Compass Magazine | PAM Life Special Issue

C O M PA S S Your Health and Wellbeing Guide

PAM Life Special Issue

Introducing PAM Life Helping you make positive lifestyle changes

E V I T I S O P

ACTIVE

MOTIVATED

Achieve your PAMLife

Wellbeing Goals Compass Magazine

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THE

WELLNESS JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES BEGINS WITH A

singleAPP.

To register an account you must use a code provided by your employer.

Interested in PAM Life for your organisation?

Request a demo now!

www.pamgroup.co.uk/pamlife 2

Compass Magazine

CONTENTS C OMPAS S Your Health and Wellbeing Guide

PA M L i f e Special Issue

PAM Life is a new online service designed to increase your wellbeing

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re you feeling a little down on yourself or do you recognise that certain areas of your lifestyle could be improved? PAM Life is bursting with features designed to help you live a more positive, active and motivated life.

As part of our purpose to help people in work live more balanced, healthier and happier lives, PAM has launched an interactive online health and wellbeing solution designed to increase wellbeing.

PAM Life is a 24/7 online service which allows you to assess, track and monitor your wellness. There's lots of interesting content available to help with your physical and mental health.

Start by completing the quick and easy online wellness assessment which will give you an overall wellness score and

help you to identify any areas of your life you might want to consider making improvements in. Get motivated to achieve your goals by contacting an online wellness coach who will offer you the support and expert advice you need to be successful in the pursuit of your better life. Foster a positive mind-set by completing one of the many cognitive behavioural therapy courses available through the app. Become more active by following along with an instructor guided video exercise course.

PAM Life also provides its members with a range of offers with fitness partners giving access to clubs, programs and group fitness classes, as well as recognising successes and goal achievements with rewards.

Page 04 Digital aid Page 06 What is wellness?

Page 08 Setting your goals Page 10 Health Genie Page 12 What is wellness coaching?

Page 14 Ask a wellness coach Page 16 My nutrition Page 18 My lifestyle Page 20 My fitness Page 22 Living Life to the Full

Start your own wellness journey with PAM Life today!

Compass Magazine is published by PAM Group Ltd Contact us 73-75, Sankey St, Warrington WA1 1SL All rights reserved - Reproduction is strictly prohibited - Copyright 2019 Š For more information visit www.pamgroup.co.uk Images courtesy of Freepik.

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Digi al aid How an app can improve your wellbeing

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ith all the demands and distractions of modern day living motivation can be a very difficult thing to maintain. Anyone can feel motivated for a few hours, a few days and even a few weeks, but staying motivated for long periods of time can be very difficult. This is often the case because we are not driven by specific goals in life.

Apps have become a very important part of our lives.

Some of them are aimed at helping people achieve optimal results from their work, while others are focused on helping people in more personal aspects of their lives. Some of these apps are more effective and useful than others, but there is an undeniable popularity in the use of these apps.

OUR

We have created a revolutionary app that helps people by giving them a chance to know an overall wellness score after a quick and easy assessment.

The PAM Life app will show you how to make improvements and the lifestyle changes that will help you regain your health and your drive to succeed.

tyle Coach

ASK YOUR

Fitness Coach

WELLNESS SCORE

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h

ASK YOUR

Wellbeing Coach

WHAT DOES PAM LIFE DO? 4

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PAM Life really helps to improve the quality of life for people. When lifestyle changes are made and improvements in wellness occur, people also start to see incredible results when it comes to their productivity and accomplishments.

The PAM Life app allows you to work with wellness coaches in order to help you track your success and achieve optimal results in life.

The more we are able to steer our lives into a direction of productivity and positive thinking, the more we can make a difference in the world and improve the social structure around us. This is an essential part of our evolution and technology is playing a major role in this purpose.

It allows you to build an accurate profile of your health and wellness status through online assessments together with physical check ups using the Health Genie kiosk. From here you pick your wellness goals and with the help of an online wellness coach you track your progress towards success.

Home

The home page is where you will find the latest news and upcoming events relating to PAM Life. You may have a home page customised to your employer with latest news and events updated by your organisation.

You will also see a large section containing the wellness campaign for the month, which could be anything from how to beat away the January blues to how to get better sleep. You can also view any clubs available for you to join.

My Dashboard

Stepping Stones

What area of your life would you like to improve? Think about an achievable goal that you could set for yourself.

Either select a common goal or create your own. Once you have set your goal you can then think about the tasks that you will need to create to help you achieve your goal. This is the first step towards creating a tailored plan to improve your overall wellness. If you find that you need some support to motivate you or help you to create an achievable goal, contact your Wellness Coach.

