January 2011 Volume 2 Issue 4

Emotional
Health

Women Inspiring Women Physical

Beauty

Abuse
Prevention

Healthy
Relationships

Self
Reliance
Photo by: Brooke Shultz

IN THIS ISSUE Helpful Hints to Help you Sleep

Helpful Hints to Help 01
you Sleep College life can wreak havoc on
your sleep habits. Classes, room-
LaNae Valentine, Ph.D.
mates, social activities and work can
interfere with your regular sleep sched-
Loving Winter 03 ule. You may find yourself staying up
Dianne Nielsen, Ph.D. late at night to study or cram for exams.
You might get into a pattern of staying
Goals 05 up too late while still having to get up
early. Other times sleep can be affect-
Marietta Malnar
ed if you over-stimulate yourself with
late-night activities, computer games
Self - Efficacy 06 or television. Sometimes just the wor-
Lindsey McMillan ries of school, finding a job and thinking
about the future can keep you awake.
Poor sleep habits are among the
Stay Fit this Winter 07
most common problems encountered
Sarah Johnson
by college students. Sleep patterns
can be even more disrupted should
LaNae Valentine, Ph.D
you resort to medications or chemicals
to stay awake or get to sleep.
Long term sleep deprivation should
be taken seriously. It can cause seri-
ous physical and emotional problems.
In the short term, sleep deprivation can
lead to irritability and exhaustion. A
body without proper rest will not oper-
ate at its optimum performance.
Many students who suffer from sleep
deprivation increase their food intake.
This may be one reason why some
college students pack on the dreaded
“freshman 15.”
Below are some essentials of good
sleep habits. Many of these points will
seem like common sense, but it is sur-
prising how we ignore many of them.

BYU Women’s Services and Resources, located in 3326 WSC,

is an organization aimed at helping women recognize their
self-worth and full potential. We offer confidential consultations,
workshops, lecture series, and seminars about current
women’s issues. We invite you to be active and to get involved.
Our office is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

W omen’s Services and Resources 1


Good Sleep Habits
• Fix a bed time and an awakening
time. The body “gets used” to falling
asleep at a certain time, but only if this
is relatively fixed. A fixed schedule is an
essential component of good sleeping
habits.
• Avoid napping during the day. If you
nap throughout the day, it is no wonder
that you will not be able to sleep at night.
The late afternoon for most people is a
“sleepy time.” Napping is generally not
a bad thing to do, provided you limit the
nap to 30-45 minutes and can still sleep
well at night.
• Avoid stimulants 4-6 hours before
bedtime. This includes caffeinated bev-
erages, including many sodas or energy
drinks, as well as chocolate.
• Avoid heavy, spicy, or sugary foods
4-6 hours before bedtime. These can
affect your ability to stay asleep.
• Exercise regularly, but not right be-
fore bed. Regular exercise, particularly
in the afternoon, can help deepen sleep.
Strenuous exercise within the 2 hours
before bedtime, however, can decrease
your ability to fall asleep.
Your Sleeping Environment
• Use comfortable bedding. Evaluate
whether or not this is a source of your
problem, and make appropriate chang-
es.
• Find a comfortable temperature
setting for sleeping and keep the
2 W omen’s Services and Resources
room well ventilated. If your bedroom
is too cold or too hot, it can keep you
awake. A cool (not cold) bedroom is of-
ten the most conducive to sleep.
• Block out all distracting noise and
eliminate as much light as possible.
• Reserve the bed for sleep. Don’t use
the bed as an office, workroom or rec-
reation room. Let your body “know” that
the bed is associated with sleeping.
Getting Ready For Bed
• Try a light snack before bed. Warm
milk and foods high in the amino acid
tryptophan, such as bananas, may help
you to sleep.
• Practice relaxation techniques be-
fore bed. Relaxation techniques such
as yoga, deep breathing and others
may help relieve anxiety and reduce
muscle tension.
• Don’t take your worries to bed.
Leave your worries about work, school,
daily life, etc., behind when you go to
bed. Some people find it useful to as-
sign a “worry period” during the evening
or late afternoon to deal with these is-
sues.
• Establish a pre-sleep ritual. Pre-
sleep rituals, such as a warm bath or
a few minutes of reading, can help you
sleep.
• Get into your favorite sleeping po-
sition. If you don’t fall asleep within
15-30 minutes, get up, go into another
room, and read until sleepy.
Getting Up in the Night
Most people wake up one or two
times a night for various reasons. If
you find that you get up in the middle of
night and cannot get back to sleep with-
in 15-20 minutes, then do not remain
in bed “trying hard” to sleep. Get out of
bed. Leave the bedroom. Read, have
a light snack, do some quiet activity, or
take a bath. You will generally find that
you can get back to sleep 20 minutes or
so later. Do not perform challenging or
engaging activities such as school work.
Television
Many people fall asleep with the
television on in their room. Watching
television before bedtime is often a bad
idea as television is a very engaging
medium. It is best not to have a televi-
sion in the bedroom. Radio is a better
alternative to TV as it is less engaging.
Other Factors
• Several physical factors are known
to upset sleep. These include arthritis,
acid reflux with heartburn, menstrua-
tion, headaches and back pain.
• Psychological and mental health
problems like depression, anxiety
and stress are often associated with
sleeping difficulty. In many cases, dif-
ficulty staying asleep may be the only
presenting sign of depression. You
should consult a physician to determine
if you have these disorders and to find a
treatment for you.
• Many medications can cause sleep-
lessness as a side effect. Ask your
doctor or pharmacist if medications you
are taking can lead to sleeplessness.
• To help overall improvement in
sleep patterns, your doctor may pre-
scribe sleep medications for short-
term relief of a sleep problem. The de-
cision to take sleeping aids is a medical
one to be made in the context of your
overall health picture.
• Always follow the advice of your
physician and other healthcare pro-
fessionals. The goal is to rediscover
how to sleep naturally.
 L oving
Winter Dianne Nielsen, Ph.D.

