Our April 2011 Spreading Wellness newsletter gives tips and advice about how you get motivated to be physically active. (Sponsored by Spectrum Lifeworks)

1. SPREADING WELLNESS
APRIL 2011
Join our nurses4wellness community:
Greetings!
A study published in JAMA last year provided women with
some discouraging news, suggesting women need to
exercise 60 minutes a day to maintain a healthy weight.
“Who has an hour a day to exercise?” asked several women
in a weight-loss program that I was leading. Sadly, the
general feeling expressed was “What’s the point in even
trying?”
If women (or men) can’t find a full hour in their day, the last thing we want
them to feel is that there is no point in exercising at all. In my experience
many people do not realize that you can accumulate your exercise in bouts of
10 – 15 minutes. You don’t necessarily need to exercise in a 30 – 60 minute
stretch to benefit. A 10 minute walk, dancing for 15 minutes, 15 minutes of
floor exercises while watching TV - it all adds up!
As nurses, we can help people increase their physical activity level by assisting
them to find creative ways to be active, to set realistic exercise goals and to use
behavioral modification techniques to stay motivated. Sure, it's important to
teach people the benefits of exercise, but it's more important to help them
make it happen!
Be well,
Janet Fontana, RN, MA
Nursing CE Program
Are you looking for ways to
motivate yourself or others
to stay physically active? Do
you or your patients have a
difficult time fitting exercise
into a busy schedule? In her
nursing CE webinar,
"Getting Started and Staying
Motivated to be Physically Active," Dr.
Sarah Reiff-Hekking, clinical psychologist
and life coach, will teach you how to help
people reach their physical activity goals.
Support a Worthy Cause
Boost your motivation
to exercise by
participating in an
exercise-based
fundraiser. Find an
event that best suites you. By setting an
inspiring outcome goal of raising money for
a worthy cause, you are more likely to stick
to your process goals – that is, the regular
exercise you do to prepare.
Leave Your Cares Behind
A workshop attendee once said, “If I
thought of walking as exercise, I would
never do it. When I think of it as my time, I
can’t live without it.”
Free your mind and fully enjoy the
experience of walking by practicing
mindfulness:
1. Become aware of your breath
2. Feel the movements of your body
3. Open up all of your senses. What do you
see, feel, smell and hear?
4. Whenever your mind drifts away from
your experience, bring your awareness
back to your breath and the walk.
"Each step brings you back to the present
moment, which is the only moment in which
you can be alive," shares Thich Nhat
Hanh. (see video on YouTube)
Spring into Action
Scientifically validated strategies to help
you and/or others become more active:
• Self monitoring (journal, phone app,
online tracking, pedometer)
• Goal setting (SMART goals;
outcome/process goals)
• Contracting (written agreements,
accountability)
• Feedback (checking in on progress)
• Problem solving (deal with variables,
make adjustments)
• Stimulus/cues (an active friend, sneakers
in your car, sticky notes, etc)
Take a look at Dr. Reiff-Hekking's
presentation handout to see how she puts
these strategies together to help her clients
increase their physical activity.
Suggested Resources
Physical Activity Guidelines
Small Step, Get Active: Goals is a website
to help you set activity goals.
Shape Up America! Get Up and Go!
10,000 Steps a Day is a handout with
information about pedometer use.
Map my walk & Map my run are websites
where you can plan your routes.
Our Favorite Books:
"Younger Next Year for Women: Live
Strong, Fit, and Sexy" - Chris Crowley &
Henry Lodge, MD
"Spark:The Revolutionary New Science of
Exercise & the Brain" - John Ratey, MD
Spreading Wellness Nursing Newsletter April 2011 http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs092/1103596296929/archive/11070...
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