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Prakash Chandran: It's a new year and many of us are eager to get back in shape. Maybe your resolution is to go to the gym more, eat healthier, or live a better life, but you have no idea where to start or how to get help. We're going to talk about it with Tera Moorehead, a board-certified health and wellness coach with dual master's degrees in Nutrition and Education, and Director of Community Outreach at Ridgecrest Regional.

This is the Ridgecrest Regional Hospital Podcast. My name Prakash Chandran. So Tera, thank you so much for joining us today. I really appreciate your time. Now, you know, I know a lot of people have good intentions around getting healthy, especially at the beginning of the year. But I'd love to start by asking who can people go to for help accomplishing this goal or just, in general, living a healthier lifestyle?

Tera Moorehead: Hi, Prakash. Yeah, thank you. I'm excited to be here and discuss this with you. Really, we live in a world where there is so many individuals out there who are able to help people in the realm of health and wellness. And I think starting with your primary care provider is great. They can help you, especially if you have specific concerns. And then, there's registered dieticians if you're more interested in food and they can help tailor a specific food plan for you. Obviously, mental health is top of mind right now, so mental health providers, counselors, they're a great resource for emotional and mental health. And I always like to tell people, friends and family are really a great resource, for most people. You want to make sure that they're supportive, but they really help us stay connected. During the busy times or the hard times, often them and coworkers are who we turn to.

But also, a health and wellness coach is a wonderful resource to help people really on their path to wellness. I would highly encourage people, if they're wanting to improve their health or not really sure where to start, a health coach is really there to help guide them, not necessarily tell them what to do or what they should be doing, but kind of to be that collaborative partner to help them.

Prakash Chandran: Okay. Awesome. Well, this is actually the first time I'm hearing about a health coach. So, can you just speak broadly about how a health coach helps?

Tera Moorehead: Yeah, definitely. So, health coaches really come alongside an individual and they help them kind of hone in on what they are wanting to address. Sometimes, like you said, it's the new year and we have maybe a million things we want to address or, oftentimes it is eating healthier, losing weight, exercising more. Sometimes, we just automatically go to those things because we think those are the areas we should be working on. But maybe really as a health coach kind of works with somebody, it's really something else that is leading to those sort of things. Maybe actually sleep is the issue and that's why they're too tired to work out or cook. So, a health coach is really there to help the individual see what the real issue is and realistically how can they address it and be that accountable partner.

Prakash Chandran: Yeah, you mentioned accountability there. So, there's two things that I'm taking away. One is a health coach, obviously, is trained in this and it has a comprehensive view of what makes a person healthy or what can make it so they can help you get to the root cause of things. And then, that second part is accountability, just having someone that has that expertise that is there to just make sure that you're on track. Is that correct?

Tera Moorehead: Yeah, exactly. Oftentimes, we all kind of know what we should be doing or we know where we're struggling, but we don't really know how to get that plan in place or what are those first steps, and that's where a health coach can come along and help guide and build on the strengths that the individual has, but maybe doesn't really know they have.

Prakash Chandran: Yeah, that's great. Now, I think oftentimes this happens, and I kind of put myself in this bucket as well, but you know, people have the best intentions to stay on track to get healthy, even if they have someone like a health coach. But then, they naturally start to fall into their old habits and their old ways, and maybe they get a little bit disheartened or disappointed in themselves. How can people best stay on track especially in this new year when they really want to start it off in a healthier way?

Tera Moorehead: Yeah, I mean, that really is the issue, right? We know what we should be doing. Oftentimes, we start doing it, but it's that long-term making it a lifestyle and a habit. Oftentimes, I find really just having someone to discuss things with or to check in with, like we were talking about with a health coach, but it could be a friend or a partner. Oftentimes, people find having a walking partner or a gym buddy, that really helps them stay accountable. But also, writing down our goals. So having goals, first of all, but then writing down the goals is really beneficial for a lot of people. Just that process of writing it down kind of helps make it more realistic in a way. And many people have heard about the SMART goals, but that's a very easy, free way to help define what the goal actually is, and it makes it very specific and attainable.

Prakash Chandran: Can you explain or expand on that framework a little bit more? I haven't heard about it.