“Even though it may be against our comfort

instincts, getting in touch with the environment
can help our bodies adapt. ”

Jani Radebaugh, assistant pro-
fessor of geological sciences at BYU,
travels regularly to Antarctica in the
course of her research. It is an oppor-
tune place to find meteorites, where the
combination of glacial movement, arid-
ity, and extreme cold function to collect
and preserve specimens of interest. At
the same time, it is not the place most
people would choose to sleep in a tent
and work outside all day. It is an in-
hospitable environment, at 8-10,000
feet of altitude and with temperatures
as low as ninety degrees below zero in
the winter, and never averaging above
zero degrees Fahrenheit, even at the
height of summer.
Working in these conditions, for
weeks or months at a time, Dr. Rade-
baugh has developed a resilient skill
set for facing the cold. When asked
what advice she might offer someone
hoping to be cheerful and productive
through a Provo winter, she listed sev-
eral ideas.
Even though it may be against our
comfort instincts, getting in touch with
the environment can help our bodies
adapt. Dr. Radebaugh explained that,
in Antarctica, it takes a week or so of
working outdoors before visitors adjust
to the temperatures. In the first days,
she notices that her hands and feet feel
cold most of the time, but eventually her
extremities feel warmer even though
the air temperatures are the same, and
she can function comfortably in the sit-
uation at hand. Translat-
ing this to the experience
of winter in Utah, she rec-
ommends finding ways to
get outdoors, to see and
experience outside con-
ditions, rather than simply
staying inside with the
heat on high. This gives
an opportunity for surpris-
ing adaptation. Snow-shoeing, Alpine
or Nordic skiing, or winter hiking are all
sports readily accessible from Provo,
and Outdoors Unlimited (1151 WSC,
http://outdoors.byu.edu//), or other lo-
cal outfitters, have equipment for rent.
Simply walking across a snow-covered
campus, with eyes, ears and other
senses open to the world, can be an
invitation to awareness and resilience.
Professor Radebaugh explained
that another lesson of Antarctic ad-
ventures is to pay attention to physical
cues. At extreme conditions, inade-
quate nourishment , hydration, or sleep
show up as impaired functioning, and
stoically trying to ignore early warning
signs interferes with her ability to work.
Rather, it is more sensible
to admit limits, sleeping,
drinking and eating in ac-
cordance to internal cues.
In a four-season climate,
especially with reduced
hours of daylight, many in-
dividuals report a need for
more sleep. Anne Morrow
Lindbergh (1906 – 2001),
a 20th century author, wrote, “Perhaps
I am a bear, or some hibernating ani-
mal underneath, for the instinct to be
half asleep all winter is so strong in
me.” Skillful seasonal adaptations for
students might include enrolling in mid-
day or afternoon classes during the
winter, or registering for fewer credit
hours. Other seasonal adjustments,
W omen’s Services and Resources 3
 such as adding an extra hour or so of
sleep, or napping occasionally --with-
out adding harsh self-criticisms -- could
be a good thing.
Psychologists have contributed
another general idea of good coping,
which can be applied to the specialized
problem of winter. Albert Ellis (1913 –
2007), a clinical psychologist and one
of the founders of cognitive behavioral
therapy, believed that frustration toler-
ance is a life-enhancing skill. Frustra-
tion tolerance is the ability to take things
in stride, in good grace. This includes
accepting non-preferred events and
conditions, major and minor setbacks,
without getting de-railed by tantrums
or vain demands that the world should
be different than it is. Frustration toler-
ance is important in romance, relation-
Other opportunities to build frustration
tolerance are to refrain from pointless
complaints, or develop a repertoire of
winter-related humor.
One final point to help get through the
winter is to add celebrations, even for
minor occasions. With a little ingenuity,
it might be possible to add some fes-
tivity to Ground Hog’s Day, brain injury
awareness month, basketball games,
or the anniversary of the Alamo. Some
individuals refine the art of cozy warmth
(ginger in the bathwater, fake candles
at the window, heating lotion in the mi-
crowave). Victor Hugo, author of Les
Misérables, (1802 – 1885), wrote “Win-
ter is on my head, but eternal spring is
in my heart.” People find ways to cel-
ebrate the defiance of winter and keep
spring in their hearts. For example,

