We all know that being more active can help with many aspects of life…e.g. sleeping better, feeling more energised, socialising, improving general health and wellbeing, maintaining a healthy weight and much more.

It is important that you as the patient identify the options rather than us in order to make this personal to you.

• Think of some of the common barriers to physical activity that you might be able to identify.
• Can you suggest ways to change your activity pattern (e.g. ways to increase everyday levels of physical activity through activities, such as walking and reducing the amount of time spent sitting).
• Think about the small changes you can make to your daily routine to increase your activity (e.g. walking more, taking the stairs instead of the lift, taking up other activities with a friend, taking the car some of the way and walking the rest).
• This can be a good time to explore what type of activity you think you would enjoy, or have enjoyed in the past when you have been more active.

• It is vital to set achievable goals, gradually increasing your level of physical activity over time. Adopting more activity into your lifestyle, such as walking more or taking the stairs instead of the lift, can be a helpful starting point.
• Think about on a scale of 0 (not at all) to 10 (very important), how important is becoming more active to you?
• On a scale of 0 (not at all) to 10 (very confident), how confident would you say you are about your ability to be more active?
• Why that number and not lower? And why not higher?
• Where would you like to be? What would need to happen to get you there?
• Think about what makes you feel confident - try to remember previous successful changes or efforts, thinking of role models and sources of support).

Also try to identify times when you might find it more difficult to stick to your plans, and to come up with strategies for coping with these situations. 

We know it can be daunting to make a change and so have included a link to this comprehensive leaflet for Practitioners provided by Healthier Scotland and this website by Active Scotland which is full of useful advice and guidance to taking that first step to improving your life!

If you wish more help or advice please make an appointment with our nursing team who can discuss this in more detail with you.