Health Beat: Activity Key to a Healthy Year
Benefits Extend Beyond Keeping Your Weight in Check: Exercise Also Helps to Relieve Stress
Regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. But it can be tough during the winter months to remain active.
Fortunately, there are some easy ways to make time for physical activity when life gets in the way, starting with activities, locations, and times you enjoy and building out from there. For example, walking is a great way to become more active.
Nora Fey and Camryn Wentworth, both nurses at NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield who just completed their Master’s in Nursing degree at Touro’s School of Nursing, are friends as well as co-workers.
Make it Fun and Invite Others
Both have found ways to incorporate exercise into their routines and recommend finding something you really like to do.
“We both Peloton and look forward to it. It’s fun” Wentworth says. “Walking dogs. Just finding something you can enjoy. Walking and putting on a podcast that you enjoy. I swear the other day I went on a walk, and I put in a podcast that is like an hour long and like that, my walk was like 3 miles, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ It went by so quickly. So, I think if you combine exercise and not make it a chore but make it something – ‘Oh, let me go outside. Let me get fresh air and relieve my stress a little bit’ – while listening to a podcast I love to listen to make it fun, then it’s not a chore and it can become part of your lifestyle.”
Fey also recommends getting your friends involved.
“A group of my nurses, we all kind of do workouts together before work or after work,” Fey says.
Both Wentworth and Fey are recipients of the prestigious Travis Credit Union-NorthBay Health scholarship while they worked to obtain their Master's degrees. They each stress that you should talk with your health care provider about establishing a physical activity program that is right for you.
Manage and Minimize Stress
Learning to cope with stress in healthy ways can make other healthy choices easier, the CDC reports.
For stress relief, take deep breaths, stretch, meditate, or do an activity you enjoy, even if it’s just for 10 minutes. Talk with people you trust about how you’re feeling and write down the things you are grateful for.
These coping tips can help anyone throughout the year. The CDC also offers tips specific to public health workers and health care professionals.
Touro University California offers various wellness and counseling services to students.