This lesson is called Living a Healthy Life. Your body is a machine. Just like a car or any other machine, you have to take care of your body. If people don't take good care of their cars, they break down. Same with your body -- learning to be healthy is important. And taking care of your body is just part of what being healthy is about. Click on the arrow to start learning more.

Living a Healthy Life

Your body is a machine. Like a car or any other machine, you have to take care of it.

A man working on a car.
When you take good care of a car, it drives better, goes faster and it even lasts longer. The same thing is true with your body too – the better you take care of your body, the better you feel. Some of the benefits of taking are of your body are that: you have more energy, you have higher self esteem, you live longer, you don't get sick as often, AND you look fabulous too! Click on the arrow to move to the next page and learn more.

When you take good care of your car, it drives better, goes faster, and lasts longer.

Same with you – the better you take care of yourself, the better you feel.

A man working on a car.
There are different ways to take care of your health. What do you think of when you hear the word “healthy”? Take a few seconds to think about this. When you’re ready click on the arrow to go to the next page.

There are different ways to take care of your health. What do you think of when you hear the word “healthy”?

Andie kiley strikes a pose.
The word “healthy” might make you think of a lot of things, like: eating right, exercise, talking through problems, seeing your doctor, avoiding things that are bad for you. Being healthy is simple. It's about making good choices.

The word “healthy” might make you think of a lot of things, like:

  • Eating right
  • Exercising
  • Talking through problems
  • Seeing your doctor
  • Avoiding things that are bad for you

Being healthy is simple. It’s about making good choices.

A man working on a car.
Let’s look at three parts to living a healthy life: Physical Health is caring for your body, Mental Health is caring for your thoughts, Spiritual Health is caring for your beliefs.

Let’s look at three parts to living a healthy life.

  1. Physical Health is caring about your body.
  2. Mental Health is caring for your thoughts.
  3. Spiritual Health is caring for your beliefs.
A man working on a car.
Being Healthy physically comes from making good choices everyday. Some examples are: Eating right, Drinking plenty of water, Exercising, Resting when you’re tired, Seeing your doctor at regular times, and following your doctor’s orders.

Being healthy comes from making good choices everyday.

A man working on a car.
Food gives your body nutrients – nutrients are like gas for a car. Eating the right foods helps your body run the way it should! If you do not feed your body good foods, it won’t work very well. If you don’t eat well, you won’t feel weak and you’ll probably get sick more often. Just like with a car, if you don’t feed yourself the right foods, you’ll break down!

Food gives your body nutrients. Nutrients are like gas for your car. Eating the right food helps your body run!

If you do not feed your body good foods, it won’t work right. You’ll get sick more often.

A man working on a car.
Eating well means eating food from each food group and drinking plenty of water. There are four food groups. The first is grains, like bread, beans, and cereals. The second is fruits, like bananas, apples, and berries. The third food group is vegetables, like broccoli, corn, and lettuce. The four group is protein; meat and nuts have a lot of protein. The last food group is dairy, foods like milk and yogurt.

Eating well means eating food from each food group and drinking plenty of water.

The food groups are:

  • Grains
  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Protein
  • Dairy
A man working on a car.
There are three ways to think about eating right: Variety means eating a lot of different foods during the day – eating things from all the food groups. Balance means eating the right amounts of all the different foods from each food group. For example, we should eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day, but not five servings of protein! Portion means eating the right size of the foods you’re eating. One serving of vegetables is not just one bite!

Three ways to eat right:

  • Variety
  • Balance
  • Portion
A man working on a car.
Variety is the spice of life! Eating many different things is good for you. Different foods have different benefits for your body. Here’s a tip: the more colors and textures you eat, the better your meal is for you! For example, a really good salad has a lot of colors and textures in it.

Variety is the spice of life! Eating many different foods is good for you.

TIP: the more colors and textures, the better your meal is for you!

A man working on a car.
Balance your plate – but not on your head! Balancing your meals means being sure you are eating foods from all the food groups. Here’s a tip: split your plate into three sections. One food shouldn’t take up more than one section!

Balance your plate – but not on your head! Balancing meals means eating foods from all the good groups.

TIP: Split your food into three sections. One food shouldn’t take up more than one section.

A man working on a car.
Don’t supersize! The amount of food you eat is important. Eating too much isn’t good for you. At meals, eat a little of everything. Here’s a tip: Put the right size serving on your plate. If you’re still hungry, eat more vegetables, not just more of your favorite food.

