News

Weekly Health Update #9 with AFN Community Health Nurse

Published: June 01 2020 16:43

Weekly health update with AFN Community Health Nurse

Hi Everyone,

Great to see the continued warm sunny weather, although the black flies really seem to be out enjoying it too. Please remember to keep up to date with the latest Covid-19 at novascotia.ca/coronavirus/ Frequent updates can also be found on our AFN Community Health Facebook Page. Practice basic prevention measures, and please continue to be cautious in public, especially with the relaxing of restrictions.

Last week we finished up our Get Up and Move Contest! Congratulations to Brittany Whynot, Myranda Roy, and Sophie Chetwynd. They all won a $50 gift card to their choices of Walmart or Amazon.

This week we are talking What’s For Dinner? I don’t know about all of you, but 3 meals (plus snacks) every day is a lot of time! So, lets help each other out and share what we’re eating. Show us what you’re eating in a picture, and give us the recipe. There will be a post each night on the Facebook page for you to post (or you can directly email me a photo and recipe). Each night you post earns 1 entry into the draw. At the end of the week, I will draw a name and they will win a $50 gift card to your choice of Sobeys or Superstore, that can be mailed directly to you.

If you’re having a hard time keeping up with meals, using a meal planner is a great way to help keep your meals and snacks balanced. Planning can also help make the most of a food budget, by using what you already have in the pantry, and planning multiple meals with the same main ingredients. The link below has some printable meal planners, or ideas of how to make your own in a notebook. Saving your meal plans and grocery lists can help you in the future by keeping them on rotate every 6-8 weeks.

https://www.livecrafteat.com/printable-weekly-meal-planner/

You can also go by themes, such as: Slow cooker Sunday, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Fish Friday, Pasta Night, Soup and Sandwich, Breakfast for Dinner, Pizza Night, Salad Night, Lazy Leftovers, Casserole Night. Another way to make planning easier, is to make a master list of all the meals you typically make, and like. This way when you’re planning, you can pick meals that you know you already have the ingredients for.

Using frozen and canned vegetables (looking for lowest sodium content) is a great way to prevent wasted produce on items your may not use as frequently. Same can be done for fruits, using frozen fruits in smoothies, in muffins and pancakes, or on yogurt. When looking at canned/cups of fruit, look for packed preferably in water, or juice, trying to avoid packed in syrup.

Having balanced nutrition can help you feel good, and ensure you’re getting the nutrients you need for a strong immune system. Eating mindfully, allowing yourself to eat when hungry, and until you are full, and enjoying the foods you like are all important in having a good relationship with food. This is a particularly difficult time, and nutrition can be a tricky subject at the best of times. Eating to feel good, physically, mentally, and emotionally, is important. There is no “perfect diet”.

If there is a topic you’d like to see more about, such as nutrition, physical activity during isolation, coping strategies, child and youth health, etc. Please let me know and I can look into helping you as well as the community!

Stay safe and wash your hands

Chelsea Sawyer
Community Health Nurse
O: 902-627-1245
C: 902-277-2297

Best links to get information

Please see our Facebook page: AFN Community Health and answer the joining questions for access. Frequent updates, resources, and links will be posted there

Nova Scotia Government: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/

Nova Scotia Health Authority: http://www.nshealth.ca/coronavirus

Government of Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html

World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

WHO advising on pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding: https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-on-covid-19-pregnancy-childbirth-and-breastfeeding

Mental Health Provincial Crisis Line: call 24/7 1-888-429-8167

Kids Help Phone: call 24/7 1-800-668-6868
text CONNECT to 686868
or chat online on their website