My W ellness Coach

This is where you get an overview of your general wellness. It’s where you can find your wellness score and data from the Health Genie kiosks. You can also see at a glance the media content most relevant to you based on your answers to your wellness assessments. You can see what health and wellbeing goals you have set yourself from this point also.

The PAM Life wellness coaches are here to help you make progress towards positive changes of your overall wellbeing. You can contact a Wellness Coach via the live chat icon in the bottom right corner of the screen.

Media Resources My Health Status Your health status is the location where you can take your wellness assessment questionnaires to produce an overall picture of your wellbeing.

You can view through the extensive library of media resources categorised into the following: My Lifestyle My Food My Health My Fitness My Mind Within each section you will find articles, videos, and podcasts from subject experts to help you on your wellness journey.

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Wellness?

ellness is an active process of becoming aware of and making choices towards a healthy and fulfilling life. It is more than being free from illness. It is a dynamic process of change and growth. Whilst wellness can mean different things to everyone, and can indeed change on a day to day basis, it can generally be characterised by good physical and mental health, happiness, and prosperity.

According to the World Health Organisation “health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

What is

Irrespective of a person’s age, size, shape, gender or ethnicity, it is wellness that is the cornerstone of quality of life. It determines how we ultimately look, feel, interact with others and thrive in life and work.

Wellness is the conscious development of the whole self. Embarking on a wellness journey is a process of searching for the appropriate “tools” to make you a healthier and happier human being, plus discovering your own effective methods to use these “tools” for continued growth and development. As there is a great variety on all aspects of life, there are also countless ways to cultivate yourself on an ever-changing path of wellness.

It is important to see that all of the various concepts of wellness should include at least the following principles:

Holistic Your health and well-being are the outcomes of the constant interaction between the several natural dimensions of life and wellness. Each dimension is interrelated with the others. The aim is to be conscious of yourself as a whole and complete person, living life as fully as possible.

Balance

attention to any one dimension will result in less-than-optimal development as a person, and may possibly lead to chronic unhappiness.

Self-Responsibility A well person owns up to his or her responsibility for health and happiness and does not allow others to take control over decisions he/she needs to make for him/ herself. Self-responsibility presupposes selfawareness, including the process by which one becomes increasingly more aware of both the causes and consequences of his/her behavior.

P ositive and Proactive Wellness requires primarily positive perspectives and values by which to live. It also requires a strong sense of purpose and conscious, deliberate action. These are our starting assumptions, and they have stood well through time. However, they provide merely a simple framework. What you put inside that framework is totally up to you.

Day to day you may want to consider your nutritional choices, how active you are, paying attention to how much sleep you get, how many times you smile or laugh, who you choose to spend your time with, how you effectively manage stress, how much alcohol you consume or how you plan your financial wellbeing.

There are many ways to enhance your wellness, and you can find all the help you need from PAM Life. Why not make contact with one of the PAM Life Wellness Coaches to discuss how you can develop your Wellness and take the Wellness Assessment to identify any areas which you may want to consider focusing on.

While acknowledging the constantly changing nature of your life, you look to balance it by giving significant attention to each of the dimensions. Lack of sufficient

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HOW DOES PAM LIFE HELP ME?

It helps you make and sustain the lifestyle changes you desire by building your resilience and giving you the best chance of achieving your health and wellbeing goals.

Physical wellness involves moving your body (exercise), eating well-balanced meals (nutrition), sleeping, managing stress, receiving preventative medical and dental care and getting sexual health screenings when you become sexually active.

Intellectual wellness means staying curious and engaged in learning new things. Engage in creative activities. Read for pleasure, be aware of social and political issues, or join a club that focuses on enhancing intellectual interests.

Maintaining a healthy emotional life is important to overall health.

Some ways to stay emotionally healthy are to manage your stress levels, get eight hours of sleep, or ask for help when needed.

Social wellness involves having a strong social network that can give you support and guidance when you are stressed or need stress relief. Additionally these relationships can aid in the development of healthy relationships.

Intellectual

Physical

Social

Emotional

Total Wellness

Occupational

Spiritual

Financial

Occupational wellness is finding fulfillment from your work and study, contributing meaningfully, and continuing to expand your skills and strengths.

Financial wellness means taking steps to live within your financial means and living in, and planning for, future financial health.

You can do this by planning financially, creating a budget, and learning to be a good consumer.

Environmental

Spiritual wellness is a process of understanding beliefs, values, and ethics that help guide your life. Whatever your preffered approach, spending time asking and exploring your spiritual life can be an important part of your overall wellbeing.

Environmental wellness means taking care of your global environment and your personal surroundings. De-cluttering your room, recycling your trash or volunteering to clean up your environment can improve health for all.

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Setting your

Goals I WANT TO INCREASE MY ENERGY LEVELS I WANT TO LOSE SOME WEIGHT I WANT TO STOP SMOKING

How would you like your life to look three to five years down the road?

