“Many people think that getting healthy is a drudgery thing,” Theresa Trella said on a beautiful Thursday morning. She and her partner Mechele McGready were leading an hour-long fitness walk.
Continuing the thought, Mrs. Trella said that adopting a healthy lifestyle is like going on the water slide at an amusement park. People may dread the shock of the cold water. But once they’re on the slide, they find out it’s fun.
The two women are Optimal Health Coaches. They work together. But, starting on Sept. 15, they’ll be opponents in a Thin It to Win It competition. And they’re inviting the community to join their teams.
Mrs. McGready claims that Thin It to Win It is like fantasy football. There’s a small fee to sign up. Once you’re on a team, you go on line each day to report on your activities.
Team members keep a daily food and exercise log. They get points for doing things that are healthy — such as drinking 80 ounces of water a day (that’s not a misprint) or reading a page of Dr. A’s Health Tips.
Everything is done on the honor system. The challenge continues for six weeks. When it’s over, the team with the most points wins a cash prize.
But participants can expect to benefit even if they don’t win any money. At the end of the six weeks, they should feel better than when they started.
In a letter to recruit team members, the two coaches cite reasons for changing lifestyles:
-we live in a stressful environment
-almost 70 percent of us are overweight or obese
-we are too reliant on medications to keep us healthy
Both of them are touting this competition as a way of changing the trend. “You can join a fun and rewarding community of health-oriented people,” they say. “You can have a personal health coach, and play a game where you win by doing healthy activities. You don’t have to be a client or buy anything. You simply have to participate and commit yourself to your own health.”
To join a team this weekend, people can call Theresa Trella (667-1772) or Mechele McGready (264-1310).
