Assiniboine Kiwanis Club and Healthy Brandon have once again joined forces to offer the 10 week Biggest Loser Challenge starting January 12 and ending March 22. The challenge requires a mandatory first and final weigh ins with optional weigh ins in between. Space has been kindly donated by the Town Centre. On the opening night refreshments were donated by Blue Water. Other local businesses have also provided donations that will be used as prizes. Members of Youth Revolution volunteered to help make the Grand Opening a success.
“The Biggest Loser Challenge provides an incentive for people to work towards a healthier lifestyle by weight control and getting active, said Bev Monk, main organizer for the challenge and Kiwanis Club member.
Registration fee was $100 for a team of four. The grand prize consists of 60% of net proceeds to be divided 60/40 between the first and second place teams that have the biggest percentage of weight loss. The remaining 40% of net proceeds go to Assiniboine Kiwanis Club to sponsor local initiatives. This year approximately 97 teams have registered compared to 66 teams last year.
“We’ve improved this year’s challenge from the first one in 2011 by offering more support to participants such as free education sessions on label reading and staying motivated. Each participant received a food journal to track progress as well,” said Vanessa Hamilton, Chair of Healthy Brandon.
From Left to Right: Healthy Brandon Chair Vanessa Hamilton with 3 participants of the “Mass Terminators” Team, Kathy Bartlette, Tina Machado, Sue Cuthbert (Missing is Collette Palmer)
Being pulled in multiple directions at once with each demand more important than the previous? Are your personal relationships suffering as a result of work conflicts or vice versa?
Learn steps to start gaining back control and a feeling of balance in your life! A balanced life reduces stress and improves mental health!
Join Healthy Brandon on February 9th, at the Riverbank Discovery Center from 12-1:00pm for a lunch & learn presentation by Registered Psychiatric Nurse, Tracy Young Ridgen. Tracy will be presenting on ways to deal with the stress of balancing work and life demands. Healthy Brandon is sponsoring this workshop; therefore it will be at no cost to you. A light lunch will be provided.
Register by completing the Registration Form and emailing it to Greg Brown at greg.brown@brandon.ca or fax to 729-1904. Please register before February 6, 2012
Healthy Brandon is a member of Brandon Community Garden Network, which represents 8 community gardens throughout the city. The Community Garden Network offered six gardening workshops free of charge from spring to the fall of 2011 that included:
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An Introductory Workshop led by a Greenspot staff member
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Compost Workshop led by Katherine Buckley
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Organic Gardening Workshop led by Garden Coordinator Blake Hamilton
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Weeds/ Pests Workshop led by Norah Tolmie from Aagaard Farms
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Canning & Preserving Workshop led by home economist Susan Proven
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Preparing your Garden for fall workshop led by Patmore’s staff member.
The workshops provided skill building, a chance to network with other gardeners and an opportunity to ask questions to very knowledgeable and experienced members of the community.
Healthy Brandon’s success is built on partnerships and would like to thank the Brandon School Division for lending land for the Hummingbird Garden at 26th and Maryland that enables hundreds of gardeners and their families to enjoy fresh local produce and to the City of Brandon for being a strong supportor of community gardens within Brandon.
Weeds and Pests Workshop Summer 2011
2011 was a soggy start but that didn’t scare away gardening enthusiasts. Gardeners patiently waited and planted their favorite seeds. As a finale to the gardening season and to enjoy all the hard work of weeding and watering, gardeners held a “Stone Soup” on September 25th, 2011. Each gardener was encouraged to add a vegetable from their garden to the soup. A story was told about the Stone Soup as they passed out “magic” rocks to the children.
Longtime volunteer for the Hummingbird Garden, Brian Fowell mixes up the "Stone Soup" on September 25, 2011
Healthy Brandon Living Well With Stress announces the 4th annual POWER TO INSPIRE award recipients.
The Power to Inspire Award recognizes individuals who have made a personal commitment to healthy living and inspired others to make positive changes in their own lives. Individuals are nominated by their peers for this award.
Congratulations to our 4th Annual POWER TO INSPIRE award recipients:
Mr. Perry Bergson
Ms. Donna Zdebiak
Mr. Clayton Pollock
All three individuals who had strong recommendations from their peers for the award, will be recognized for their personal commitment to healthy living and ability to inspire others to make positive and healthy changes in their own lives.
Award recipients are presented with an award package and plaque, as well as a personalized photo shoot to share and highlight their “inspiration”.
For more information on The Power to Inspire award, please call Tracy at 578-2450 or email youngt@brandonrha.mb.ca.
With summer fast approaching the heat will soon be on! Staying hydrated is important, but with so many drinks available how do you know which is best to meet your needs?
For regular summer activities water is the best way to satisfy your thirst. Other beverages like sodas and slurpees are loaded with sugar and calories and should only be an occasional treat. For sports that are short-duration (less than one hour) and low-intensity water is still the best option.
How Much Water Do You Need?
It is not always easy to know how much water you need. It is best to always have water on hand and drink throughout the day. Keep in mind that the more active you are, the more you sweat, the hotter and more humid the temperature gets, the more water you will need.
Sports Drinks
During intense and/or long periods of physical activity, such as endurance or team sports, water alone may not be enough. Sports drinks help replace lost minerals from sweat and are a source of energy for our muscles and brain.
What About Energy Drinks?
Energy drinks make a poor choice for hydration during physical activity or even daily living. Energy drinks contain a lot of sugar and caffeine. For example, a 250ml can may have twelve teaspoons of sugar and double the caffeine of soda.
Staying Hydrated
Early signs of dehydration are feeling irritable, tired, dizzy and headache. A tip is not waiting to feel thirsty before drinking fluids, as by then you may already be dehydrated. Light color urine is a sign of good hydration.
By Eniko Kersz, Dietetic Intern
Our Home is Smoke-Free!
Whether you smoke or not you can protect your health and your family, including children and pets, by making your home smoke-free. Second-hand smoke is harmful to everyone, especially children.
Healthy Brandon invites everyone to join the Blue Lights project – a new project to protect people from second-hand smoke. To get more information or to register your home as smoke free go to the Tobacco Free page.
