The second-annual 10 in 10 challenge begins this week for Ball State University students and faculty who wish to lose some weight and get in shape.
Patty Hollingsworth, director of the Health Enhancement Program, said the 10 in 10 challenge provides ways for people to learn how to reduce calories and increase activities at a basic level.
"It's geared for people who wanted to start a [weight management] program and haven't done one before," she said.
The program started last year as one of Governor Mitch Daniels' INShape Indiana initiatives. It encourages Hoosiers to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks through a combination of good nutrition and physical activity.
Jane Ellery, associate director of the Fisher Institute for Wellness and Gerontology, said last year the Fisher Institute was involved with running the program, but this year it was focusing on businesses instead of Ball State. She said the 10 in 10 challenge was recognized at a Washington D.C. conference as being an innovative program that provided ways to improve a person's health and well-being.
"We live in a climate that doesn't support healthy living," she said. "Whether it's with TV or food, we are consumers. Any messages that can combat the local media are going to be helpful."
Health Educator Lisa Thomason said the 10 in 10 challenge was good because it gave people ideas of things to do and provided ways to reach realistic goals.
"If it's going to be a major lifestyle change, talk to a physician first," she said. "For the general population, try to keep the goals realistic and take smaller steps such as slowly increasing the amount of time you walk instead of having a New Year's resolution of running a marathon by the end of the year. Celebrating small successes also keeps you motivated."
Hollingsworth said last year's program was successful throughout the state and communities, but she did not know how many people participated at Ball State. She said this year Ball State would have the ability to track how many students and faculty participated.
Last year's program focused on communities, but this year's program focuses on employers, Hollingsworth said. The program suggests ideas such as employees parking their cars a little farther away or taking healthy snacks to work instead of being tempted to eat junk food, she said.
Hollingsworth said even though registration for the 10 in 10 challenge started this week people could join any time.
"If you join in week two it's 9 in 9," she said. "I'll put on the Web site all of the weeks, so if they want to do the full 10-week program they can do that on the Web site."
Hollingsworth said last year Ball State made the program a competition by having different colleges face off against each other. This year the colleges would still compete, she said, but this year students also could form their own groups.
Thomason said if students had questions about the program and how to set up teams they could e-mail her. She said allowing students to form groups this year would be beneficial because they have better chances of succeeding in weight management when people are encouraging one another.
"It's more fun and there's a level of accountability because they're counting on you to do well," Thomason said.
She said the only problem students might have is forming a group because they had to have 15 people. Students who are living in residence halls, are in an organization or are in a fraternity or sorority might find that easier, Thomason said, but for those students who live off campus, it might be more difficult.
Ellery said she encouraged people to visit the INShape Indiana Web site and sign up for the program.
"Any efforts that can help us really focus on the importance of a healthy lifestyle can help folks make some changes," Ellery said.
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