Training 1
Goals:
 To review obesity statistics and why it is a problem
 Go over goals/objectives of Project Mentor
 Review expectations, program layout, and program description
 Get to know each other
Materials needed: Mentoring 101 (Obesity and Expectations) PowerPoint, weekly heart
rate/weight sheets (in Section 4), “Prechallenge” (in Section 2), dry erase board (optional).
Equipment needed for 2-3 chosen icebreakers and activities (in Section 3)
Order of Events1. 10 minutes: ICEBREAKER 1 (Choose from Section 3 of the manual- “Gotcha” and/or
“Partner Memory”
2. 40 minutes: Go over Mentoring 101 (Obesity and Expectations) PowerPoint
3. 10 minutes: ICEBREAKER 2 (Choose from Section 3 of the manual- “Conversations,”
“Human Rock, Paper, Scissors,” “Name Ball Toss.” Go over “Getting to know me”
questions
4. 10 minutes: Hand out weekly heart rate/weight sheets to all mentors and describe
how to fill out the sheet. Explain these sheets are turned in weekly at each of the
trainings.
5. 10 minutes: Explain the “Prechallenge” to the mentors. Allow opportunity to ask
questions.
6. 25 minutes: Carry out a discussion involving what is means to be a mentor. Draw a
web diagram on the dry erase board and have mentors shout of characteristics of a
mentor (Has morals/values, supportive, positive, challenges you [not as a friend],
wants to help, have more knowledge, experience, trustworthy, non-judgmental,
good listener, helpful, relatable). Have mentors then talk about what a mentor is not
(judgmental, sarcastic, solving all their problems, offers advice they aren’t familiar
with, act like a parent, share inappropriate stories, constantly agree with everything,
ordering/commanding/domineering, a personal trainer.
7. 15 minutes: Choose 3 of the activities from section 3: “Giants, Wizards, and Elves,”
“Traffic Jam,” and “Bean bag grab”
Training 2
Goals:
 Explain self-determination theory (motivation continuum, underlying psychological
needs- competence, autonomy, relatedness, and enjoyment)
 Assist mentors in developing specific CARE strategies for their mentees
 Explain roadblocks to listening and introduce OARS (open-ended questions,
affirmations, reflections, summaries)
 Go over “Challenge 1: Self-Monitoring”
Materials needed: SDT PowerPoint, Effective Listening and OARS PowerPoint, “Challenge 1:
Self Monitoring” (Section 2), PA log sheets, CARE recording sheets (Section 4), deck of cards
(3 members of the same suit are in each group), motivational interview DVD, roadblocks
tally sheet
Order of Events:
(Collect Weight/HR sheets)
1. 40 minutes: Go over self-determination theory PowerPoint. Upon completion of the
PowerPoint, group students together in trios, using a deck of cards. Have mentors
choose a card and they must find 2 other members with the same suit as them. Once
in their groups, brainstorm sample strategies for each underlying need. Give groups
about 5 minutes and aim to come up with at least 2 strategies per letter. Once
complete, go around the room and have groups share strategies. MENTOR OUTSIDE
ASSIGNMENT: Choose 2 of the 4 underlying needs and make 1 specific strategy (for
their own mentee) for each of the 2 needs. They must carry out both of those before
the next training and be ready to share what they did.
2. 25 minutes: Go over 1st half of Effective Listening and OARS PowerPoint (stop
before OARS is introduced). Mentors should watch 1st interview on DVD and tally
when the interviewer performs a roadblock.
3. 30 minutes: Go over 2nd half of Effective Listening and OARS PowerPoint (OARS
information). At the practice portion of the PowerPoint, mentors can work in pairs
to come up with answers. Share as a group as they work through the letters.
4. 15 minutes: Talk about “Challenge 1: Self-monitoring.” Self-monitoring is the most
important predictor of weight loss and maintenance in programs like these. It
allows you to document activity, weight (and food- we will get to later in the
semester).
--PA: Creating awareness for lack of physical activity is a great motivator to increase
physical activity. It is also great for someone who is already active and wants to
keep track of what exercises/activity he or she performs on certain days.
