HealthyUT – June 2018
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 as they work to create a healthier lifestyle.
Daniel Del Toro, June 2018 Wellness Warrior
The Wellness Warrior for June is awarded to Daniel Del Toro, who serves as the Quality Improvement Coordinator for the Student Health Center. Daniel recently joined the UT Family almost a year ago. His favorite hobbies include hiking, kayaking, weight training, and cooking.
Daniel’s motivation to live a healthier lifestyle comes simply from knowing the alternative. “I’ve tried the alternative… It lead to an increase in depression, anxiety, and became a horrid cycle that often felt impossible to escape.” He credits his determination to overcome his past difficulties such as unhealthy eating and substance abuse for making the switch to healthier choices. Daniel explains, “after treatment I adopted a vastly different lifestyle of eating healthier, being open and honest about my past struggles, and being regularly physically active. This has helped me lose nearly 50+lbs, and I’ve never felt physically, mentally, or emotionally better in my life.” Daniel’s ability to remain focused on his health journey should serve as a reminder that it doesn’t matter where you start, but it matters how you finish.
Congratulations, Daniel, for your nomination 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
Campus Walking Maps
With students gone for summer break, take advantage of UT’s Campus Walking Maps since paths and sidewalks should be virtually clear! This is the perfect opportunity to figure out which route works best for you and ensures that you can continue throughout the following semesters. Since there are options of ½, 1, and 2 mile loops, the walking guides provided on our website take into account your location on campus and vary in lengths depending on the amount of free time you have. All walking maps can be found at this website https://bewell.utk.edu/physical_activity/campus-walking-routes/ , so please feel free to test them out!
Upcoming Community Events:
- July 10- Employee and Family Field Day
- Fitbit Community: https://www.fitbit.com/group/22KT95
- Garmin Community: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/group/2460505
Source: https://esmmweighless.com
Eat Smarter
Beware of Office Treats
There have been several occasions where someone decides to treat the office to their famous chocolate chip cookies or everyone agrees to bring their best dishes to a potluck, but do you know how many calories you’re actually consuming? The CDC recently conducted a study and found that the average working adult consumes about 1300 empty calories per week from snacking in the office. Most of us don’t even realize how harmful eating that one slice of John’s special pecan pie can be to our bodies until it’s too late. To alleviate some of the guilt associated with office parties and potlucks, Be Well has put together a few recommendations when it comes to hosting meetings that also promote healthy food environments that can be found on our website here. By implementing some small healthy changes, office potlucks and your 3 o’clock snack do not have to be completely eliminated, and will actually be more beneficial for your health in the long run.
Recipe of the Month:
The Ultimate Cheap, Easy, and Healthy Meal: Vegetarian Split Pea Soup
Upcoming Events:
- July 10 – Employee Field Day
Source: Snacking at Work Article , https://esmmweighless.com
Be Mindful
Tips to Prevent Heat Stress When Working Outdoors
The hot summer heat can be almost unbearable at times in East TN, so it’s imperative that you take the necessary precautions when working or doing physical activities outdoors. In order to avoid heat stress, follow these simple rules:
Drink plenty of water before you begin work and drink often during the workday.
Avoid drinking caffeine or alcohol before and during your time in the heat.
Acclimate yourself to working in the heat. Gradually increase your workload and take more frequent breaks during the first week of work and after you’ve been away from work for a week or more. Gradual exposure to heat gives the body time to become accustomed to higher environmental temperatures.
Know your limitations, including your age and physical condition. Discuss with your health care provider how medications may affect your tolerance to heat.
Know the signs of heat stroke, which include headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, heat cramps and heat rash.
Environmental Health and Safety will be taking temperature and humidity readings at various locations on campus throughout the summer. This information will be shared with affected departments to assist supervisors and workers in managing heat-related illnesses.
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration has a heat stress safety app that helps you calculate the heat index of your worksite and displays the risk level for outdoor workers. The app works on both Android and iOS devices. More information is available on the OSHA website.
For guidance on heat stress prevention or to learn more about it, visit the Environmental Health and Safety website, call 865-974-5084, or email safety@utk.edu.
Source: Environmental Health and Safety website
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.