Carleton faculty and staff are gearing up for another year of Healthy Workplace’s CU Healthier Challenge, in which participants are encouraged to make positive lifestyle choices for the new year.
Samantha Munroe, Healthy Workplace’s co-ordinator, said the challenge runs for eight weeks and aims to promote positive health and wellness for the employees at Carleton.
“It really encompasses nutrition, fitness, mental health, work-life balance, lots of different things. It’s also a great community building program,” Munroe said.
The program launched five years ago due to the efforts of Jennifer Warren, the undergraduate administrator at Carleton’s English department, who was an ambassador for Healthy Workplace at the time.
“[Warren] had the idea to have some sort of challenge or program that was kind of similar to the Biggest Loser challenge that many people have seen on television,” Munroe said. “She wanted to make it not just about weight loss and more just about leading a healthier lifestyle.”
Munroe added that the program has since evolved to be more individual and online-based. Participants now use an online tool called the Whole Life Challenge, which enables them to track their progress online.
Participants have to pay $30 to join the challenge and must be a member of Carleton’s faculty or staff. According to Munroe, the cost goes towards covering part of the online tool. The rest is subsidized by Carleton’s Healthy Workplace.
Munroe said January is the ideal time to start the challenge, as many people are thinking about their lifestyle choices for the new year.
“It’s a good time to get people thinking about this and getting them engaged. It’s also a time where everyone is on campus,” she said.
Munroe said 60 faculty and staff members have registered in the program. She added she hopes the number will rise to 80 to match last year’s participation rate.
