PALA+ The Next Wellness Contest

Cementation Summer Wellness Program:  Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA+)

The Presidential Active Lifestyle Award challenge will help you add physical activity to your life and will also help you improve your eating habits!

This challenge is for anyone, from students to seniors, but it’s geared toward people who want to set themselves on the road to a healthier life through positive changes to physical activity and eating behaviors. Vegetarians, vegans, and others with dietary restrictions can participate, too.  Cementation’s family and friends are welcome to join in on the fun.  You can create a group of your own with your family or friends, or just have them join our group (see Shelly or Maquel for details).

The PALA+ will help you…

·         Commit to daily physical activity - and stick with it!
·         Commit to making healthier food choices – one goal at a time.
·         Set realistic goals to encourage fitness and healthy eating habits for a lifetime.
·         Track your progress with the free activity log by creating an online account or by using the paper log.

Have fun! Yes, you need to be active every day, but participants can choose all kinds of activities to meet this goal—playing with the kids, gardening, walking, playing basketball, running, yoga, and more—all while fueling your body with nutritious foods.

Earning a PALA is doable by anyone at any fitness level with any eating habits – it just takes commitment.

Adult Goals (18+ years old):

Physical activity. You need to be active 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week, for 6 out of 8 weeks. As an alternative, you can count your daily activity steps using a pedometer (goal: 8,500).

Healthy eating. Each week, you’ll also focus on a healthy eating goal. There are eight to choose from, and each week you will add a new goal while continuing with your previous goals. By the end of the six weeks, you’ll be giving your body more of the good stuff it needs.

Kids & Teens Goals (6-17 years old):

Physical activity. You need to be active 60 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week, for 6 out of 8 weeks. As an alternative, you can count your daily activity steps using a pedometer (girls’ goal: 11,000; boys’ goal: 13,000). Read about an upcoming change to step requirements for kids and teens.
Healthy eating. Each week, you’ll also focus on a healthy eating goal. There are eight to choose from, and each week you will add a new goal while continuing with your previous goals. By the end of the six weeks, you’ll be giving your body more of the good stuff it needs.

How to get started:

1. Create an Account (on July 9th)*.
Create an individual account here: https://www.presidentschallenge.org/account/index.shtml then follow the below steps to join Cementation’s group:
-       After completing registration, “Choose a Challenge”: Presidential Active Lifestyle Award challenge,
-       Click “Groups”, then enter our group name: Cementation USA Inc or number: 940584,
-       Click our link, then “Join this Group”.
* This is an eight week program that starts the day you create your account, you may start earlier if you desire.
**If you need any assistance in setting an account up or how to track your activities, please see Shelly, Maquel, or Tom.

2. Choose activities.
Physical Activity:  Just about any physical activity that involves large muscle groups and burning energy counts. Take a long walk, play basketball or tennis, play tag, mop the floor—whatever you do, make it active.

There is a wealth of scientific evidence showing that as little as 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity (equal in intensity to brisk walking) a week has huge health benefits for adults. Sixty minutes is the recommended minimum amount of regular activity for kids each day. Read more about the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

Healthy Eating:  You can work on fueling your body with more of the good stuff it needs. Replace sugary drinks with water. Eat an apple or carrot sticks instead of chips with your sandwich.

3. Get going.

Physical Activity:  Your goal is to meet your daily activity goal (30 minutes a day for adults/60 minutes a day for kids under 18) at least 5 days a week, for a total of 6 weeks. You can take up to 8 weeks to complete the program.

Choose aerobic activities, like brisk walking or playing basketball, that make you breathe harder. Include strengthening activities, like push-ups and lifting weights, to make your body stronger—2 days a week for adults and 3 days a week for kids.

Healthy Eating:  Choose a weekly healthy eating goal. Start with one goal and add a new one each week. Success is reached when you’ve met 6 of the 8 possible goals (plus your physical activity goals for those 6 weeks), and we provide tips for meeting each goal. Do you have dietary restrictions? No problem. Choose the goals that fit your lifestyle.

 4. Log it.

The free online tracker makes it easy to track your progress. (if you prefer the old fashioned way, see Shelly for a paper log). You can log your time as often as you want, in amounts as short as 5 minutes. Accumulating your activities in periods of 10 minutes or more is even better. You can also log your distance for some activities, like bicycling, or your pedometer steps. Once each week you mark your progress on your healthy eating goals.