--Weight: At Project MENTOR, we weigh mentees every time they come in for
several reasons. One reason is that many people have a negative stigma about
weighing and we hope to make weighing more of a routine, instead of something
they dread. Another reason is changes in weight over time are a great indicator of
needed changes. For instance, someone who is steadily gaining weight needs to
amp up exercise/alter food and drink intake. Alternatively, someone who is steadily
losing weight over time is aware that what he or she is doing is working.
-- Remember, we don’t want to give advice. We want to encourage the mentees to
come up with their own solutions and be able to talk freely about concerns they
have with monitoring. Not everyone likes it! So, we don’t want to push it on them.
Just roll with the resistance and if needed, can revisit at a later time.
 Have mentors work in pairs to develop a plan for how they are going to
implement this challenge. Remind them to keep OARS in mind and to
avoid roadblocks to listening. (Optional Role Play)
Training 3
Goals:
o Review OARS
o Explore ambivalence and how advice does not work
o Introduce and practice with the Importance and Confidence scale
o Introduce “Challenge 2: Physical Activity”
Materials needed: MI DVD, MI tally sheets, “Challenge 2: Physical Activity” and help sheet,
(Section 2) board to write on (optional), Importance and confidence scale (Section 4)
Order of Events:
(Collect Weight/HR sheets; CARE strategy table)
1. 20 minutes: Everyone goes around the room and share 1 high of the week
(something that went well) and 1 low of the week (something that could use
improvement). Use this time to explain the importance of solving problems
together and everyone can learn from each other. Share at least one of the CARE
strategies you used (what worked, what didn’t). This upcoming week, they must
start utilizing at least 1 strategy for each letter of CARE.
2. 15 minutes: Watch 2nd video on MI DVD and tally OARS during the video. Discuss
how many OARS they saw, what were some good things, what were some things
they would do differently.
3. 10 minutes: Discuss ambivalence as a group. What is ambivalence? Have them
think about something they are ambivalent about changing in their own lives.
4. 10 minutes: The coordinators of the program should role-play how advice does not
work. Role-play should be about something the interviewee want to change. The
interviewer should constantly give advice on what he/she thinks would help the
interviewee change. The interviewee should be ambivalent about changing, provide
some resistance, and end up leaving the situation upset/annoyed.
a. Talk through as a class about the interviewee’s ambivalence. What happened
when the interviewer kept offering advice (he/she met resistance-> “righting
reflex”). What was the general mood of the conversation?
5. 10 minutes: The coordinators should now utilize OARS and show how letting the
interviewee explore ambivalence about their change on their own is better than
offering advice. Interviewer should avoid roadblock, use OARS, and other
motivational interviewing skills during this role-play.
a. Talk through as a class what was so different about this time. What worked?
What would they have done differently? What was the general mood of the
conversation?
6. 15 minutes: Pass out “Challenge 2: Physical Activity” and have mentors turn to page
3 (Decision balance sheet). Talk through the sheet as a class. Have group come up
with reasons for becoming more active and reasons for not coming more active
(optional to use the board). It is okay to have reasons for both! We want to pay the
same amount of attention to each side and not ignore ambivalent feelings just
because they are not what is the desired response.
7. 15 minutes: 2 coordinators role-play how to use the importance and confidence
scale. The importance and confidence scale assesses motivational readiness to
change a certain behavior.
a. Go off of the change from the earlier role play. Remember to use the three
probes: Why __ and not a lower number (1 or 2 numbers lower)? Why not a
higher number (1 or 2 numbers higher)? What could we do to get to a higher
number (say the number- 1 or 2 numbers higher)?
b. Discuss when it is appropriate to use the I/C scale (when wanting to make a
change and during goal-setting). The benefits of using the scale and if they
foresee any challenges with using the scale.
8. 25 minutes: Break mentors in the pairs and have them role-play through the
challenge. The first 10 minutes one mentor should “interview” the other mentor the
decision balance sheet and goal-setting/using I&C scale. The 2nd 10 minutes,
mentors should switch roles and repeat.
a. The last 5 minutes should be used for discussing how comfortable the feel
with presenting this challenge to their mentee. Share any concerns they may
have or any challenges they foresee.
