Live longer with a Deadly Choice

Have you made a Deadly Choice lately?

A Deadly Choice is something awesome; deciding to do physical activity, cutting back on junk food, stop using drugs and alcohol or to quit smoking.

Promoting Deadly Choices is the job of the healthy lifestyle team at the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health in southeast Queensland in a bid to reduce the high incidence of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases affecting our mob.

Read about the Deadly Choices campaign here.

Peter Stoddardt, a tobacco consultant (pictured above with Aggro at 98.9fm) with the lifestyle team says increasing physical activity is one of their Deadly Choices messages which can help maintain healthy weight and reduce the risk of disease.

"We try and get them to do physical exercise, even if it's just working in the gardens, or going for a walk."

He says there are other Deadly Choices individuals can embrace.

"Eating healthy food, drinking plenty of water, not smoking or taking drugs and not drinking lots of alcohol," he said.

Another Deadly Choice you can make is to visit your nearest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health service for a health check.  You may be eligible to recieve a gift under the Hero Rewards scheme.  Read about it here.   

We know to be in good health we should be physically active most of the time, but it can be so easy to give it a miss.  How many times have you skipped out on exercise by watching television, sleeping in, gaming or using social media?  Maybe what's lacking is move-tivation?

Move-tivation?!?!  OK, so it's not a real word but when it comes to physical acitivity (movement), some of us need a little more motivation than others.

Partner up!

One way around that is to involve others.  

Imagine how quickly 30 minutes would go if you went for a walk with your partner, family member or friend. Make sure you're on speaking terms though, or it could be a very long wallk!

Try assembling a group with each of you listing 3 or 4 activities or exercise to do, over a pre-determined time e.g. 10 minutes followed by an agreed rest time e.g 2 minutes.

If you're walking (or jogging) try racing between various points along your route with the winner of most of the legs earning a little reward.  

You also might like to set goals and once you meet them celebrate in some way.  

Take it easy

Not everyone will be at the same fitness level so make it a goal to increase your activity levels from 10, 20 to 30 minutes gradually.  

If you have an existing health condition, haven't been doing exercise for quite some time or are over 40 it's a good idea to consult with your doctor to work out what's best for you.

Brisbane Indigenous Media Association and 98.9fm are currently evaluating the Move project and we want your feedback.  

 Click here to take survey.  By completing the survey you could win one of five $50 gift vouchers.  Be sure to leave your name and contact details at the end of the survey.  

Thank you for your cooperation.

Move is funded under the Australia Government Department of Health and Ageing's Local Community Campaigns which aims to address the prevalence of  chronic diseases amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

Click here to read more about our local campaign.