UNL joins 100 day wellness challenge

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UNL has teamed up with the Nebraska Sports Council to get UNL faculty and staff motivated to maintain personal health goals.

Beginning Jan. 30 and ending April 26, the Live Healthy Nebraska 100 Day Wellness Challenge will allow UNL employees to form teams of two to 10 people, who are all working toward leading healthier lifestyles.

"It's a great way to build camaraderie and to find common ground with your coworkers," said Kimberly Barrett, UNL assistant director for wellness. "Finding support within your work environment for achieving personal goals is very valuable."

To start a team, the team captain must gather the e-mail addresses and T-shirt sizes of all group members and register the team online at http://www.livehealthynebraska.org. Registration began Dec. 15.

Teams must enter "LHNUNL" during the registration process to indicate that it is registering as a UNL group.

UNL teams will receive a special discount for signing up, with each person paying $10 for participation in the program.

"It's cost-effective for employees and we know that's really important," Barrett said.

Each participant will receive a T-shirt, 100 days of access to TrainingPeaks, a personal online tracking page and journal, weekly e-mails to help boost motivation to meet health goals and a one-year magazine subscription to a national lifestyle magazine.

"If you log onto the website, everything is really at your fingertips," Barrett said. "You can click on meal planning and download a grocery list or if you're looking for a new exercise to do, you can download exercise videos."

With the new year approaching, tackling the Live Healthy Nebraska 100 Day Wellness Challenge will give participants the encouragement needed to keep their resolutions in tact beyond Jan. 1.

"When you have a team of people who are doing something together, you're motivated to stick with it," Barrett said. "This is a really good program that's going to help us realize our goals."

- Mekita Rivas, University Communications

More details at: http://go.unl.edu/68e