Using the Guides: Create, Organize, and Accomplish Your Goals

Did you know that there is a personal trainer and a personal shopper on the Prostate 8 website? Well, not quite – but there are detailed, easy-to-understand recommendations for meeting the Prostate 8 guidelines. Here are some tips for finding and using the shopping guides, food planner, and exercise planner, all of which can be found at ucsf.prostate8.org.

Shopping guide

How can you tell if fish is fresh? Should you put tomatoes in the refrigerator? What do mustard greens even look like? We answer all these questions and more in our shopping guides.  The guides make the supermarket experience a little easier with tips for foods to look for.  We also include storage guidelines and quick recipe ideas.

You can print out the shopping guides and bring them to the grocery store with you, or use them to generate a shopping list that follows the Prostate 8 recommendations.

To find the shopping guides on the Prostate 8 website, click on “Eat Well,” then “Shopping Guides,” then the guide for your food goal (eg. replacing processed meat or eating more fish).  Happy shopping!

Food planner

The weekly food planner is an easy way to see if you’re meeting the Prostate 8 dietary recommendations. Every day, starting on Monday, put checkmarks next to the foods that you eat. On Sunday, you can review what you ate over the past seven days. Prostate 8 has daily goals (1 serving per day each of cruciferous vegetables and healthy food sources of vegetable fat) as well as weekly goals (2 servings of cooked tomatoes, 2 servings of fish, and no processed meat). Did you meet these objectives? Fill out a food planner and find out!

The food planner also has spots for recipe ideas and a shopping list. Look on our website for shopping guides and healthy, delicious recipes!

To find the food planner on the Prostate 8 website, click on “Eat Well,” then “Shopping Guides,” then “Weekly Food Planner.”

Exercise workbook

Whether you’re a first-time exerciser or an Ironman athlete, setting goals is important for your workouts. Our exercise workbook helps you to create goals and log your progress toward achieving them. On the Prostate 8 website, there are two exercise workbooks. Workbook 1 is like a brainstorm session – you can write down what types of exercise you enjoy, and we give tips for making exercise fun and interesting. While filling out Workbook 1, think about an exercise goal that would be interesting and challenging for you.

When you decide on a goal for the week, it’s time for Workbook 2. In this workbook, you can write down your goal, then think of ways to be active with others, make exercise enjoyable, and overcome barriers to exercise. We’ve dispersed tips and examples throughout this workbook.

To find the exercise guides and programs on the Prostate 8 website, go to “Get Active,” then “Printable Toolkit,” then click on “Exercise Workbook 1” or “Exercise Workbook 2.”

Exercise programs

Not sure how to accomplish your exercise goal? That’s okay! The Prostate 8 website has handy 12-week exercise programs for you to try. You’ll first need to decide if you are a beginner or advanced in aerobic and resistance exercise, then pick the exercise program that matches your skill level. Follow the step-by-step instructions in the workout, and be sure to check out the “Tips” section – it gives advice for choosing the right intensity and exercising safely. Remember that Prostate 8 recommends 3 hours combined of brisk walking and vigorous exercise, plus we offer recommendations for resistance exercise. With these programs, you’ll be meeting the recommendations in no time.

To find the exercise guides and programs on the Prostate 8 website, click on “Get Active,” then “Printable Toolkit,” and scroll down to “Tools.” Click on the desired program, and get active!