The CU Healthier Challenge is a healthy lifestyle challenge designed for Carleton faculty and staff. For 6 weeks, participants will strive to make small (sometimes REALLY small), but extremely meaningful changes in their daily habits that stick – really stick. The actions taken daily in the CU Healthier Challenge help you form long-term habits that will change your life for years to come.
During the Challenge, participants work towards their personal health and wellness goals in 7 categories (nutrition, exercise, mobility, sleep, hydration, well-being, and reflection) and track their progress using an online tool called the Whole Life Challenge (this tool also includes a mobile app to make it very easy to track your progress on the go, throughout the day!). Part of the tool is an online forum, where we encourage each other to stay motivated and reach our goals! Healthy Workplace will also offer optional virtual information sessions, workshops, and meet-ups to help participants reach their goals. Although all participants apply as individuals, we encourage you to round up your colleagues and join as a group!
The Challenge runs from Saturday, January 15 – Friday, February 25, 2022.
Deadline to Register: Thursday, February 13. Registration form can be found at the bottom of this page.
Cost: FREE! Healthy Workplace is subsidizing the registration of all Carleton faculty and staff for the January 2022 Challenge.
Testimonial
Below is a testimonial from Kim McWaters, Alumni and Donor Relations Officer, who participated in the challenge for the first time in January 2018.
“It was my first time participating in any sort of “healthy challenge” or “diet” or “lifestyle change”, however you’d like to word it, back in 2018 when I joined Carleton’s Healthy Challenge. I always thought I had no will power and would never be able to manage giving up something for 6 weeks. Well..I was wrong! I managed to convince my 17 year old to join me in the challenge which was nice having someone to help me prep foods on Sundays, find new recipes and encourage along the way. My family “kind of “ joined in, in the sense that I do the meal planning and cooking, so they had no choice for dinner! A year later and I can tell you I am still down 20 lbs from where I was a year ago, and still to this day maintain many of my healthy changes brought upon by this challenge. After trying out Almond Milk in my coffee, I ended up enjoying it so much that I still only drink Almond Milk in my coffee in the morning (with a dash of cinnamon!), and we found so many fun new recipes we liked that they’ve become regular rotations. We found a pad thai made with spaghetti squash that we still use! What I discovered is that any dish can be made healthier, you just have to try new things, and I also realized that boy do I ever have will power. If I decide I want to make new changes, I can! So thanks Sam, since last year I’ve done another month long Whole 30 challenge on my own and now maintain a balance of healthy eating, working out, and the occasional treat, because life is all about balance!”
Please note: the Challenge encourages you to choose a “Nutrition Level” that you must adhere to throughout the Challenge. Participants will be guided through setting their personal nutrition goals with a dietitian.
All participants will be required to complete initial and final fitness testing on their own time and will need to input their scores in to the online tracking tool, and begin tracking their progress on January 15th.
Have questions? Email Samantha Munro
Registration
Registration is now closed.