Six-week online challenge will address body, mind
Writer: Paul Schattenberg, 210-859-5752, paschattenberg@ag.tamu.edu
Contacts: Raquel Rodriguez, 830-774-7591, raquel.rodriguez@ag.tamu.edu
Stacy Drury, 830-796-7755, stacy.drury@ag.tamu.edu
DEL RIO – The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will offer a six-week interactive online challenge, via Facebook, focused on helping participants build healthier lifestyles.
The Working on Wellness challenge runs from Sept.10 to Oct. 15.
The online challenge will be hosted on the agency’s Working on Wellness Facebook group page.
To join the group, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/extensionworkingonwellness/.
Weekly challenges are designed to increase physical activity, improve food choices, ensure adequate hydration, increase strength and stimulate the mind.
The interactive six-week working on Wellness challenge via Facebook begins Sept. 10 (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo)
The challenge will begin with a video introducing the first week’s goals and tasks.
“AgriLife Extension is committed to improving lives and improving Texas through relevant, research-based education, and one of the agency’s high-priority issues is helping Texans improve their health,” said Raquel Rodriquez, AgriLife Extension family and community health agent, Val Verde County, who is based in Del Rio. “Research shows at least 50 percent of a person’s health status relates to lifestyle factors such as tobacco use, physical activity, eating habits and weight.”
Stacy Drury, AgriLife Extension family and community health agent for Bandera County who will co-present the challenge, said the program will motivate participants to build a healthier lifestyle through key health and wellness principles and habits.
“It is designed for participants to network with one another and ultimately be a support group to hold everyone accountable,” Drury said.
Rodriguez said the Working on Wellness program helps participants learn and adopt behaviors that can positively impact their health and wellness.
“Guidance is provided through simple activities even the busiest people can find time to fit into their schedule,” she said.
The final goal of the challenge is to complete all the tasks and make them a habit,” Drury said.
Rodriguez and Drury noted this year’s challenge will have an additional Path to the Plate component. Path to the Plate is a research-based education program of AgriLife Extension that helps consumers understand how their food choices impact their health.
“By understanding more about the path their food takes to their plate – how it’s grown and produced – consumers can make better food choices for themselves and their families,” Drury said.
Rodriguez, who hosts a weekly Path to the Plate live video, said some of the topics she covers include selecting chickens and eggs, organic vs. conventional production, what foods to buy, water quality, meat cuts and choices, and the meaning of GMOs or genetically modified organisms.
For more information, contact Rodriguez at 830-774-7591 or raquel.rodriguez@ag.tamu.edu, or Drury at 830-796-7755 or stacy.drury@ag.tamu.edu.
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