Live Healthy America officially begins on January 14, so there’s still time for anyone interested in getting into shape to enroll. The sign-up fee of $18 buys you a personal online tracking page, a year’s subscription to one of a bunch of health/lifestyle magazines, and a cool Live Healthy America t-shirt. You can read all about it and register at Live Healthy America.

Competition is heating up. More and more companies, medical centers, and other businesses and institutions around the country are participating as part of their ongoing wellness programs. In some cases, multiple teams have formed to compete against one another to see who can exercise the most and lose the most.

And so, in the spirit of healthy competition, with a fanfare of trumpets and a rousing drum roll, PDQhealth introduces…The Ms.Fits!

This group of ten friends and co-workers from the College of Nursing at the University of Iowa will be taking part in Live Healthy Iowa, a 100-day program that challenges participants to eat better, be more active–and shed some pounds. Week by week, the Ms.Fits have agreed to share their experiences with PDQhealth.
 
The idea behind the program, which expanded nationwide last year to become Live Healthy America, is simple. Participants form teams of two to 10 people to support and challenge each other, competing in two categories: accumulated minutes of activity and/or number of pounds lost. Live Healthy America maintains a website where teams report their weekly results and get access to helpful information. Awards and prizes are offered to keep participants motivated, including cookbooks, fitness videos, gym bags, and stretchy bands.

When Kim Geguzis, the volunteer “wellness ambassador” for the University of Iowa’s College of Nursing, first heard about the program, she decided it was just what she and some of her co-workers in the dean’s office could use to jumpstart their efforts to lose weight and eat heatlhier diets. “Quite frankly, I don’t feel I’ve been a very good example of health because my BMI is 35.8,” Geguzis admitted in an email. “Since my husband and I met two years ago, we’ve both gained 30 pounds. Not good! If this is what being in love does, we’re in trouble.”

“Women in our office just started saying, ‘Count me in!’” explained Sue Licher, who helped Geguzis form the Ms.Fits. “And after we started walking for a couple of days–just to get in training–a few more joined in.”

They’ve already reported some surprises. When the first recruits started climbing stairs at work to get into shape for the program, one wiseguy set up a toll booth on the third floor. “Being the good eggs that we are, we paid the 10 cent toll each of the three times we passed,” Licher reported in a recent emal to PDQhealth. “Someone else offered us candy as we passed.”J

“A little friendly competition is a great way to motivate people and add some fun to physical activity,” Troy Vincent, director of Live Healthy America told PDQhealth. Last year, teams in 47 states took part. “This year, we hope to double our participation,” said Vincent.

Like Geguzis, Licher’s big goal is shedding some excess pounds: 23, to be specific. “Right now I’m five-six and a half and weigh 173 lbs, which is a BMI of 27.5–right in the middle of the “overweight” range. Getting down to 130 or 140 would be nice. But I’d be happy with 150.”

So mark your calendars for January 14. We’ll be checking in regularly with the Ms.Fits to see how many minutes of activity they’ve tallied, how many pounds they’ve lost…and whether they’ve been able to resist those candies. To follow their progress, click here.

©2009 PDQhealth

Tags: exercise, Live Healthy America, physical activity