Tera Moorehead: Yeah, definitely. So SMART, it stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. So when you're thinking of a goal, for instance, "I want to exercise more," that's vague in a way, right? That's different for each person. Does that mean I don't exercise at all and I want to exercise five days a week? Or I'm already exercising five days a week, but I want to bump it up, you know? So, it helps really define what the goal is.

So when we create goals and we write them down in this SMART format, it makes it more realistic for us. So, SMART would be specific. So, what is the actual goal? "Okay. I want to exercise more." Okay. How do we make that measurable? "Well, I want to exercise 30 minutes a day." And again, we want it to be specific. So, is exercise walking? Is it running? "Okay, I want to walk 30 minutes a day."

And then, we would be like, "Is that achievable?" Right? So if somebody isn't able to walk to their mailbox, maybe walking 30 minutes is not quite achievable right now, so then we bring it back. But maybe it is achievable. And so then, we continue on with that. Is it realistic? Do they have all the resources they need for that? Walking is obviously an easy one. But say, it was they wanted to go to the gym. Do they have the resources? Is there a gym in town? Do they have the money to pay that monthly fee? So if you look at it, is it also realistic? And then, the time bound, do you want to do this for the next month? How long do you want to do this for? And so when you write that out, you're able to actually go back and look and see, "Did I accomplish this goal or not?" And when you can say you accomplished something, I mean, that's an amazing feeling no matter how small or big the goal is, right? When you've accomplished something, you have just that internal feeling of joy. And so, it's a really great way to also help people stay on track, and to remind themselves what their goals are.

Prakash Chandran: I love that, Tera, honestly. I had never heard of that framework before. But I think putting some constraints around the goal, being realistic and then, most importantly, writing it down, I think really can help people accomplish this. And another piece of it that I've heard also is just the ability to just show up and get started. So, you have these goals, but even if you don't, for example, get to walk to the mailbox, just trying your best to like show up for yourself, walk as far as you can and come back, at least gets you in the habit of showing up for yourself so you can start to build towards that larger smart goal that you've put forth for yourself. Is that correct?

Tera Moorehead: Yeah, that's a great point. Oftentimes, our goals are going to build upon one another or increase, right? And so you're right, we start where we are able to start. And you know what, even if we don't succeed, it's an opportunity, right? So, we can look back at that goal and kind of look at those different areas why we weren't maybe able to accomplish it. Was it just a bad week? Was something completely out of our circumstances? Then, that's fine. We just try again or, like you said, just do what we can. Or maybe it really wasn't realistic after all. And so, we tweak the goal a little bit and we just give ourselves that acceptance that we're not going to achieve every single goal, but that's okay. We can learn from it. And if we're struggling, we also can look back and think of times when we were successful, what helped us to be successful. And so, it's kind of that whole process of really being more mindful and aware.

Prakash Chandran: Absolutely. Now, there are going to be people listening to this, that maybe they want to write down goals, but maybe they don't even know where to start. So, I was wondering if you could share some healthy habits that maybe can help people live a better, healthier life.

Tera Moorehead: Right. Health and wellness is really so encompassing and so unique and different for each person. But honestly, I think walking really is one of the best things that anybody can do for their health. Most people are able to do this to some extent. It's free, it's pretty accessible. People can even walk in their house. We've done some step challenges and I'm trying to get to those, you know, whatever that goal is for the day, and I'm walking back and forth in my house when it's bad weather outside. So, I really think walking is oftentimes overlooked or not thought about. But so many studies are showing even walking 10 minutes a day has health improvement capabilities. Some studies showed women who walked more than their peers had lower death rates, and they weren't even walking a huge amount of steps, only like 4,400 steps a day. So, simply just trying to walk more in between watching TV, right? So like I said, get up and walk around the house. Or sitting at the desk, grab a coworker, "Let's take a quick 15-minute walk," along with of course more planned walks. I really think walking can help people feel better and be better.

Prakash Chandran: Absolutely. I wanted to ask about the nutrition side of things. There are going to be people also that potentially need to reshape their diets and I know that there's some foods that can help kickstart the metabolism. So, can you talk about the nutrition side?

Tera Moorehead: Yeah. So nutrition, of course, is my passion area and it affects so many different areas. So, I think too often we're looking for the quick fix or the next trend. And I would say really one of the best things to do in relation to nutrition would be to avoid added sugars. And I know people will be like, "Oh, no, don't talk about that." But really, added sugars have no essential nutrients, but they still have calories. So, that's where people think of empty calories. But basically, they're not providing anything good for our body. They're not nourishing it. They're not helping it to heal or to grow. And in fact, they've discovered more and more that added sugar causes inflammation and weight gain among other things. The American Heart Association states too much added sugar is harmful and can put people at risk for diseases like cardiovascular disease, colon cancer, diabetes, blood pressure. So, it's just all around not a great thing to be consuming.

