Hitting the Targets for Healthy Weight Management and Your Heart

Decide 2 Care for Y u Hitting the Targets for Healthy Weight Management and Your Heart Your Problem-Solving Workbook

A Research Study Collaboration with University of Colorado Denver The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill West Virginia University 2

Session 1 Overview of Problem-Solving Decide 2 Care for Y u 3

What s the problem? Know the problem and set a goal. Step 1: Are your lifestyle numbers and losing weight a problem? Look at your My Lifestyle Numbers page. On the lines below, write down your numbers that did not hit the target. These are the numbers you can work on to make better. You want them all to hit the target. Fruits and vegetables (Target: more than 8 per day) Physical activity (Target: average of 30 minutes per day or 180 minutes per week) Losing weight (Target: 1 pound per week) 4

Step 2: What s making your numbers a problem? Look at your What Makes Eating Healthy, Being Active, and Losing Weight Hard for You? page. What behaviors are hard for you to stick to? Eating 8 or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day Getting 30 or more minutes of physical activity each day Losing 1 to 2 pounds of weight each week Step 3: What is your goal? What will you work on to help hit your target numbers? Choose one goal to start. Know yourself be real with your goal. 5

Step 4: What gets in your way or stops you? What makes it hard to hit that goal you put in Step 3? What gets in your way? What you think, believe, or how you feel about it? Stress or how you handle things? Other things you have to do? Convenience or doing what is easy? People get in the way? How? Physical problems in the way? What? Something else? 6

What can I do? Come up with different ideas! It s time to come up with ideas about how to take control of this. Look at Step 4 - What gets in your way or stops you? for clues about what you need to change. Come up with as many ideas as you can think of to handle those. Don t worry about how good the idea is. Don t worry about if you know how to do it. Just get as many ideas as you can. Listen to ideas other people have too! Ideas! 7

Which one should I do? Decision Making! Now you decide Once you have ideas, think about... Which one do you feel ready to do? Which one do you think you can do best? Which one will pay off the most? Does anyone have bad consequences? Did you try one before, and it worked? Did you try one before, and it didn t work? Choose the best idea for you to try! 8

Ready, Set... A C T I O N! When will you start? How will you do it? Anything you need to get ready? What might happen to get in your way? Change your mind or don t feel like doing it? Harder than you thought? Other things you have to do? People in the way? Physical problems in the way? Other problems? How will you handle the thing that gets in your way so it doesn t stop you? Remember - Problems can be solved! 9

How is it going? You are doing it! You are making that change! To keep it up, take a look at how it s going. Ask yourself... Did things happen the way you thought they would? Did things happen the way you wanted them to? What is really working for you? How will you keep doing this? Is something not working for you? What is the problem with this? How will you change this? 10

Session 2 Taking Control of Stress and Emotions Decide 2 Care for Y u 11

Thinking to keep you......on track! It s important to know that: Things you do (or do not do) can control your health. Having problems staying on track is normal. It happens to everyone. It s important to be able to: Understand what problems make it hard for you to stay on track to hit your targets. Stop and think first when there is a problem. Stop and think before you do something that s not good for your health. Don t just do what comes first or is automatic. 12

Thinking that makes it hard to......keep going! When it comes to following a healthy lifestyle and losing weight, do you ever think or feel like this: Feel tired of doing what you need to do for your health. Do not want to do what you planned to. Talk yourself out of doing what you would like to do. Think that you will have health problems because of your weight Want to forget you are overweight or need to improve your lifestyle. Want to avoid dealing with weight loss and problems managing it. Feel angry that you have problems following a healthy lifestyle or losing weight. Think it is not worth the effort or not sure you feel it is worth it. Think no one else can understand. Think that you cannot change. Think that you cannot stick with your plan. Feel sad, down, depressed. Others: 13

Fighting your thinking. Fight back! It is important to fight back when your thinking gets in the way. You can change what you think. What can you tell yourself to keep you going? What positive things can you think about to keep you on track? It is important to think about: Your loved ones Your future Your happiness Your body (your heart health) Your beliefs, faith, or spirituality Your strength 14

Session 3 What Makes a Problem a Problem? Decide 2 Care for Y u 15

What makes a problem...... a problem? Problems can block your way to your target numbers. Here are some usual kinds of problems: Something gets in the way of you doing what you need to do for your health. What you want is different from what is good for your health or your life. You don t have what you need to do what is good for your health. You don t know how to do what you need to do for your health. 16

There are two ways you can plan to solve the problem: Change the actual problem. Examples: Buy different foods. Cook differently. Start doing exercise. Deal with family habits that need to change. Work on your emotions, stress, or motivation. Change how you feel about a problem you can t fix. Then you can focus on problems you can change. Example: If it is something you can t change, work on letting it go. There are many things you can do for your health. Choose to change those. 17

Planning for better health! Take time this week to find out what problems stopped you from taking the best care of your health. Then think about... Can the problem be changed or not? This will help you choose what things you can do for better health! Use this form to keep track. Date What Problems Stopped You? What Can You Do? Change the problem? Change how you feel about it/deal with it? 18

Session 4 Know Thyself: Set Goals that Fit your Life Decide 2 Care for Y u 21

When you......set a goal! Be realistic. Make a goal that you will do based on everything you have to do. Be specific. State exactly what it is that you want to happen. If the goal is too general, it won t help you plan how to reach it. Focus on action. State your goal in terms of what you will do. Make it something you can measure. State your goal in a way that you can measure it. This will help you track how close you are coming and when you have reached it. Think about goals that will change a problem you can change. Think about goals that change how you think or feel about a problem you can t change. 22