You need to think about your future when you consider what goals you want to set yourself today. You might want to get yourself in good physical shape or buy your own home, whatever your vision of a more satisfying future looks like, you will need to set yourself goals to get you there.

How many hours a day do people waste on social media? Adding all that time up amounts to a significant portion of your life and you might want to consider if there are better uses of your time outside of work.

When you have something to aim for in your life the type of temptation that might drag you down becomes easier to resist.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM PAM LIFE...

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The user will have access to a wealth of health information with recommendations made to you based on your health profile. Fully qualified wellness coaches are available online and they are on hand to offer advice and help you create tailored health plans based around individual health needs and goals.

Effective Goal setting Perfectly achieving all of your goals does not matter. The important aspect is setting yourself a vision and giving direction to your life so that you are less anxious and uncertain of what each day and the future holds.

Most people think that setting goals just means picking something you don’t have right now and going for it, but there’s more to it than that. To unlock the power of goal setting, use the following tips:

Goals should be specific and measurable A good goal can be measured accurately and is specific enough to direct your focus on the change that’s most needed or important to you.

"I want to lose weight" doesn’t really give you anything measurable or specific to work on.

However, "I will lose 15 lbs of body fat" does. It’s specific to one area of improvement (body fat) and it includes a measurable outcome (15 lbs).

Goals should be challenging but realistic Goals must be big enough to inspire you to action, but not so big that you get frustrated with the impossibility of accomplishing them.

If you’re 80 pounds overweight, setting a goal of being on the cover of a fitness magazine in 6 months time isn’t realistic. But a goal of losing 10 pounds in the next year, while realistic, is too small to be inspiring.

For fat loss, a good rule of thumb is to expect 0.5 to 1 pound of fat loss per week.

Goals should have shortterm and long-term components When setting your goals, make sure you’ve got small goals that are applicable to today, bigger goals that are applicable to next week, bigger goals yet applicable to next month, and the biggest goals applicable to next year.

By setting small day to day tasks, you’ll have achievable markers to tick off on the way to the success of your main goal. It also helps you appreciate the fact that great long term progress feels like it’s happening pretty slowly.

Remember, if you want to drop from 90kg to 70kg in a year, that means you’ll have to drop about 20kg of body fat in 52 weeks. Over the course of 12 months, that’s about 2kg of fat a month. So be patient.

Frame your goals around behaviors, not just outcomes Do you know the difference between a behavior and an outcome goal? Well, a behavior goal is based on something you can directly control and do yourself; an outcome goal is based on the end product of a series of behaviors.

Most people set only outcome goals, such as the following: “I will lose ten pounds in ten weeks.”

“I will make £50,000 next year.”

While these goals are specific and measurable and may be challenging and attainable, one problem is this: they’re outcomes.

your control.

So how can you pick better goals, goals based on behaviors?

Want to lose ten pounds in ten weeks? Then start by understanding what behaviors you can adopt immediately that’ll lead to this result. Make these your goals. Here are a few examples: • I will exercise for at least five hours per week.

• I will eat slowly and pay more attention to my intake.

• I will eat vegetables with every meal.

• I will avoid alcohol this week.

And how about the financial thing?

• I will go back to school and get an advanced degree in my field.

• I will spend most of my time on big, high return projects.

• I will improve one aspect of my job performance each day.

• I will duplicate the behaviors of others that are making the amount of money I want to make.

In the end, if you make goals out of behaviors, behaviors you can control, your outcome goals (things like your body composition, salary, etc.) will fall right in line without you having to worry about them.

The PAM Life Stepping Stones goal setting programme is designed to allow you to set your long term goal but also assign achievable tasks that will keep you on course to achieving your goal. Not only this, the tasks are focused on day to day behaviours and choices rather than outcomes, to help you learn the path to success.

And outcomes are often beyond Compass Magazine

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Health

Genie

Track your health progress with a Health Genie kiosk

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sing an interactive Health Genie kiosk it takes just five minutes to measure your vital health statistics such as your blood pressure, BMI and body fat composition. It is an invaluable device in tracking your key health statistics and is fully integrated into the PAM Life platform.

The kiosk is mobile so that it can appear at various locations for specific periods of time, allowing PAM Life users to log in and take a self-health check of their general wellbeing. The results will automatically feed into the user’s PAM Life account so that their dashboard readings are up to date with their latest stats such as weight and blood pressure. Tracking your health using a kiosk also allows you to monitor your health overtime, highlighting the good progress you have made or signalling that there are areas of your health you need to focus on.

The Health Genie kiosk can provide valuable information to help identify and flag up potential health issues early such as high blood pressure.

