“Every person who joined us for even one week of the survivor course is a winner,” says Loren Mundstock, trainer with Wellness Coaches USA. “Any time you focus attention on improving your lifestyle and take steps to enhance your nutrition, fitness and attitude, you’re making a positive push toward healthier living.”
During the first week of the challenge, Simonton associates worked on improving their overall nutrition by selecting two food goals to focus on for the week. Building on that experience, week two participants took the first steps towards starting an exercise program. The goal was to exercise 3 days a week for a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes a day. To increase their overall cardio vascular endurance, the week three goal was to complete exercises 3 days a week for a half hour each time.
At the mid-way point of the Simonton Survivor program, associates began to work on strength training by committing to exercise a minimum of 3 days a week for 30 minutes each time using either their body weight or equipment. During week five, each participant met with a wellness coach to discuss any obstacles they had to improving and sustaining their overall health. The one-on-one sessions helped set the goals to overcome their barriers.
In the home stretch sixth week, Simonton associates participating in the challenge walked 2 miles a day for 5 days. This “mountain climbing” experience equates to 10 miles, or the equivalent of climbing Mt. McKinley in Alaska.
“We had an average of 130-135 people participate each week in the program,” says Mundstock. “Those who joined us learned a great deal about themselves and what they need to do to improve their overall health and lifestyle.”
The Simonton Survivor program was a follow-up challenge to last year’s competition, when more than 300 Simonton associates collectively lost 1,470 pounds during the 6-week 2010 Simonton Summer Challenge. That challenge included 151 teams of two associates per team from Simonton facilities in West Virginia, Illinois, Oklahoma and California. The winning team, “Tons of Fun,” lost a combined 49 pounds by cutting out cheeseburgers, embracing exercising and eating healthy foods.
“Our yearly challenges help educate Simonton associates nationwide about weight, body fat and body mass indexes,” says Mundstock. “This ongoing effort helps our people receive education and information so they can make better, healthier life choices about the foods they eat and how they take care of themselves.”