July 30,
2007
Two teams emerge as Eat Well Live Well champs
Larry Broser, deputy director for finance and
administration for the Children’s Institute, and Pat Adami, a
secretary for environmental services at the School of Medicine and
Dentistry, were captains of the two winning teams in the Eat Well Live Well
challenge.
Larry Broser was one of 1,400 University employees to
finish the “Eat Well Live Well Challenge” in June, but like
many who signed up, for Broser the eight-week program was only the
beginning.
As a result of the challenge, Broser now walks more
than three miles from his home in Brighton to the Children’s
Institute on North Goodman Street, where he is deputy director for finance
and administration. And he does it three or four times a week. And while
his team didn’t win for highest number of steps, Broser’s team,
“Happy Feet,” did take first place for consuming the most cup
of fruits and vegetables during the challenge.
“I’ve always tried to eat fruits and
vegetables, but now I think more about it,” he says, adding that his
team was excited by their final results.
“Go Pat Go” won first prize for the most
steps taken. Team leader, Pat Adami, a secretary for environmental services
at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, says that every day the team
worked hard and encouraged each other to do better. “It was a
team effort,” she says.
The Eat Well Live Well mission was straightforward:
Faculty and staff, armed with pedometers, were asked to set daily goals to
increase their steps to reach a target of 10,000 or more, while consuming
at least five cups of fruits and vegetables. The challenge was offered
through the University’s Well-U program and sponsored by the
Rochester Business Alliance and Wegmans Food Markets.
By the end of the challenge, 125 University teams had
walked a total of 419,078,436 steps and consumed more than 164,233 cups of
fruits and vegetables.
Shaquana Divers, senior health project coordinator for
Well-U, says it was exciting to have such great participation and even more
significant, a low attrition rate. “The enthusiasm continued until
the end,” she says.
Divers says the Eat Well Live Well challenge takes a
proactive approach to wellness. “It falls right it line with our
mission to promote health and wellness at the workplace.”
Success stories continue to come in, says Divers.
“We had a person sign up for a 20-mile bicycle race as a result of
the program. Another employee reported losing 20 pounds and two pant
sizes.”
“It’s too easy to slip back into old
habits,” says Broser, that’s why he also has joined the
“American on the Move” fitness campaign offered on the Well-U
site. The online interactive walking program as well as summer yoga classes
are offered free to all University employees. Divers says programs such as
these are “a great way to keep the momentum going.”
Plans also are in the works to offer weight management
programs and virtual cooking classes in the fall. To learn more about
Well-U programs or to sign up, visit www.rochester.edu/well-u.
Jeanette Colby is the University calendar editor
and a frequent contributor to Currents.
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