Don’t supersize! Eating too much isn’t good for you. At meals, eat a little of everything.

TIP: Put the right size serving on your plate.

A man working on a car.
Remember: Put the right size serving on your plate so you’re not tempted to eat too much. For example, a piece of meat should be about the size of a deck of cards. A scoop of potatoes is equal to the size of a tennis ball.

Remember: Put the right size serving on your plate.

A man working on a car. A piece of chicken should equal a deck of cards.

A man working on a car. A scoop of potatoes should equal the size of a tennis ball.

Exercise is another big part of being Healthy physically. Exercise has a lot of benefits. It helps you to: get and stay strong, fight disease (not get sick), loose weight and look good, it even helps you stay in a good mood!

Exercise is another part of being Healthy physically. Exercise has a lot of benefits.

Get and stay strong.

It’s smart to exercise your body every day! Do something you enjoy. Try exercising with someone fun. Be sure you exercise at least 3 times every week. There are a lot of things you can do! Here are some ideas: take a 20 minute walk, go dancing, go on a bike ride, take a yoga class, go swimming, play tennis, go jogging, take an aerobics class. It doesn’t matter what you choose. There are a lot of different things you can do. Just be sure you exercise at least 3 times every week – and it’s best for your body if you exercise every day.

It’s smart to exercise your body every day! Try exercising with someone fun.

Be sure you exercise at least 3 times every week.

A man working on a car.
Another big part of being healthy physically is resting. Sleeping helps your body recover from the day. Sleep also helps your body heal when you’re sick. Be sure to get enough sleep so you feel rested when you wake up. Everyone needs different amounts of sleep. Lots of people sleep about 8 hours at night.

Another big part of being healthy physically is resting. Rest helps your body heal and recover from the day.

Everyone needs different amounts of sleep. Be sure to get enough sleep so you feel rested every morning.

A man working on a car.
The last part of being healthy physically is having regular check-ups with your doctor. Seeing your doctors regularly is very important. Your doctor will check your health by giving you different tests at different ages to make sure your body is working well. Doctors help you to stay healthy. ALWAYS following your doctor’s orders and ask questions if you don’t understand them.

The last part of being healthy physically is having regular check-ups with your doctor.

A man working on a car.
We talked all about being healthy physically. Some parts of living a healthy life don't have anything to do with taking care of your body! Mental Health is caring for your thoughts, your feelings, and your relationships with other people. What does good mental health look like? Having good mental health might look like: spending time with family and friends, feeling positive, not feeling sad or angry, saying or doing nice things for people, laughing and joking, even on bad days, saying how you feel and think, making new friends.

Mental Health is caring for your thoughts, your feelings, and your relationships with other people.

What does good mental health look like?

Here are a few ways to take care of your Mental Health: Talk about your feelings – good and bad ones, Make time to do things you like to do, Visit people who are important to you, Get out and volunteer to help other people, Exercise helps your mental health too! If you have a lot of sad thoughts or feelings, it helps to talk to someone. Some doctors and nurses work on the body – there are doctors and nurses that can help you with your thoughts and emotions too.

Here are a few ways to take care of your Mental Health:

  • Talk about your feelings
  • Visit people
  • Volunteer to help others

It helps to talk with someone.

Spiritual Health is the last part of living a health life. It is like Mental Health, except bigger. Spiritual Health is about living a meaningful life and being part of something that is bigger than just you.

Spiritual Health is the last part of living a healthy life.

Spiritual Health is about living a meaningful life and being part of something bigger than just you.

A man working on a car. Spirituality can be an important part of your overall health.

Spiritual Health is very personal and individual. Being spiritually healthy looks different for everyone. Here are some examples: Practicing a religion (going to church or praying), knowing what you believe, doing things you believe in doing things that make a difference for other people, even if it doesn’t help you letting other people have their own feelings, even if they’re different than yours.

Spiritual Health is very personal and individual.

Being spiritually healthy looks different for everyone.

A Christian praying. A Christian praying.

A Muslim praying. A Muslim praying.

All 3 parts of being healthy – being physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy -- are important to living a healthy life. Being healthy in one way helps you be healthy in other ways too. For example, being healthy physically improves your mental health!

The 3 parts of being healthy are all important. Being healthy in one way helps make you healthy in other ways, too. For example, being healthy physically improves your mental health!

Being healthy in one way helps make you healthy in other ways, too.

Congratulations! You’ve just completed this lessons about being healthy.

Download a summary of this lesson

Tell us what you think.