And again, like with walking, it's actually a pretty easy thing to try to eliminate from the American diet. So, I think that would be a great place to get started. And again, they could go back to that SMART goal in relation to the added sugar. And when I talk about added sugar, it's great because the nutrition facts panel now specifically shows how much added sugar is in a product. So, maybe that's their SMART, goal is to start looking at the nutrition facts panel and looking at that added sugar. And people may be surprised, some brands and products like peanut butter or beans actually have added sugar. So, an easy step would be to just find an alternative brand that doesn't have the added sugar. So, I think that would be a really great place to start.

Prakash Chandran: Yeah, that's great advice. What about habits to give up, right? Like there are things that people do that they're used to. It might be eating out, it might be watching a lot of TV. Are there things that you recommend giving up to live a healthier lifestyle?

Tera Moorehead: Well, I like to focus on what can be added instead of what can be given up, and that kind of changes our mindset more towards being successful. So, focusing more on what can be added to help us feel better emotionally, physically, mentally. As I mentioned, health encompasses so many areas, right? I mean, more and more we're finding out about how sleep is so crucial to overall health and most Americans aren't getting the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep. So oftentimes, maybe it's just setting up a better sleep schedule, right? Going to bed at the same time every night, having a comfortable mattress, things like that. So instead of thinking of giving up, maybe it's just rethinking our schedule to set us up for success.

And health really involves so many more things. Again, we do tend to think of like food and nutrition and exercise, but really involves our relationships and how meaningful, you know, we're connecting with others, especially the past few years. I think we've realized more and more how much our health is dependent on having those connections with people around us. It's a sense of our purpose, what we're giving back to those around us, right? Are we doing the things that we enjoy? Maybe it's adding those things back in. Maybe we reflect and think, "I'm not doing that thing I used to love," maybe it's adding that back in. Maybe it is just moving more throughout the day, just finding those little times where you can get more movement and consuming things that nourish our body and provide it with the things it needs. So, I'd like to say instead of giving up something, what can you add that will help you feel better and be better. And that's going to be really individual to each person. And this is another great area where a health coach is able to kind of come alongside an individual and kind of help them clarify where to get started and help that individual realize their strengths and motivations for their overall health goals.

Prakash Chandran: Yeah, it's very clear in talking to you that you have a lot of frameworks and ways to just help people live a healthier lifestyle. So if people are searching for a health coach or someone like yourself, where can they go?

Tera Moorehead: So, I recommend looking for a nationally board-certified health and wellness coach, and they can find that on the NBHWC online directory and you can look it up. It even shows bios for the various nationally board-certified health coaches. Or also they can give me a call if they just are wanting to get more information about what health coaching involves. If they have any questions about the process or if they already know they just want to get started, they can give me a call and I'm available.

Prakash Chandran: I love that. Well, Tera, thank you so much for your time today. This has been a truly informative conversation.

Tera Moorehead: Yes. Thank you so much. It's definitely an area I'm passionate about, so I could talk on and on. But yeah, I tried to keep it pretty basic today and just easy for people to understand. Really, it is some of those very simple, easy things where we can make huge impacts.

Prakash Chandran: No, totally. I think you did a fantastic job. I wrote down lots of notes, especially around that SMART framework, around like adding rather than removing and figuring out what's right for you. And just also information about getting a health coach, someone to not only hold you accountable, but just to have a comprehensive look into who you are, what are the root causes of things that might be causing you problems or preventing you from living a healthier lifestyle. So, thank you so much again.

Tera Moorehead: Yes. Thank you so much.

Prakash Chandran: That was Tera Moorehead, a board-certified health and wellness coach with dual master's degrees in nutrition and education, and Director of Community Outreach at Ridgecrest Regional Hospital. Thanks for checking out this episode of the Ridgecrest Regional Hospital Podcast. To learn more, you can visit rrh.org or you can call 760-499-3825.

If you found this podcast to be helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. My name's Prakash Chandran. Thanks again for listening and be well.