Healthy Lifestyle Challenge
Imagine heading into the holiday season with a head start on your health. That’s the gift University Health’s Community Health Strategies and Innovation (CHSI) team has given participants of its recent Healthy Lifestyle Challenge.
The goal of this challenge wasn’t weight loss, but rather gaining the things that come with a healthy lifestyle, like quality sleep, lower blood pressure and a diet full of fresh produce. The challenge was held on campus at Metropolitan Community College Penn Valley where students, teachers and staff were invited to join. Each week, for eight weeks, the participants met for a one-on-one session with a nursing student from University of Missouri- Kansas City School of Nursing.
“We were impressed with the consistency of the participants,” said Raquel Garcia, BSN, RN who’s the CHSI Community Health Education Manager. Garcia joked that she hopes it wasn’t just the free weekly bag of fresh produce that kept participants coming back, but the support the team and nursing students offered.
“She did great,” said nursing student Maggie Hyberger of participant Nia Sims-Bradley. “I looked forward to meeting with her every week. She set goals and we started with sleep and water intake.”
Nia Sims-Bradley, a 19-year old student with a goal of becoming a Registered Nurse, was one of the participants wanting to improve their health. “She did great,” said nursing student Maggie Hyberger of participant Nia Sims-Bradley. “I looked forward to meeting with her every week. She set goals and we started with sleep and water intake.”
Sims-Bradley shared that this challenge has helped her improve her attitude and increased her energy. She used to take naps in the afternoon, but since stopping, she’s getting more consistent quality sleep at night. “I think this program helped me because now I realize that putting me and my health first is the best thing I can do,” she said.
Sims-Bradley was one of the challenge’s winners, meaning she left the last meeting with her bag of fresh produce and a $100 grocery gift card.
“We saw improvements in weight, nutrition, blood pressure.
Really in everything that we tracked,” said student nurse Peyton Straws
33-year old student Mykesha Young was also a challenge winner. Young admits that it was a new piece of technology that motivated her to improve her diet. The CHSI team has a device it calls a veggie-meter. By scanning a finger, it can detect the amount of keratin in the skin and quantify the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables the user is eating. Young’s veggie-meter was “incredibly low” when she started. “I am just really competitive and I wanted to get that score up. I was thinking about it every week and eating vegetables to get that score up,” she said.
Young’s hard work paid off. “We saw improvements in weight, nutrition, blood pressure. Really in everything that we tracked,” said student nurse Peyton Straws.
Young is leading by example for her three-year-old daughter. “The other night I asked her what she wanted for dinner and she said, ‘we have healthy food at home.' She’s so smart,” said Young.
Both Sims-Bradley and Young plan to stay committed as they enter the holiday season. Young’s plan is to eat a meal high in protein before headed to a party with sweet treats. She knows she still might try one, but hunger won’t make her overeat.
Garcia likes that plan. She said that CHSI is fortunate to be able to serve a diverse group of Kansas Citians, all with unique holiday traditions that involve food. “It’s hard to say no, so moderation is everything,” said Garcia. “If you know you’re having a big dinner, keep it light for breakfast and lunch.”
She also hopes participants will remember to prioritize their sleep, even when holiday events and commitments keep you running all day.
And she wants participants, and anyone concerned about their health, to consider how stress impacts them physically. Teaching participants about the connection between stress and high blood pressure was a common lesson.
The CHSI team is working on the details of its next Health Lifestyle Challenge. We’ll pass along details when they’re available.