An Introduction to Health Kick

Health Kick is a guide for CSSC members to wise up and learn how to enjoy a happy and healthy life. For some, this means a lifestyle change, for others it's small changes but when applied to everyday life - makes a huge difference.

Being healthier doesn't necessarily mean dieting. It means getting the right vitamins into your body, being a healthy weight and being fit. Being healthy doesn't necessarily mean physical health either. With people's every day lives becoming busier and more demanding, whether it be work, financial or relationships, your mental state can have a huge effect on your body and happiness.

Simple Steps: move more
CSSC Sports & Leisure have been extolling on the virtues of living a healthier lifestyle for over 80 years. The thing is, while in theory it sounds like a great idea, finding the time to keep fit amongst all the other pressures of modern life can be a daunting task. But there are ways around this. You needn't spend four hours every day pumping iron in an expensive high street gym, there are plenty of little ways you can improve your general health and wellbeing, and all you have to do is alter your habits a little.

• Eating right. This is an element of being healthy which in modern life gets forgotten. In a lot of cases, people are simply under-educated and not completely sure what's good for them and what's not!
  
  For fantastic tips on how to eat well without cutting out all yummy food for the whole family, visit the Change4Life website: http://www.nhs.uk/change4life/Pages/change-for-life-adults.aspx
  
  
• Sleep. Lack of it, too much of it can have a huge effect on your energy levels and mood. The average person should get 8 hours sleep a night but some people claim to be too busy to sleep!
  
  

• Stress. Stress can affect people in different ways and comes in all different forms. But it isn't something that's completely out of your control. Some people find relaxation techniques help them get through stressful situations, i.e. a work presentation or confrontational dilemmas.
  
  For more information, visit: http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/stressmanagement/pages/relaxation.aspx
  
  The main reasons from stress range from work pressures, financial worries, relationships, divorce, unemployment or physical abuse. There are many side affects of stress. These include; irritability or anger, apathy or depression, anxiety, mood swings, and loss of appetite. visit this site for more information on what you can do to overcome high levels of stress and how you can recognise the signs that you are stressed: http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/stress.html