Each year, the Wallingford YMCA embarks on the Workplace Wellness Challenge, which takes place over the course of thirty days. This challenge is open to all of the Wallingford community in order to promote better stances on wellness. In it, participants, half of which are Choate faculty and staff members, pay closer attention to what exactly they consume when they sit down for a meal.
Ms. Colleen Villano, the YMCA Health and Wellness Director, was contacted by Choate to help with the wellness initiative, including the schoolwide Wellness Day each trimester, that the school is currently implementing. This is her twelfth year participating in the challenge.
Each year, the challenge is conducted with a new group of participants who have decided to work toward a better and healthier lifestyle. Often, however, there are repeat participants that have participated in the challenge in previous years.
Ms. Villano said, “Each time, I get suggestions and feedback from numerous participants so we have the opportunity to keep making the challenge better and better. For instance, in this particular challenge, we are adding mini challenges in the thirty days.”
Some of the small challenges include simple changes like drinking more water. Another activity that has been quite popular is the chance to practice mindfulness. This activity in particular helps participants relax and and take the time to bring full attention to an experience.
One of the challenge’s benefits is that people look more closely at what they are consuming. One of the steps people take towards achieving this is by looking at the ingredients of food before putting them into their system. Ms. Villano said, “Not only are these participants eating better, but they have also been sleeping better, and overall feeling better.”
According to Ms. Villano, the interactions, not only in person, but online via social media as well, have played a substantial role in how the participants talk about their experiences as a group. “We do have a sense of camaraderie and community because we have our own group and also a Facebook group,” she explained. With this sharing and collaboration of ideas, participants have the ability to take a better approach to the challenge by hearing the words of others.
Most participants hope to achieve similar outcomes from this 30-day challenge. Some objectives are for participants to not only become more aware of what they are eating, but also to pay attention to how their bodies respond to what they are eating, as well as how they feel after they have certain meals. As Ms. Villano stated, “Overall, the main goal of this challenge is to bring awareness to how bodies react to certain foods and eliminate those foods from one’s diet. We work towards better eating styles in order to maintain a healthier and stronger diet.”
