unreasonably expensive.

The best way to keep a balanced diet is to follow a few basic steps:

• Eat enough fruit and vegetables. Almost every dietician or doctor will tell you that this is the most important thing.

• Drink enough water, especially in summer. People forget to stay hydrated. It’s an easy thing to let slip when you’re busy, or your mind is elsewhere. Water is an essential ingredient for ridding the body of toxins. It enables all your organs to work properly. It is essential to your well-being to drink enough of it!

• Balance and moderation. This is key. Too much of anything is a bad thing. If you ate only carrots, you’d get sick, even though vegetables are good for you! Too much meat, too much bread, too much sugar — each of these, eaten in excess, can cause digestive and even heart problems. “Everything in moderation” — this is a mantra you need to remember.

Stimulants

The objective of being healthy is to stay healthy. However, some bad habits may negatively affect your health.

You’re not a saint – sometimes you’ll have a drink. Maybe you eat junk food. You’re not expected to change your habits overnight. But with health as a goal, you’ll start to notice some of the things that make you feel not-so-good.

A: Alcohol. Alcohol isn’t a bad thing by itself. Getting drunk is, though. Alcohol abuse is one of South Africa’s top social problems. Many people turn to alcohol to avoid feelings of anger, pain, or frustration. Monitor your alcohol intake. If alcohol use is affecting your ability to function on a day-to-day basis, cut back immediately.

B: Junk food. Junk food is just what it says in the name – junk. Monitor your intake. Nobody is saying you can’t enjoy a burger and chips combo from time to time. However, if you’re eating these every day though, you’re a: wasting money and b: impacting your health negatively.

C: Drugs. We’ll keep this short: all drugs are bad. On the extreme end, drug-addiction will kill you. Drugs are also highly addictive. Drug-addiction is a dangerous condition – it ruins relationships, makes you unable to work, and destroys your life. Stay away from all of them.

Important Things to Remember

• Before securing work, you need to make sure you’re in working condition!

• Our tips on keeping fit, balanced, healthy and cheerful aren’t limited to work only – you’ll find them useful in all spheres of life.

• Most importantly in this course we’ve tried to remind you – you are worth something.

• No matter what your education, no matter where you come from: You have something to offer the world that other people don’t.

• Believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself, others will too!