Training 4
Goals:
o To show mentors videos of themselves with the kids and have them discuss/evaluate
physical activity levels in the videos
o Learn how to modify activities when they are not working/not active enough/too
intense
o Practice reflections within small groups
o Present "Challenge 3: Goal-setting”
Materials: filled out CARE table (Section 4), about 10 realistic mentee statements (1 for
each pair), videos/photos taken from the last few weeks and someway to play them for the
group, “Challenge 3: Goal setting” and help sheet (Section 2), SMART goal PPT (optional),
equipment needed for the activities (tennis baseball, basketball shoot out, blob tag, and
smugglers)- section 3.
Order of events:
(Collect HR/weight sheets and CARE sheets)
1. 30 minutes: CARE and share. Everyone goes around the room and share 1 high of
the week (something that went well) and 1 low of the week (something that could
use improvement). Share at least one of the CARE strategies you used (what
worked, what didn’t). Discuss ease/difficulty of coming up with CARE strategies.
a. In the last 5-10 minutes: Pass out the filled out CARE table with multiple
strategies. Briefly describe the strategies on the sheet and as you describe,
have mentors star ones they want to try this week.
2. 20 minutes: (First 10 minutes) Practicing reflections. Pair students up based on
whom they are sitting across from at a table. Each pair will be given a different slip
of paper that has a fictional statement from a “mentee” that is very possible. Their
job is work in pairs and come up with three possible reflections. (Second 10
minutes) Go around the room to each pair- have them read their statement to the
group and the reflections they came up with. Have the group come up with a couple
to add to the list. Repeat until all the “mentee statements” have been discussed.
3. 10 minutes: Show pictures and videos that have been taken so far this semester
(good examples of activity, not good examples of activity, creativity, interviews with
the kids, funny videos). Have the group discuss if some activities appeared more
sedentary that they thought (because they were participating in them) and how they
could make them more active.
4. 35 minutes: Go over “Challenge 3: Goal-setting”
-Have 2 leaders role play through the first page of the challenge. The
“mentor” should use motivational interviewing skills (OARS, reflective
listening, SOLER, I and C scale). The “mentee” acts like a difficult teenager
and is a little apprehensive about making goals. Make the skit comical and
light hearted.
-Briefly talk about what a SMART goal is as a group. How to make goals
meaningful? WHY they have to be meaningful? What to do when a goal is
5.
not important or someone is not confident they can achieve their goal
(change the goal!).
-Have mentors get into groups of three (their choice) and each of them come
up with a smart goal for themselves. Then share within each mini-group and
have your partners make your goal MORE SMART.
-Share a few examples with the class if time allows
25 minutes: Activities- from section 3 (tennis baseball, basketball shootout, blob tag,
smugglers). Perform each activity-> after each one, STOP and have mentors figure
out how to modify/change the activity. Give scenarios: this game is way too easy,
this game is way to hard (intensity or comprehension), the kids are bored, how can
we make this a totally different game. This will give the mentors some experience
with changing activities that aren’t working for the kids.
Welcome to the Prechallenge!
Welcome to the Project Mentor. Project Mentor is an
approach to wellness that has been specifically developed
for teenagers who want to obtain all the benefits that come
from leading a healthier lifestyle.
Mentor is a physical activity and healthy eating approach to
wellness. Project Mentor does not give you pre-set goals. Instead,
YOU decide with the assistance of your mentor the types of
change and goals that will facilitate your success and help you
have fun at the same time.
Overall the philosophy of the program is as follows:
• Project Mentor is “NOT”:
• A diet
• A temporary way of life
• A structured/pre-set exercise program
• Project Mentor “IS”:
• A lifestyle
• All about experiencing exercise success and having fun
while doing so.