Depression: ships, parenthood, academic pursuits,

The Way Out
January can seem like the longest month
of the year. We’re back from the Christmas
break, winter has set in, the lack of sunlight
and those cold Utah winter inversions can
definitely affect one’s mood. Many people
suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder
and Depression in general can be exacer-
bated during the winter months. Women’s
Services & Resources is sponsoring a
seminar called Depression: The Way Out
starting January 31st.
The following topics will be addressed:
career-building, and most other do-
mains of serious endeavor. It may also
be a skill to refine during the darker and
colder part of the year. A few opportu-
nities to build frustration tolerance dur-
ing the winter might be learning to ad-
just gear and activities according to the
weather, for example wearing whatever
it takes to stay comfortable, even if it is
snowing when we wish for clear skies,
or frigid when we wish it were balmy.
one apartment of students always ap-
pointed a “beach day” sometime in
February. On this one day, they put all
their lamps and space heaters in one
room, turned up the thermostat, and
stayed home to study on beach towels
wearing swimming suits and listening
to surf music. So whatever your tactics
for surviving winter, consider incorpo-
rating more outdoor activities to make
Winter a season of joy and resilience.

• Identifying Depression and its

Causes
• Lifestyle Treatments for
Depression
• Nutrition and the Brain
• How Thinking can Defeat
Depression
• Positive Lifestyle Choices
• Stress without Distress
• Living Above Feelings of Loss and
Failure
• How to Improve Brain Function

We want anyone struggling with depres-

sion to know there is a way out. Our
seminar will be held weekly in room 3380
WSC at 12 noon. Please join us.