The health kiosk has been really useful to me as it has allowed me to track my weight each week and I can see that all my efforts in the gym are paying off as I can see my weight is gradually coming down."

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1 Website URL: Access or register your account using this address pamlife.co.uk or download the app.

5 min

2 Guest Code: This code will update your PAM Life account with all the measurements displayed on the ticket.

3 BMI: The body mass index (BMI) is a measure that uses your height and weight to work out if your weight is healthy.

A Health Genie assessment takes just five minutes

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4 Blood Pressure: High blood pressure (hypertension) can put a strain on your arteries and organs, which can increase your risk of developing serious problems such as heart attacks and strokes.

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Low blood pressure (hypotension) isn’t usually as serious, although it can cause dizziness and fainting in some people.

5 More information: Contact a Wellness Coach through your PAM Life account if you would like more information about your results.

6 Accuracy: Your results can be affected by activities you have performed immediately before the assessment.

Mild Risk Range 25-30 High Risk Range over 30

Mild Risk Range 120/80-140/90 High Risk Range 140/90 or higher

Mild Risk Range 91%-93% High Risk Range <90%

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A Health Genie test includes

Your results w ill sync live w ith your PAM L ife account

Heart rate Blood Pressure

Height/weight

BMI

Body Fat

After taking your Health Genie readings, the kiosk will advise you on your overall score. It will also offer advice on whether you need to seek advice from a health professional. The readings from the kiosk will sync with your PAM Life account and you will be able to contact a Wellness Coach for advice on healthy lifestyles and any suggestions for you based on your readings or if you have any concerns.

Confidentiality: All readings are completely confidential and securely stored within your PAM Life account. An anonymous print out ticket is also produced at the end of each health check.

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E

veryone knows what it feels like to have a vision or dream for their life which for whatever reason is unattainable and remains out of reach. But maybe all you have been missing in your efforts to succeed is a coach?

In sports, any athlete that has reached a high level of performance has had a coach behind them along the way.

Those who achieve their dreams of greatness could not have done so without a coach giving them their edge.

Wellness coaches push people to find success and satisfaction from their job or lifestyle.

What is a wellness coach?

The PAM Life wellness coaches help people make progress towards positive changes of their overall wellbeing. A wellness coach will help you make better general choices that fit your lifestyle including making specific diet and exercise suggestions. The journey to improved wellness begins with the process of creating a vision of what an ideal state of health and well-being would look like. This first step can be a difficult one but a wellness coach is on hand to offer advice, helping to make the best choices in your goal setting.

A wellness coach will guide people towards their aims, helping to develop a healthy mindset and healthy habits, with encouragement and support every step of the way until they accomplish their goals.

Those goals might include things like: • Losing a few pounds • Eating better • Quitting smoking • Managing stress

• Maintaining a calm and positive mindset

When might I need a wellness coach?

There are many ways in which a wellness coach can benefit you. Here are a few questions to get you thinking: • Do you have trouble sticking to healthrelated goals?

• Are you always low on energy and motivation?

• Do you need some guidance on moving forward in your career?

• Do you struggle with work-life balance?

• Do you find it difficult to prioritize your health?

• Do you rarely let yourself relax?

• Do you want to make The cost of healthy changes to your wellness coaching lifestyle but you’re not can vary but sure where to start?

Did you know?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, approaching a PAM Life wellness coach and taking advantage of the support and advice they can offer you for free would be a great option for you. Of course there will be a requirement of your own commitment and time, but the benefits that can be achieved are beyond worth it.

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typically you would expect to have to pay around £75 to £200 an hour or £200 to £750 a month.

By using your PAM Life account provided by your employer, you can access this expert guidance at zero cost other than the time it takes to send a message that may change your life for the better.

How do I w ork w ith a coach?

You can contact your wellness coach directly through your PAM Life account using the live chat function. If a wellness coach is unavailable at the time you are online, you can leave a message which they will respond to. The wellness coach will chat with you about what it is you want to achieve.

Through the questions your coach asks and by accessing your PAM Life wellness data, together you'll define your goals and the challenges that could stand in your way. Then you'll outline the steps you'll need to take to achieve those goals.

The PAM Life wellness coach can then help you configure your PAM Life platform so that you can quickly access the best online resources to work toward your goals. You might need to view one of the stress management video courses available or create scheduled tasks of your activities that when completed will take you closer to what it is you are trying to accomplish.

A coach can provide the support and inspiration needed to continue moving forward in the pursuit of your goals by acting as an accountability partner who will encourage you even when you feel ready to quit.

If you are struggling with a health related illness or ailment, a wellness coach encourages you to recognise that living a thriving life is about making healthy choices that positively impact mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing.

You'll work with a coach for as long as it takes to achieve your health and wellbeing goals. The time frame depends on your dedication and what you're hoping to accomplish.

