Feb 19, 2025

7:00 pm (MST)

60 Minutes

Join Us for This Online Event

Did you know that seniors are often the targets of financial fraud? Join us as we welcome lawyer Doris Bonora for a talk about how to identify suspicious activities and implement effective measures to protect your finances. Empower yourself and those you care for with the knowledge to stay safe!

Join this free Wellness workshop presented by Alberta Health Services by registering today!

Call or text at 1-403-740-2410 or email [email protected] to sign up!

Teach children that their self-worth is not related to how they look. Emphasize their talents and qualities.

Give children healthy choices and involve them in planning meals, shopping and cooking.

Emphasize the positive aspects of healthy eating.

Do not use food as a reward or punishment.

Encourage children to take responsibility for their own well-being. This will help them learn to listen to their bodies.

Remind them to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full.

o Remind them that the amounts they eat will vary as they grow and it also on how active they are each day.

o Respect their choices. Do not make them finish their plate if they are full. Do not limit food if they are hungry.

o Teach them to recognize and act on the signs of what they are feeling, they can try deep breathing, a walk, or talk about what is bothering them.

Make your family meals a peaceful time for enjoying food and talking with each other.

Live with a positive attitude to body image. Show how you can be happy, healthy and active at any body size. Don’t talk about diets, calories and weight.

Model a healthy lifestyle.

o Try your best to balance work and leisure time.

o Take care of yourself. Meet your emotional, spiritual, mental and physical needs.

o Regularly participate in exercise you enjoy. Help children be physically active by limiting TV and other inactive play.

Encourage self-awareness and critical thinking skills.

Be aware of advertising and toys aimed at children.

Understand, question, and evaluate the use of photo manipulation and filters.

Understand and identify how marketing, sponsorships, partnerships, and advertisements influence media messages about beauty, health, and appearance.

Critique how the media shapes societal notions about beauty, health, and appearance.

Create personal social media boundaries. Block, mute, or unfollow content that does not foster positive body image.

Self-esteem is the “real” opinion you have of yourself: how you value and respect yourself as a person. Your self-esteem has a direct effect on how you take care of yourself, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Counteract negative body image messaging:

Model a healthy lifestyle. When others see you eating well and being physically active in a normal, ongoing way, they will accept these behaviors as normal.

Remind people how to identify symptoms of stress: Shallow, fast breathing; sweaty palms; racing heart; headaches or stomach-aches.

Model and teach ways to deal with stress and conflict: Deep breathing, progressive relaxation exercises, a solitary walk, quiet time alone, listening to or playing music.

Help others to develop self-esteem based on qualities other than physical appearance: Compliment characteristics that are not related to someone’s body.

Don’t ignore negative comments about physical appearance, including size, shape, cultural dress or race. Use them as teachable moments without shaming anyone.

Teach critical thinking skills. Help others learn to analyze, synthesize, apply, and evaluate.

Teach about aspects of self and life that one can influence, and help people feel stronger and more able to cope.

Get rid of your diet and get rid of your scale! Listen to your body. Let it tell you how healthy you are. Make health and vitality your goal, not a specific weight.

Avoid labelling food. A healthy approach to eating includes regularly consuming nutrient-rich foods and giving yourself permission to enjoy foods that perhaps are lower in nutrients and higher in calories.

Do not encourage or laugh at jokes that make fun of a person’s size or body. Find a direct and gentle way to say that a person’s worth and morality are not related to how they look.

Criticize the culture that promotes unhealthy body image, not yourself. Question, evaluate and respond to the messages that promote unhealthy body image and low self-esteem.

1. Smokers in the world – According to WHO (World Health Organization), there are about 1.3 billion smokers in the world today, with the number expected to increase to 1.6 billion by 2025.

2. Smoking reduces life expectancy – On average, smoking reduces your life expectancy by 13 years; by 16 years if you have H.I.V. and are a smoker.

3. Smoking-related deaths in the U.S. – Smoking accounts for one in every five deaths in the U.S.; over 480,000 Americans die from smoking every year!

4. Cigarettes on sale – Approximately 10 million cigarettes are bought each minute around the world; 15 billion are sold per day, and more than six trillion are produced and used per year.

5. Deaths by second-hand smoke – Out of the eight million smoking-related deaths reported globally every year, 1.2 million are due to second-hand smoke.

Did you know that, on average, a smoker lives 10 years less than a non-smoker? This is why Weedless Wednesday encourages smokers of tobacco and recreational cannabis to quit the habit for 24 hours.

Quitting the use of nicotine and cannabis may be quite tough due to their addictive tendencies. Many smokers have admitted that quitting smoking was like giving up their “best friend”. However, it’s always the healthiest choice as inhaling smoke or vapor from these substances may pose long-term health risks and have negative health impacts. Smoking reduces good cholesterol in the body, thereby increasing the risk of developing coronary heart disease. Smoking also causes a spike in blood pressure and increases the risk of stroke.

Health professionals assert that quitting smoking for as short as an hour offers great health benefits. Ceasing the consumption of tobacco and cannabis products results in a decline in carbon monoxide and an increase in oxygen levels within the first 12 hours. Smokers who also quit for a full day may also reduce the risk of having a heart attack within that time.

Let us help you quit

Our specialized programs and supports are non-judgmental, flexible, and work with you to support you on your journey towards your smoke-free or vape-free life.

We know that quitting can be tough, so we’re here to help with programs at https://lunghealth.ca/quit/ like:

Journey to Quit – A workbook and self-help guide you can print at home

Lung Health Line – Private help from a Certified Respiratory Educator

Quash – An app that helps your make (and stick to) a quit plan

Nicotine is the addicting part that keeps you coming back for more. We’ll help you stop the cycle, and we’ll do it judgement-free. It’s never “too late” to quit, no matter what else life has thrown at you.

If you’re living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), quitting has been proven to slow disease progression. If you’re living with lung cancer, quitting can boost your treatments and help you feel better. Regardless of your smoking history, you deserve support!

The benefits of quitting

No matter which tool or quit methods you use, you have some full-body-benefits to look forward to!

• Within eight hours:

Your body’s carbon monoxide level will drop in your body. The oxygen level in your blood increases to normal.

• Within two days:

Within two days your sense of smell and taste will start to return.

• Within one year:

Your risk of suffering a smoking-related heart attack will be cut in half.

• Within ten years:

Your risk of dying from lung cancer will be cut in half.

• Within fifteen years:

Your risk of dying from a heart attack will be equal to a person who never smoked.

But that’s not all. Setting your smoke-free, vape-free goal will also save you money, help you look your best, and help you feel more in control.

Ready… or not?

If you’re ready to get started on your quit journey, pick the tool that’s right for you!