W omen’s Services and Resources

G oals
How will you achieve them?
First, here is my confession: I don’t
think I am very good at the whole goal
thing. I do accomplish what I put my
mind to, but it seems that I have a lot
of lofty ideas that never actually make
it to a goal, a plan, or a priority. Goal
setting tips are easy enough: write the
goal down, be specific, break it down
into smaller steps, and reward your-
self (I will say I am pretty good at this
one); and yet I don’t do most of them. I
have found that when I am unable to do
something that is simple it is because
there is something deeper there. I took
a good, hard, long, and yes even pain-
ful look at what was going on for me.
I realized there were a lot of pitfalls
blocking something simple from taking
place. So I am writing my own rules for
goal setting.
Rule #1: I get to choose the
goals I want. This may sound silly;
why would we make and try to keep a
goal that we didn’t want? Yet I am will-
ing to bet that many of our goals come
from those around us and not from
within ourselves. We see others, com-
pare ourselves to them and then think,
I should be doing what they are doing.
In reality I may have absolutely no in-
ternal desire to do what they are doing.
I am throwing out what it seems like I
should be doing and I am going to pick
something I really want to do. It is go-
ing to connect with me. It is going to
feel right. My internal motivation will be
there because it will be mine.
Rule #2: My success will no lon-
ger be determined by the completion
of the goal but measured by the prog-
Marietta Malnar
ress and growth from attempting and
trying. Goals seem to be either pass
or fail. Therefore, if I keep my goals
locked away in my mind, I keep myself
safe from failure. I tell myself that no
one can see them; that I have not failed
because they are just ideas. My mind
gives me safety from failure. But that
safety is an illusion. What I really get
is no progress, no growth, and failure
because there was no attempt. I am
changing my core belief: any attempt,
even a failed attempt, is a success.
Now I am free. I am free to try. And I
am free to fail. But more importantly I
am free to succeed.
Rule #3: My goals are change-
able. Have you ever set a goal, started
it and then realized that particular goal
was just not for you? At the same time
you couldn’t just erase that goal from
your list because then you would be
abandoning, giving up, or quitting. Well
I will no longer be bound by the goal.
I give myself permission to change,
alter, or adjust any goal I have made.
Changing a goal does not mean quit-
ting. Changing a goal does mean find-
ing something that connects better with
me, it means being true to myself, and
it means finding and connecting what I
truly desire.
Rule #4: The way I achieve my
goal will be beautiful. My goal may
not be hard for you. You may do it
perfectly. But it will be hard for me,
and I may never do it perfectly. But I
am learning that I can do it in my own
beautiful way. Beautiful never meant
perfect. It will be beautiful because I
am doing it.
These are my rules. They are true
for me. They are what I need to over-
come my barriers. What barriers are
you facing?
With all of you as my witness, I am
taking one of my ideas out of the safety
of my mind. I will run the Utah Val-
ley Half Marathon on June 11, 2011.
I will run it in my own beautiful way. I
can change this goal if I find this truly
isn’t what connects with me. This won’t
mean quitting but that I have found
something else that connects more.
My success will be determined by the
journey and progress and not solely
by the end result. This is what I want.
This will challenge me. I choose to try,
to attempt, and to risk and therefore, I
choose to succeed.
My rules are a little bit harder to fol-
low than the typical tips for goal setting,
but then they are asking me to do hard-
er things. They make me face reality,
face my fears, and face the possibility
of failure. Take a good look at your
resolutions. Then take a good, hard,
long and yes even painful look at your
barriers, your pitfalls, and your world. I
promise the journey will be hard, but oh
so worth it!
W omen’s Services and Resources
Nutrition
For many of us, the new year brings
aspirations for good health, getting fit,
and eating well. Some of us set strict
parameters on how much sugar we will
cut out, how many processed foods we
will eliminate, and how much soda we
will replace with water. Goal-setting is
noteworthy, and good health is some-
thing to be sought-after. How often,
though, do we really stick to our goals
to stay healthy? Why do
we let our goals fade, and
how can we sustain them
longer than the first three
weeks of the year? For
many of us, the answer
may lie in our own percep-
tion of how capable we
are to succeed. Believing
in your ability to achieve goals can be
termed self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is a
great determinant of our results—be-
lieving that we have the capacity to
achieve can actually make the differ-
ence between persevering and quitting.
The University of Maryland discovered
that women who believed in their abil-
ity to reach goals saw a greater differ-
ence in weight loss compared to those
who did not believe in themselves. The
6 W omen’s Services and Resources