What a wellness coach is not

Trigger points PAM Life collects the metrics of a userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s core health measurements such as weight, blood pressure and BMI using a combination of selfentry or readings taken by the Health Genie kiosk. In some circumstances, consistent measurements which indicate that a PAM Life user may be in a high-risk category with some of their readings can be flagged up to a PAM Life coach which will trigger an intervention with the user. As many as 7 million people in the UK are living with undiagnosed high blood pressure, without knowing they are at risk. The proactive action of a wellness coach prevent the development of coronary heart disease or strokes.

What do wellness coaches do?

PAM Life Coaches are wellness professionals who take a holistic approach to guiding people towards their wellbeing goals. They provide the motivation and the route to success.

One-on-one coaching Host live wellness w orkshops and events Create individual online programs Develop wellness media resources including podcasts and video demonostrations

Wellness coaches are different from a psychotherapist, who are mental health care professionals with training in medicine, psychology, nursing, or social work. If you think that depression, anxiety, or other mental health problems may be getting in the way of reaching your goals, then you may want to talk with a professional counsellor before approaching a coach.

P artner w ith PAM health professionals Lead corporate wellness events Combine nutrition coaching w ith fitness or cooking

Physical W ellbeing

Mental W ellbeing

Spiritual W ellbeing

Emotional W ellbeing

Commit to your weight loss or weight gain goals, healthy eating strategy, adhere to regular exercise routine.

Practice and harness your talents, increase energy for daily life.

Self-awareness, increase self-esteem, understand and improve your thinking and behaviour, recognise your core values and beliefs, gain inner peace and intrinsic motivation and realise your true self.

Understand your natural self, live more consciously, learn to appreciate more, feel more connected to your core.

Increase your happiness, self-worth, expression and communication of emotions and healthier relationships.

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ASK A WEL

COA Alex

Meet the team

The PAM Life Wellness Coaches helping people reach their goals

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Behind the innovative digital platform which PAM Life is built upon is a wealth of knowledge and support available to every user in the form of the Wellness Coaches team. Each coach brings a unique and diverse set of skills, abilities, and experience to PAM Life. You may be wondering what exactly is a PAM Life Wellness Coach and what do they do? These are professionals who provide guidance for those looking to improve their lives. They help people to organise their skills and dreams. They refocus life goals and help people move past challenges that stand in the way of those goals. They provide motivation and the tools needed to reach physical and emotional health goals. Typical goals might include losing a few pounds, eating a better diet, quitting smoking or lowering heightened stress levels. Wellness coaches help you understand the ranges of choices available to you so you can make better decisions tailored to your own lifestyle.

As the number of people who are becoming more health conscious continues to rise, there has been a massive growth in people deciding to spend significant amounts of money on health products, personal gym trainers and life and wellness coaches. The wellness coaches are available completely free of charge to anybody registered with PAM Life. This is an amazing feature available to employees of businesses and organisations who have signed up to PAM Life, adding a human interaction element which makes PAM Life stand out from other basic health apps available on the market.

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Sara

ellness Coaching is a vital part of the PAM Life employee wellness solution. Our coaches develop relationships with employees and discuss health concerns, fears, changes and improvements. Through building relationships, coaches are able to help develop health goals and follow up on health goals throughout the year.

In my view, there are no such thing as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods. It’s important to put things into context of what you are eating in an entire day, week, month and year.

Alex studied Sport Science for his undergraduate degree and studied Nutrition with Public Health Management for his Master’s degree.

Alex has experience working within the NHS, assisting individuals who were malnourished to choose appropriate food items and provide them with nutritional supplements as required.

He also carried out charity work in supporting people to eat healthy, be physically active, and improve their mental wellbeing. His previous work also included working with professional football and rugby teams.

SIMPLY CONTACT A COACH THROUGH THE CHAT ICON IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF YOUR SCREEN

LLNESS

ACH Casper has experience with athletes across a variety of sports providing psychological support and advice. His CV includes being an NHS wellbeing facilitator providing wellbeing and health support to individuals who are at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Alongside his current role as a PAM Life Coach, he is also a Sports Psychology Consultant for Great Britain Handball Association, England Handball Association and Blackburn Rovers Football Club Regional Talent Club.

Casper follows a client centred positive psychology philosophy, his job is to educate, encourage and guide individuals to develop and sustain positive health Sara is experienced in supporting individuals through consultations with health goals including improving overall health, increasing energy levels, weight loss, switching to plant based diets and increasing immune health.

