Exercising and prioritizing a healthy diet can have many positive benefits. Concordia University Chicago Exercise and Sport Science department has created a new fitness challenge to help faculty, staff, and students pursue a healthy lifestyle.<\/p>\n
“New Me 2023” is a free, 10-week-long weight loss and fitness challenge that includes weekly meetings, personalized workout programs, and nutrition guidelines.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to give an option for faculty, staff, and students to have an area where they can improve their fitness,\u201d said certified personal trainer and CUC alumni, Mark Hogan ’20. \u201cA big reason why people don\u2019t start or focus on their fitness goals is because they don\u2019t understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For someone who does not have a fitness background, the gym can be an intimidating place. \u201cExercise science can be kind of confusing,\u201d said Hogan. \u201cWe are trying to clear that up and give direct guidance to show them how to live a healthy lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hogan is assisted by fellow 2020 CUC graduate, Bo Hernandez, C.S.C.S.,<\/span> and current CUC junior Jessica Parker, an exercise science major. They are under the direction of CUC professor of exercise and health science, Suzanne Walsh, PhD, ATC.<\/p>\n \u201cThe challenge is there to help people who struggle with nutrition, fitness goals, or motivation in general,\u201d said Parker. \u201cWe are trying to help people learn more about it, and motivate them to live healthier, better lifestyles.\u201d<\/p>\n Considering the first day of the challenge was Jan. 23 of this year, the challenge participants have not noticed any drastic differences in their overall health quite yet. However, the things they are learning in the challenge are remaining fresh on their minds, such as eating a salad instead of a slice of pizza or knowing when to lift weights versus when to perform cardio exercises.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t seen any massive differences yet,\u201d said Kylie Gilmore, fitness challenge participant and CUC\u2019s director of campus engagement. \u201cHowever, it does have me thinking about these things more consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n “Now, I think about things like, when I’m preparing meals, substituting white rice for brown rice,” Gilmore added.<\/p>\n A big part of achieving your personal fitness goals is developing a disciplined mindset. \u201cWe cover all the bases with training, nutrition, and mindset because I believe mindset is really big with fitness,\u201d said Hogan. \u201cA lot of people suffer right now with anxiety and depression, and I feel like exercise is a great outlet to help them.\u201d<\/p>\n A major selling point of the New Me 2023 challenge is the convenience. \u201cI saw the opportunity, and it was free and convenient,\u201d said Gilmore. \u201cI think what stopped me in the past from officially joining a workout group or plan is cost and convenience.\u201d<\/p>\n All meetings for this challenge occur in Kretzmann 350 on Mondays from 11:30 to 11:50 a.m. Members of the campus community are still encouraged to join.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re feeling like you lack energy, don\u2019t know how to eat right, or are just lost in the gym,\u201d said Hogan. \u201cThis is a great challenge to clear things up a little bit and get help from fitness professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n So far, the participants have been highly impressed by the knowledge conveyed by the coaches in the fitness challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cThe students have done a really good job at breaking it down, so that someone who doesn\u2019t have a lot of experience or knowledge in this area can understand,\u201d said Gilmore. \u201cMaking good choices convenient is something that has always helped me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Exercising and prioritizing a healthy diet can have many positive benefits. Concordia University Chicago Exercise and Sport Science department has created a new fitness challenge to help faculty, staff, and students pursue a healthy lifestyle. “New Me 2023” is a free, 10-week-long weight loss and fitness challenge that includes weekly meetings, personalized workout programs, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":6108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-concordia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}