A Healthier Saffron is a new programme for the patients of Saffron Health. It was designed to help people to make changes to their lifestyle, such as lose weight or do more exercise. We know that people often struggle to make changes and to stick to them, so the programme helps you set realistic goals, helps you identify what stops you and how to stick with it when things aren’t going so well.
The course has 6 sessions of 2 hours once a week. Usually on Thursdays from 3.00-5.00pm. If you wish to take part please have a read of this leaflet and complete the form and return to Sarah Browne as Saffron Health either by emailing this to us ( see the link below) or by handing into the surgery. Obviously due to the current social distancing guidance the course has been suspended, so here is an adapted version of the course so you can follow at home. Good luck!
What do you want to change?
Take a few minutes to think about what you want to change. You may want to lose weight, or take more exercise, or walk to the shop without getting short of breath. It may help you to write a list of things that are important to you, Don’t put down things that someone else has told you to change, you are less likely to make a change if it’s not your idea.
What stops you from making changes?
Now take 5-10 minutes thinking about why you don’t make the changes you want to. Are these barriers things that you can work around? Focus on those that you can do something about. You may think you don’t have enough time to do exercise and whilst you can’t make the day longer, you may be able to change your routine to make time.
What can you do?
Think about your barriers and what you will do if they become a problem. Also remember that one slip doesn’t mean you have failed. Just move on, continue with the change, don’t think ‘I might as well give up’ keep trying. We often take several tried before a change sticks.
Setting Goals
Setting your goals sounds easy but it can be hard. The trick is to break the goal down in to smaller targets that are easier to reach and keep you moving forward, and give you a sense of achievement. When setting goals you should follow SMART, your goals should be:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time limited
If your goal is ‘I want to lose weight’ it is not a smart goal as it is not specific, measurable, or have a time limit therefore it is less likely to be achievable . So decide how MUCH weight you want to lose, how SOON you want to lose it, but be sensible. Setting a goal of losing 5 stone in a month is a hard target and you are more likely to struggle and give up. So break down your target, if you want to lose 5 stone, give yourself a longer time scale. Then break it down into a weekly target, a sensible target would be to lose 2lb a week.
The next step is to think about how you are going to lose the weight. What are you currently doing that you can stop, or cut down, which will cause weight loss? Think about what you eat on a daily basis- do you have a packet of crisps everyday, or biscuits, or full sugar fizzy pop? Reducing your calorie intake results in weight loss, and it doesn’t need to be a huge change. Just cutting out a 100 calories a day will result in 8lb weight loss over a year.
So your goal may be ‘I am going to lose 2lb by next week (put a date!) by cutting out the daily packet of crisps’. On the date you have set review your goal. Did you achieve it? Then build on this and set yourself a goal for the next week, what can you cut out to reduce your calories? Each week review your goal and set yourself another small goal, in this way you will have a steady weight loss, feel a sense of achievement and will reach your long term goal.
If you don’t reach your weekly goal think about why not? Were you over ambitious? Do you need to rethink your targets? Or were you not motivated to reach the goal? Then you need to review your goal, is it something you really want to achieve or do you have other goals which are more important to you? Rewrite your goal to suit you and try again.
Of course you may want to increase your exercise levels rather than reduce your calories, but the same guidelines apply- set small, achievable targets. Think about what your current exercise level is and whether you have any health issues that may cause a problem. If you only walk 100 steps a day, then its no good setting a target of 10,000 steps a day. Aim to increase your step count by 10% each week. Pedometers can be bought for under £5 on the internet, and most smart phones have a step counter. Record your steps for the first week to see what you usually do, and then aim to increase by 10% over the next week. You can do this in many simple ways. If you have been sitting down for an hour, get up and walk around your room, do on the spot steps during TV advert breaks, walk to your garden gate and back.
You may find it useful to write your goals down. Forms can be found here for goal setting and for recording weight/steps etc. If you wish to send us your weight, waist circumference and step count so that we can add them to your medical records, then please click here for a secure email link. This information would also be used when assessing the benefit/success of this programme. All data will be used anonymously for audit purposes.
There are also some links for local groups and websites that can be found here.
If you do decide to follow this programme then please take some time to tell me how you go on, and whether the information here has been helpful. A feedback sheet can be found here.
To email us with any of your filled in forms please click here.
Recipes
During the face to face sessions in the surgery we have a cookery demonstration each week. The recipes used are simple, often one pot recipes, which cost under £5 for 2 people. Below are some of the recipes we have used.
Exercise
Here are some useful exercise tips.