Sara’s main aim is to motivate and inspire PAM Life users to lead a healthier life one step at a time through practical and tailored advice. “I promote a balanced approach to life, nobody likes to feel deprived and I’m a firm believer in ‘all foods to be eaten in moderation’,” says Sara.

behaviours. “I strongly believe that by focusing and building on your strengths I can help optimise your performance levels, promote positive wellbeing and help you flourish,” says Casper.

My aim is to always help you shift your focus onto your strengths and remind you of what you can achieve, instead of focusing on what you can't do.

Casper

Before joining the PAM Life team Nichola was working as a health improvement specialist working with clients who had either been referred from their GP or self-referred for exercise due to a medical condition such as diabetes, high blood pressure or mental health conditions. Nichola would work with them on a oneto-one basis to design them a suitable exercise programme (something which she can do for employees via the PAM Life platform). Nichola also holds a specialised

exercise qualification in cancer rehabilitation and has worked for the charity Macmillan helping to support people affected by cancer.

I have a passion to support people to improve their health and reach their goals.

I believe in having a balanced approach to food and exercise and not deprive yourself of the things we enjoy.”

Nichola Compass Magazine

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ASK A WELLNESS

COACH

My Nutrition

Why should I cut back on sugar?

Sara Norburn

PAM Life Coach Area of focus: Nutrition

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ith so many of us having hectic lifestyles, working long hours, having less time to cook and prepare foods and often being too tired to exercise regularly, sugary sweets, snacks and drinks become all too tempting. Your PAM Life Nutrition Coach can help you to create a personalised plan to curve your cravings and help you balance your lifestyle. For many of us, a sweet snack provides the ‘pick up’ that we feel we need but it is often accompanied with a dip in blood sugar levels which begins the sweet craving all over again. It is a vicious cycle that causes weight gain, increased levels of tiredness and over time an increased risk of

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some lifestyle related diseases.

The issue is, eating too much sugar causes a range of different problems such as an increased risk of weight gain, developing Type 2 diabetes, some cancers, heart disease and increased blood pressure. In the UK approximately 68% of men and 58% of women are overweight, mainly due to lifestyle factors such as poor dietary choices and sedentary behaviour. The good news is that making small changes with your PAM Life Coach can reduce your risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes or reverse disease onset.

Current guidelines state that adults should be aiming to

Reducing sugar means sleeping better, being less anxious and having more energy."

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consume less than 30g of ‘free’ sugar (Sugar found naturally in milk, fruit and vegetables does not count as free sugars) per day but the working population in the UK currently consumes approximately 50-64grams of sugar (that’s about 14 teaspoons per day)! It is estimated that if the 30g target was hit, within 25 years, the approximate number of deaths averted would stand at 77,300 per year.

The solution The good news is that reducing the amount of sugar we eat can help lower our weight and help improve our overall wellbeing. 100 staff at Tameside hospital took on a low sugar diet for 12 weeks to see just how much they could lose; of the 100 staff that took part 87% lost weight and 90% said that their food behaviours changed as a result. They reported sleeping

• Fruit juice • Molasses • Hydrolysed starch • Invert sugar • Corn syrup • Honey

3. Start by making small swaps…

Breakfasts Swapping a sugary breakfast cereal to a plain one can cut out up to 70g of sugar in your diet over a week. You could make small steps towards this by mixing a sugary and plain cereal together, using half and half.

Main meals When it comes to evening meals it's worth trying to avoid using jars of sauces as these often contain a lot of sugar and therefore hidden calories. An average (approximately 150g) jar of sauce contains about 39g of sugar.

Making your own sauces can often be cheaper too as well as reducing the total calorie content of your meal. A PAM Life Nutrition Coach can help you to learn how to make lower sugar and calorie options of your favourites sauces and dressings. better, being less anxious, having more energy and more control over the foods that they chose.

Your PAM Life Coaches can work with you to help improve your sleep and energy levels and to increase your control over the foods that you choose.

Top tips to reduce your sugar intake

1. Know what a high or low sugar food looks like...

High in sugar – 22.5g or more of total sugar per 100g Low in sugar – 5g or less of total sugar per 100g

2.

Be able to spot ‘hidden’ sugars…

• Sucrose • Glucose • Fructose • Maltose

Snacks The easiest way to reduce the sugar and calories that you eat from snacks is to cut your portion sizes. Often our choices of snacks are due to other factors happening in our lives (ie our comfort foods) and are difficult to change overnight. Speaking to a PAM Life Coach can help you to come up with some alternatives that you think would satisfy your cravings.

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ASK A WELLNESS

COACH

My L ifestyle

Am I drinking too much alcohol?

Alex Richmond

PAM Life Coach Area of focus: Health

U

K guidelines (UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines) suggest that it’s best for your health to not drink more than 14 units of alcohol per week. If you’re pregnant, it is advised that you do not drink during your pregnancy.