• Learning to eat healthier
• Making small changes in your diet
• Not forbidding certain foods, but eating everything
in moderation
• Dealing with every situation as a choice
What You Can Expect:
The two main goals in this program are to:
1. Increase physical activity. We’ll start by focusing on
structured exercise. Then we will gradually help you
increase activity outside the FITT building and even use
a pedometer (step counter) to help increase activity.
2. Improve nutrition. We’ll work to improve what and how much
you eat in order to help you feel better physically through
decreasing the high fat and high sugar foods you eat and
increasing the high fiber, real fruit and vegetables you eat daily.
Team Effort
In order for this program to be successful, it is important that we
work together as a team. As a team member, your job is to:
1. Be on time for all appointments
2. Exercise three times each week for one hour at the FITT
building
3. Wear exercise clothing and good tennis shoes
4. Bring water rather than soda, fruit juice or other sweetened
drinks
5. Be ready to exercise and have fun
6. Help create a positive atmosphere at the FITT building by
being friendly, respectful, and helpful
7. Learn and be open to new information about diet and
exercise
Challenge #1: Record Keeping
 One of the goals of this program is to teach you skills that you can use
to stay active and eat healthier even when this program is done.
 The first skill we’ll focus on is self-monitoring or keeping track of what
we eat and how much we exercise. Although some teenagers like
keeping records of what they do and eat, some don’t. However, doing so
is critical to success.
Why do YOU think self-monitoring is important?
Do you foresee any difficulties with self-monitoring?
What can you do to make self-monitoring easier?
Why Self-Monitor
 The first and most important step in making lifestyle
change is to understand your current habits.
The best way to do this is to keep records of
your current eating and activity habits.
Did You Know:
People who weigh
 Helps us become more aware of our eating
themselves regularly are
and exercise and what things we can work on
more successful at getting
to improve
fit, improving health, and
 Gives us a starting point for setting goals
losing weight and keeping it
off than those who don’t?
 Helps us evaluate progress toward your
goals and it feels great to see positive changes!!!
 Serves a reminder to help us get back on track if we’ve slipped
Self-monitoring or record keeping is
the strongest predictor of weight
management success!
The Challenge for the Week
1. Take the Physical Activity Log home and record your activities
on it. Even better yet, post it someplace you will see it. We also
encourage you to show it to your family so they can encourage
and support you.
2. Keep a weight graph with the help of your mentor. Although
we’ll define success by exercise improvement and eating habit
change, not weight, monitoring weight can help you understand
what’s working and what is not in terms of your exercise and
eating habits.
Describe your experience with self-monitoring…
What are some difficulties you faced with monitoring your
activity? What are some ways we can make monitoring
easier?
Challenge 2: Physical Activity—
What’s in it for me?
Physical Activity
 Q: What is physical activity?
A: Any body movement that uses energy.
It can involve sport, structured exercise or any other types of movement.
 Q: How much physical activity is good for me?
A: You should get at least 60 minutes (1 hour) of moderate to vigorous
physical activity per day. Some vigorous-intensity physical activity
should be done at least 3 days a week for health benefits.
What is moderate intensity activity? This is the feeling you have when
you are late for school and have to walk quickly. Your heart beats
faster than normal, you may start to sweat. But, you can still carry on
a conversation.
What are some examples of moderate intensity activity?
What is vigorous exercise? Your heart is beating even faster, you are
sweating. Although you can still talk, your sentences will be getting
shorter.
What are some examples of vigorous exercise?
Our goal is to gradually increase your activity level in a way that fits your
lifestyle. We hope you will start increasing your activity levels even when
you are not with your mentor. Ultimately, we hope you stay active even
after this program is over.
Aerobic Fitness
Becoming and staying physically active will help you get fit and healthy.
Aerobic fitness refers to how well your heart
can pump oxygen through your blood to your
muscles.
Your heart is a muscle. If you exercise it (make it
beat faster), it will become stronger. This is just like
lifting weights to make your arm muscles stronger.
Not all ways of being active will make your heart stronger—only exercise
that meets the FITT principle (Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type).
Frequency
Frequency is how often you exercise. We hope you make it your goal to
exercise at least 5 days a week!
