HealthyUT – May 2017
Wellness Warrior
The Wellness Warrior Award is given to individuals across campus who are nominated by their peers for leading by example and inspiring through action to create a healthier lifestyle.
May 2017 Wellness Warrior Eliza Fink with her two daughters.
Since the start of her employment at the Law Library in August 2016, she has inspired colleagues to be healthier. She goes to faculty yoga, encourages her colleagues to attend cardio dance with her, and always has great healthy eating tips to share. She is genuinely passionate about her continued well being and the well being of others. For these reasons, Eliza was nominated for the Wellness Warrior Award.
Eliza Fink serves as an assistant professor in the Joel A. Katz Law Library. She is also an alumni from the College of Law graduating in 2010.
Eliza began her fitness journey in 2013. Since beginning her journey, she has lost 90 pounds and has been maintaining that loss know for about 9 months. Fink says she is inspired to make the healthier choices by her 3 and 5 year old daughters. “I want them to see me as someone who actively enjoys life and makes the most of it.”
After the birth of my oldest daughter, I was 55 pounds overweight and entirely miserable. In the preceding years, through undergraduate and graduate school, I had become a video game and junk food addict without even realizing it, not to mention the long hours spent guzzling energy drinks in the law library. I knew that the path I was on was unhealthy, but I had no motivation to change. But a funny thing happened when I started to chase around a crawling 9 month old. I started losing weight without the misery of diets past. Slowly, I made small changes like drinking more water, eating less fast food. By the time I realized that I was genuinely feeling better, I was already 10 pound below my prepreganancy weight and decided to kick things into gear. I tracked everything on My Fitness Pal for 100 days (and now I can guess the calories in anything like a carnival trick). I drank near copious amounts of water. After years of trying to convince every gym teacher ever that I just “couldn’t run,” I RAN. On purpose. For FUN. And, after that got boring, I started looking for other activities that I actually enjoyed doing that also count as exercise (8 months ago I settled on cardio hip hop classes at Dance Fitness by Jessica and I can’t tell you how much fun I have while burning 700 calories an hour). Most importantly, I changed the routine my family had settled into. Now, instead of watching hours of tv, we head to Ijams for a hike. Instead of going out for a drink, we do Climb Night at Onsight rock climbing gym. That doesn’t mean we don’t make time for treating ourselves, whether that’s a lazy day on the couch or a trip to Bruester’s ice cream (which, by the way, is cruelly right across the street from our house). Success for me is all about maintaining healthy habits without diminishing my quality of life. As Oscar Wilde once said and I repeat as often as I can, “everything in moderation, including moderation.”
Congratulations Eliza and thank you for being such a motivating model of health and wellness.
Making the healthy choice is not always the easy choice. To nominate someone who you feel is deserving of the Wellness Warrior Award please fill out a nomination form.
Move More
Be Active This Summer
Be Well has developed a summer activity guide that will help us not only be active this summer, but hopefully also be able to participate in a 5k in August. Use this Couch to 5k program guide the this guide to help you prepare for the Forget Me Not 5k for Alzheimer’s benefiting The Pat Summit Foundation on Saturday, August 19. Join the “UTK– Be Well” team listed under corporate teams and use the code “MoveMore” to receive a discount when you register. To register for the race and for more information Visit forgetmenot5k.com
Upcoming Community Events:
Forget Me Not 5k for Alzheimer’s – August 19
Eat Better
Cut calories with simple swaps.
You can make your eating routine a little bit healthier with just a simple swap. Calories, fat, and sugar content can add up quickly throughout the day. These simple substitutions can cut those extra calories your favorite meals, snacks and drinks without sacrificing texture and flavor.
This chart compares some common foods we eat every day to leaner options that are easy to swap.
Read this Mayo Clinic article for more ideas.
*Source: ParTNers for Health email.
Be Mindful
How to be Mindful at the Gym
The intentions you make going into the gym or any other workout is sometimes just as important as the physical workout. Here are some steps you can take to practice mindfulness at the gym and get the most out of your workout.
As you head to the gym, set an intention for your workout. For example, “My intention is to take care of my body. I will accomplish this with 20 minutes of cardio and strength training.”
At the gym, take note of your energy level and your mood before you begin.
As you begin to work out, notice the changes in your breath, feel your heart rate increase, and take note of any perspiration. Practice being nonjudgmental about what you observe.
Every day is a new day. Celebrate your accomplishments and, on occasion, give yourself permission to take a break and begin again.
When you’ve completed your workout, notice any shifts in your energy and mood.
Be grateful for your body’s ability to move and change.
Source: NYT Well
The HealthyUT Newsletter is a monthly publication where events, information, and resource to support healthy lifestyles will be shared with the UT Knoxville Community. It will serve as our communication with our campus community as we try to make the healthy choice the easy choice.
Be Well.