• Liver disease

In the short-term you’ll experience:

• Brain and nervous system

• An improved sleeping pattern which will lead to increased energy levels and feeling better in the morning

If you regularly drink 14 units of alcohol per week, it’s best to spread your drinking over the course of the week rather than having one or two substantial drinking episodes, or binge drinking (more than 4 units at any one time).

• Mental health issues

Alcohol and Health

Regular alcohol consumption can have a negative impact on your health. You might not actually notice any immediate deterioration, but over time alcohol can increase your risk of developing: 18

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damage • Certain cancers • Stroke • Heart disease

The benefits of giving up alcohol

There are both short-term and long-term benefits to reducing your alcohol intake.

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• Improved skin - alcohol is a diuretic and therefore makes you dehydrated, so by reducing your alcohol intake your skin will be more hydrated and look healthier • Improved functioning – thanks to the improvement in sleep and hydration, any headaches should be relieved, you’ll be able function better from a physical perspective, and you’ll be able to think clearer.

The long-term benefit of cutting down on alcohol is that you will reduce your risk of developing the

Change the size of your drink – if you drink pints you can switch to bottles and if you drink wine or spirits you can switch to a smaller glass"

Reduce your social drinking i.e. drinking at home – when you get home from work, don’t open the alcohol until you have your evening meal. If you drink alcohol whilst you eat, you’re likely to drink less and drinking with food slows down the rate that alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream.

Have lower strength drinks – you can reduce your alcohol intake by opting for an alcoholic drink with a lower ABV percentage (alcohol by volume). You can also alternate between an alcoholic drink and a soft drink.

Change the size of your drink – if you drink pints you can switch to bottles and if you drink wine or spirits you can switch to a smaller glass or smaller measures.

Set a budget – if you go out drinking only take a certain amount of money with you so that once you’ve spent the money you can’t buy any more drinks. As you’ll have your set budget it’s likely that you will drink slower too. below health problems: • Liver cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) • Stroke • Mouth cancer • Breast cancer • Heart disease and high blood pressure • Sexual dysfunction And of course, you’ll save a lot of money both in the short-term and the long-term.

Tips to reduce consumption There are numerous ways you can reduce your alcohol intake. The Chief Medical Officer, Drink Aware, the British Dietetic Association, and the NHS provide tips on how to reduce the amount of alcohol you drink. Some examples are provided below:

Have drink-free days – it’s not just how much you drink that matters, it’s also how often. If you have a bottle or glass of alcohol each night you can easily go over the recommended guidelines.

Let your friends and family know – if you want to reduce your alcohol intake, make sure you let your friends and family aware that this is important to you. They will be able to provide you with extra support.

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ASK A WELLNESS

COACH

My Fitness

Cardio or weights... which is better for weight loss?

Nichola Cartwright PAM Life Coach Area of focus: Fitness

P

eople who are looking to increase their physical activity quite often don’t know where to start. Then comes the question people are asking…do I do cardio or weights?

Each type of exercise plays an important role, but it can be tricky to know which is better for your time. If fat loss is your main goal, reducing your calorie intake along with increasing your physical activity will help you lose fat.

To look at both types of exercise, below discusses the pros and cons of both types. It’s worth noting that any training regime you embark on to lose fat and get lean should be built with maintaining your lean muscle mass in mind. Applying this to the cardio vs weights question, here is how the two compare:

Cardio training Pros: • Very high calorie burn after exercise (falls off shortly after).

• Low barrier to entry - lots of activities can be incoporated.

• Low impact / intensity options are available i.e. walking.

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Cons: • Most people will use running as a default cardio but over running can cause repetitive strain injuries.

• Can be difficult for beginners to get into, unless very low intensity.

• Moderate to intense sustained cardio is not ideal for hormone balance, especially those with high cortisol levels (a sign of tiredness and / or stress).

• Difficult to create a balanced physique through cardio alone.

Why do it?

Cardiovascular training is any exercise that gets your heart rate up and increases your blood circulation throughout the body.

There are various forms and methods of performing cardio exercises – all of which have a multitude of benefits: • Improved heart health • Increases hormonal profile – when exercising we release chemicals from the brain called endorphins, which trigger positive feelings in the body.

• Management of diabetes – by increasing your muscle's ability to utilise glucose.

• Supports fat loss – when combined with a calorie controlled diet, it can help burn those extra calories.

Where do I start and what can I do?

If you are just getting started, first focus on simply finding an activity that gets you moving and gets your heart rate up. Any form of activity will do, whether it is going for a walk, a bike ride or performing in an organised sport, it’s about finding something you enjoy. You can even do cardio in your own house, by walking / running up the stairs several times, jogging on the spot, anything that

“

Each type of exercise can play an important role, but it can be tricky to know which is better for your time."

gets your body moving and heart pumping.