Intensity
Intensity is how hard you work when you are active, or how fast your
heart beats. Although vigorous exercise has benefits, there is an upper
limit. Too intense of exercise isn’t fun. Your Mentor will help you to find your
upper limit.
Time
To make your heart stronger, be active for 60 minutes total. It’s okay to
split up your 60 minutes throughout the day.
Type
Do activities that you enjoy and that make your breath hard and
your heart beat fast! Don’t be afraid to try new activities!
Did you know?
If you are active 60 minutes per day, your health will improve. In fact,
overweight individuals who are active may have better health than a
thin person who sits a lot.
Exercising for longer periods of time or at a higher intensity can result
in greater health benefits and more weight loss.
Exercise combined with healthier eating habits is the best way to lose
weight.
101 Reasons for Becoming More Active: Let’s Brainstorm
List all the potential benefits you have heard that people can get from being
active. Then list all the reasons why they might not want to become active.
Reasons for Becoming More Active
Reasons For Not Becoming More
Active
What will you gain by becoming more active? Circle the benefits that are important
to you. Put a star by the two that are most important. Of the reasons for not
being active, which two might stand in your way, if any?
This Week’s Challenge
If you are ready for the challenge… What is one thing you
can do this week that would be fun and that would also help
you get more active?
__________________________________________
My Signature
__________________________________________
Mentor’s Signature
Challenge Recap:
1. What are some examples of moderate activities you did this
week?
2. What are some examples of vigorous activities you did this
week?
Challenge 3: Goal Setting
The Journey of A Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Step
LONG TERM GOALS
 These help you create a vision of what you want to
achieve/accomplish. If you think of goal setting as a staircase,
what’s at the top of the stairs?
What do you want to accomplish during the mentor program? Why is
this important to you?
Your Vision or Long-Term Goal
____________________________________________________________________________
Why is this important to you:
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
To achieve my long-term goal, what do I need to do?
1. ______________________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________________
SMART Goals
 To become healthier, we can improve our physical activity and eating
habits. A good way to become more active is to set short term SMART
goals. The SMARTest goals are those that will help you accomplish
your long term goals. How do we do this?
 Good goals are SMART goals:
o Specific: Goals should include a plan to reach them!


Which is better: Exercise more this week OR Exercise 3 times this
week for 30 minutes at a time.
Which is better: I will cut out 200 calories per day or I will drink one
less soda per day
o Measurable: How will you know if you’ve met your goal?
 Which is better: I will work harder this week OR I will stay in my target
heart range this week.
o Action-oriented: Focused on behaviors, not results.
 Which is better: I will go for a walk twice a week OR I will lose 5
pounds.
o Realistic: Goals should be attainable/reachable!
 How would you feel if you set out to ace a test in your worst subject?
o Timely: Goals should be short-term!
 Keep your goals short-term focused so you can reach them and set
more goals! Otherwise, you’ll get discouraged. (Think about what you
can do this week/today to make progress)
Setting My Short-Term Goals
Let’s Practice!!!
Think of a physical activity
exercise
you have….What is it?
ARE or
YOUR
GOALSgoal
“SMART?”
Can you make it even SMARTER?
Specific: what exactly what is to be done?
_________________________________________________________________
Measurable: how will you know when you meet your goal?
______________________________________________________________
Action oriented: how are you in control of your goal?
___________________________________________________________
Realistic: how confident are you that you can achieve your goal?
_________________________________________________________________
Timely: what is your time frame and why did you chose that amount of time?
_________________________________________________________________
This Week’s Goals
This week, we are going to focus on setting a SMART goal for physical
activity.
Think:
1. What can I work on during my sessions this week? How can I make
these goals SMART? (Ask your mentor for help!)
2. What can I do on the days when I am not exercising in the FITT
building?
Physical Activity Goal
 ____________________________________________
 ____________________________________________
ACTION PLAN
Ways I will reach this goal:
1. _______________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________
My Signature
__________________________________________
My Mentor’s Signature
Challenge Recap:
1. How do you feel about your goals from last week?
2. Did you face any challenges trying to achieve your goals?