Page 3 - Healthy LEAP into Fitness- Coach's Manual

WELCOME!

Welcome to Healthy LEAP into Fitness: A SOfit Model! Thank you for taking the steps to not only
help others live happier, healthier lives, but also invest in your own wellness. Taking this journey into
wellness is a personal and intimate process and should be approached with patience, resolve and
understanding. It is the decision every single day to put time into wellness is for ourselves and for
our loved ones. While it is a personal responsibility to take care of our health, it doesn’t have to be
done alone.

As you work your way through this program, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Change doesn’t happen overnight. Habits take time to create and therefore, will take a while
to recreate and replace. Wellness should be approached as a journey that may have many ups and
downs, but you can take small steps along every path everyday.

2. Everyday is a new day with different challenges. What is easy one day, may be a struggle the
next. Results will vary, so keep long- term goals in mind and don’t become discouraged- keep going!

3. Wellness is a massive, broad topic! Breaking it down into a few simple steps help you and your
team make positive changes in your lives. One lesson should be worked on at a time. When your team
feels educated and capable of healthy change in that topic, move onto the next lesson. This is how
healthy habits are formed and quality of life improves.

4. There is more to health than just exercising and eating well. This program encompasses overall
health and wellness into four pillars: Emotional, Nutritional, Physical and Social. These four pillars
work together everyday to make us both feel good physically and mentally. When one pillar is lacking
in daily life, the other pillars will be impacted. Each of the pillars have two lessons to teach as a team,
with one optional lesson. We encourage you to talk about each of the lessons with your team, even
if they are difficult topics!

As you explore each topic, plan for the lesson, an educational activity, and a physical activity provided
by UpFitnFun.com/specialolympicsarizona, log in is leap2018. The Healthy LEAP into Fitness pro-
gram works best when education meets expererience, and lessons meet physical activity.

To assess healthy lifestyle changes, we ask participants to complete a lifestyle survey on pages four
and five. This should be completed by all participants before and after completing the Healthy LEAP
into Fitness Program. This will help assess the impact of the program on individuals and what can be
changed to improve and better the program.

As always- thank you for being a part of the health and wellness movement for Special Olympics
Arizona and bringing health education to your team! We couldn’t do it without you!

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