As you build up your fitness level, you can start to perform more advanced forms of cardio such as interval training, HIIT (high intensity interval training).

W eight training

Pros: • Increases muscle mass quickly • Causes a sustained spike in metabolism, which means you burn calories long after the exercise is over.

• Low barrier entry for beginners or those unfit.

• Offers the ability to grow muscle and lose fat simultaneously.

• Offers variation - lots of different exercises you can incorporate into your training plans.

Cons: • Higher barrier to recovery - i.e. a 4 hour walk is great, however a 4 hour weight traning session is counter productive .

• Lower calorie burn compared to cardio (minute by minute, not overtime).

• Lots of misleading information on the market, leading to poor results.

• Can increase hunger significantly, so discipline with diet becomes a factor in success.

Why do it?

Although weight training does not necessarily burn more calories per session compared to a full cardio session, it helps build more muscle, and muscle burns more calories at rest than other tissues, meaning you continue to burn

more calories after the exercise is over. As well as this, weight training also: • Regulates insulin – therefore manages blood glucose levels • Improves posture, strength and endurance – making everyday tasks much easier.

• Boosts mood and improves sleep.

• Improves balance and reduces the risk of falls.

Where do I start and what can I do?

Weight training can be performed with various types of equipment, such as free weights, resistance bands, or by simply using your own bodyweight. Resistance machines found in gyms are brilliant if you are new to weight training as they help support posture, and are simpler to use rather than free weights.

Bodyweight exercises are great as they can be performed in the comfort of your own home.

Exercises include press ups, squats and lunges.

The conclusion

The question at the heart of the debate is false: no one has to do one or the other. Combining the two types is a great starting point, then increasing the amount of weight or resistance, and increasing the intensity of your cardio as you progress. Variety is key – it is surprising how our bodies adapt to the same type of exercise, so as you start to feel fitter and see the weight loss, add a little extra weight, or start adding in some HIIT training to pick up the tempo.

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21

My Mind

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Build your positive mindset with an online CBT course

L

iving Life to the Full, is a range of courses using the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy approach that are available within the PAM Life 'My Mind' resources. Professor Chris Williams developed the courses and explains how they work.

How do CBT courses work?

CW: When people are struggling at work often it is because of problems like distress. The three most common reasons why people go off work and stay off work is because of anxiety, because of depression and because of long-term musculoskeletal issues such as back pain and other problems. One of the really difficult challenges when people face those symptoms is how to intervene early - but also to intervene in ways that are effective supportive, and engaging for that person.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as an approach has good solutions for dealing with anxiety. It’s got great solutions for depression, it’s also got a clear structure and a plan for people dealing with

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physical health problems. That’s why I think these CBT approaches can be particularly powerful and potent in occupational health settings and helping people back to work. It also can be really useful resources for building resilience at work and tackle real difficulties like presenteeism as well as absenteeism.

The tools we have generated have tried really to engage and support but to do so whilst avoiding labels such as depressive disorder and anxiety disorder which often causes people problems, causing them to withdraw rather than to engage.

Who would benefit from viewing these resources?

CW: So many people feel lonely, isolated, that this is only affecting me… I’m different; I’m damaged; I can’t cope, and realising that actually these problems of lowmood and anxiety are incredibly common. There’s real need for all of us to think about life skills and how resilient we are and all of these things.

How can people deal with negative thoughts?

CW: Another way of thinking about bad thoughts is that they are like bullies in the school and if a bully comes up to you wanting your crisp packet or your Kit Kat, what happens if you hand them over?

The bully comes back tomorrow.

Bad thoughts are like bullies; they say you're useless, nobody likes you, don't go to that party, don't go out for that meal. They tell lies. The trouble with these thoughts is that they bully people to avoid things and to draw back from people, to do less and less and it means that people fail to realise that it is actually standing up to them that can be incredibly helpful and quite the opposite of what the bad thought is saying. If we stand up to bullies, call its bluff it's an incredibly powerful way of discovering that facing fears is actually a very effective way of doing it. Of course that has to be done in a planned way sometimes when fears are very strong and overwhelming but it can be such a powerful empowering thing to recognise that these bad thoughts tell lies.

Handy dashboard to see your health summary and wellness goals at a glance

Ability to chat w ith your own online wellness coach

A range of video courses teaching life skills based on the CBT approach

To use the app you must have a PAM L ife account through your employer

Interested in PAM Life for your organisation?

Request a demo now!

www.pamgroup.co.uk/pamlife Compass Magazine

23

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POSITIVE

ACTIVE

MOTIVATED Total Wellness

GET THE APP Search ‘PAM Life’ in your app store

To register an account you must have been provided with an organisation code by your employer.

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