Lindsey’s
Believing You Can Succeed
Lindsey McMillan, Nutrition Consultant
study included a 9-month weight loss
program for obese women that ad-
dressed both nutrition and behavior.
Two categories of women emerged
among the participants: those who
were assured they could lose weight
(assureds), and those who disbelieved
they could lose weight (disbelievers).
At the end of the study, it was found
that the assureds had lost significantly
more weight than those
who were disbelievers. In
other words, the women
who possessed self-effi-
cacy were more success-
ful in losing weight than
those who did not pos-
sess self-efficacy. The as-
sured group also reported
better self esteem, mood, and eating
patterns.
The most revealing conclusion of
the study involved the participants who
transitioned from the disbeliever cat-
egory to the assured category. Those
who started out in the disbeliever cat-
egory and then transitioned to the as-
sured category lost twice as much
weight as those who started and ended
as disbelievers. In other words, even
Self-Efficacy:
if you cannot believe in yourself at the
beginning, it is possible to acquire self-
efficacy and see success in reaching
your goals. Self-efficacy. Believing. It
can truly change the way we seek after
our aspirations.
How, then, can we improve our self-
efficacy? Here are four small ways that
you can improve your self-efficacy in
reaching your nutrition and behavior
goals.
1. Recognize that you are of a Di-
vine heritage. Your identity as a child
of our Heavenly Father remains the
same, whether or not you lose weight.
The results of your goals, whether suc-
cessful or not, is outside of your rela-
tionships with the Divine. Heavenly Fa-
ther recognizes our efforts to maintain
good health, and His concern is with
our honest efforts, not our results. In
the words of Elder Uchtdorf, “If only we
understood who we are and what is in
store for us, our hearts would overflow
with such gratitude and happiness that
it would enlighten even the darkest sor-
rows with the light and love of God, our
Heavenly Father. It is my prayer and
blessing that when you look at your re-
flection, you will be able to see beyond
imperfections and self-doubts and rec- more than anything
ognize who you truly are: glorious sons else.
and daughters of the Almighty God.” 4. Examine
2. Set realistic expectations. It the motives that
is easy to aspire to weigh a certain drive your goal-
number of pounds, or consume a set setting. People of-
quota of calories each day. Attempting ten set health goals
to reach these goals can be extremely because they feel
frustrating, and may not be worth set- obligated or guilty.
ting in the first place because of their If you cannot work
rigid nature. To see yourself truly suc- from a place of ex-
ceed in achieving your goals, aspire to citement and intrin-
realistic heights that you can attain. sic motivation, it
3. Cultivate your growing seeds may be time to re-
of accomplishments. In Alma 32, we vise your goals. The
read about cultivating seeds through “why” behind our
diligence, faith, and patience. Verse goals reflects the
30 reads, “…As the seed swelleth, and depth of our desire will fall into place more easily than we
sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then to change behavior. When our desires had planned, and our believing will be
you must needs say that the seed is run deep, our motivation to achieve can the key to succeeding. As we set goals
good…And now, behold, will not this help us create the small victories we and believe in our ability to reach them,
strengthen your faith?” Small victories need to continue forward. our self-efficacy is strengthened in an
strengthen your ability to continue for- In this season of health and fitness upward cycle-fashion. Self-efficacy be-
ward in reaching more goals. In turn, goal-setting, we might consider setting comes the doorway to discovering our
the actual accomplishment of your goals on improving our self-efficacy. capacity to achieve great things, even
goals will strengthen your self-efficacy Perhaps then, our goals for good health when we didn’t start out believing.

Stay This Winter

In an ambitious moment in early Indoor activities:
December I signed up to run a half-
• Jump rope
marathon. I got new running shoes
and clothes for Christmas and flew • Exercise classes
back ready to train my heart out on the • BYU’s indoor track
streets of Provo. While I was prepared • Racquetball
to face the cold, I failed to account for • Dance parties
the ice and snow that has covered the
• Exercise DVDs
roads and sidewalks since I returned.
After speaking with friends that are fit- • Ice skating
ness experts and doing some research • Indoor resistance training
on my own, I have compiled a list of dif- • Exercise video games
ferent activities people can do regard-
less of the transient winter weather. Outdoor activities:
Finding an exercise buddy can help • Snow shoeing
keep you motivated, but be sure to • Sledding
drink a lot of water as your body loses
• Mountain hiking
water faster in the winter as it strives to
stay warm. Exercise can be a powerful • Skiing/snowboarding
weapon against colds this season so • Running
find activities that motivate you! Sarah Johnson
W omen’s Services and Resources 7