Know thyself......set goals that fit your life Look over the problems that get in your way. You ve marked what problems you can change and what problems you can t. Read off the problems on your worksheet. Notice if different problems came up. Notice if the same problems came up more than one time. How did you know when a problem could be changed and when it could not be? Look at the ones you said can be changed. Come up with goals for how you want these problems to change. Look at the problems you said can t be changed. Come up with goals for how you want to manage the problems that can t be changed. 23

Goals for changing the problems I can change and managing the problems I can t change. Problem My Goal 24

Session 5 Different Ways to Reach Health Goals: Knowing Your Options Decide 2 Care for Y u 25

There are different ways to reach your goals. Know your options! It s time to get ideas on the table! You need options to help you make the best choices. Think of as many options as you can. Don t judge any ideas yet. Think of how you would do each one. My Goal Things I Can Do to Reach this Goal 26

WORKSHEET Choosing what you will do! Choose a problem. Write down options to try. For each of the columns circle the Thumb Up symbol if you think the option will have a good effect. Circle the Thumb Down symbol if you think it will have a bad effect. Then choose the option with the most Thumbs Up! Problem/Goal: Options I Can Try Effect on Me Effect on Others Shortterm Effects Longterm Effects Will it Work? Can I do it? 27

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Session 6 That sounds good But does it work for me? Decide 2 Care for Y u 29

How do you know what to choose? What will work for you? Know your priorities and values... and, know your style for making choices. Here are some examples: Do you value... Making sacrifices to have a longer life. Getting what I want now. Viewing health as important for a good life. Taking care of others over taking care of my health. Taking care of other priorities, even if it means sacrificing my health. Being fast. Doing the first thing that comes to mind. Or maybe... Having a shorter life if I don t have to sacrifice what I want Being able to wait to get what I want. Viewing health as not so important to have a good life. Taking care of my health first so I can be ready to take care of others Keeping my health as a priority that I can t sacrifice Doing things not good for my health if it makes me feel good right now. 30

What is my style for......handling problems? To make your choices work for you, think about how you choose what to do. When it comes to handling problems with your health, do you: Stop and think? Come up with options? Make a plan? Then do what will fit your priorities and your health goals? (Rational) Do what comes to mind first? Do something fast without thinking it through? (Impulsive) Do something without taking care to do it the best way for your health? (Careless) Hold off on doing anything. Hope the problem goes away? Don t pay attention to it? (Avoidant) 31

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At home, keep track of what you did when problems came up. Write some of these down. For each one, figure out what your priority and style was. Problem and What I Did My Priority My Style My health Other priority Get what I want now What I want later, long-term Stop, think, options, plan Be quick, impulsive Be careless, not careful Do nothing, avoid My health Other priority Get what I want now What I want later, long-term My health Other priority Get what I want now What I want later, long-term My health Other priority Get what I want now What I want later, long-term Stop, think, options, plan Be quick, impulsive Be careless, not careful Do nothing, avoid Stop, think, options, plan Be quick, impulsive Be careless, not careful Do nothing, avoid Stop, think, options, plan Be quick, impulsive Be careless, not careful Do nothing, avoid

Session 7 Know the Signs Decide 2 Care for Y u

How do you know if what you are doing is working for better health? Know the signs! Learn from your experiences! What signs tell you that things are on the wrong track? What signs tell you that you are losing interest or focus? What signs tell you that things are on the righ track? 36

How is it going? You are doing it, and making a change! To keep it up, stop and take a look at how it is going. Did things happen the way you thought they would?...the way you wanted them to? What did? What didn t? What is working well for you? How will you keep doing this? What is not working for you? What is the problem with this? How will you change this? 37

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Session 8 Putting It All Together Decide 2 Care for Y u 39

Putting it all Together: Taking care of your lifestyle and losing weight! Hit the target numbers: Serving of fruits and vegetables: 8 or more each day Physical activity: 30 minutes or more each day Weight loss: 1 pound each week To hit the target numbers: Be prepared: Have healthy foods available Have a plan to be physically active on most days Weigh yourself each week 40

Problems that can get in the way: Bills, finances Taking care of others How you feel and think Stress Other health problems Other needs, priorities 41

You can manage the problem... with problem SOLVING! 1. Something is a problem if it stops you from taking good care of your health. Look at what gets in your way. 2. Make a goal for changing the problem. Make a goal that fits your life, one that you can do. Focus on action. Make it something you can measure. 3. Come up with ways to reach that goal and that can handle the problem. Think about ways to change problems you can change. Think about ways to manage problems you can t change. 42

4. Choose what you will do. Know your priorities and values. Keep in mind what you need to survive survival needs. Know what things are comfort needs but not survival needs. Think about what you know will work. Think about what will give you the best payoff shortterm and long-term. 5. Do it! make a plan and then follow through. 6. Pay attention to whether it works or not. Know the signs of when something is working for you. Know the signs of when something is not working for you. 7. Learn from experience things you have been through. Make a plan so that the problem doesn t happen again. Use what you learned to help you know when to make a change. Use what you learned to help you know what to do if a new problem comes up. 43

YOU DECIDE Congratulations! Decide 2 Care for Y u 44