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 MOVE! is an exciting new VA program that helps participants lose weight by emphasizing diet, physical activity and behavior modification. MOVE!-an acronym for Managing Overweight/Obesity for Veterans Everywhere!-is the National Weight Management and Physical Activity Program from the Veterans Health Administration, developed by the VA National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.
Let's get physical
Physical activity (exercise) is an important part of MOVE! Participants are encouraged to increase their daily lifestyle activity-mild activities that burn calories but don't necessarily improve endurance or fitness. Some examples of lifestyle activity include taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking short distances instead of driving and walking to a co-worker's desk instead of using the phone or e-mail. Lifestyle activities are cumulative, and over the course of a day, week or month can add up to substantial caloric expenditure. Participants are also encouraged to perform some type of programmed physical activity-that is, scheduled exercise three to five days a week. Programmed activities are a bit more taxing and could include riding a stationary cycle, doing water aerobics, climbing stairs or walking on a treadmill or around the neighborhood.
The benefits of exercise
The basic principle of weight loss is simple: To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you take in. Optimally, this would be achieved by a combination of diet and physical activity. Besides weight loss, physical activity has many other benefits, such as:
- increasing lean body mass (muscle)
- increasing aerobic endurance
- decreasing blood pressure
- decreasing blood cholesterol
- decreasing risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and certain cancers
- improving self-esteem
- decreasing anxiety and depression
E veryone can benefit from an exercise program, no matter what age, sex, race or physical disability. Amputees, spinal cord-injury patients and patients with orthopedic problems can benefit from an adapted or modified physical activity program.
What MOVE! offers you
MOVE! participants are taught the differences among types of physical activity, the proper progression of physical activity, how to take and monitor their heart rate (pulse), physical activity precautions to follow and contraindications (when not to exercise) and the importance of warming up before exercise to increase flexibility. During each group meeting, the physical activity specialist leads a brief warm-up and stretching session geared to each participant's needs. The session is designed to teach the basics of warm-up and stretching and also emphasize the importance of increasing physical activity (especially during sedentary periods).
If you're interested in the MOVE! program, see your primary care team or contact your MOVE! coordinator. And remember, keep MOVE!ing!
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