Join Duke's Festive Fit Focus for a Healthier Holiday Season

The self-directed eight-week program will help you maintain your weight and healthy lifestyle throughout the holidays

Festive Fit Focus

The season of big meals, cookies and extra busy schedules is upon us as calendars turn to November.

And making healthy choices is about to become a bit harder.

LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program, is here to help faculty and staff stick to a healthy lifestyle over the holidays. Festive Fit Focus, formerly the “Maintain Don’t Gain” program, will run from Nov. 13 to Jan. 7 to provide support, tips and encouragement for employees who want to maintain their weight and overall wellness this season. Registration is open.

“We wanted to develop a program that’s not really just about reps, exercising and your sets, but more of embarking on a journey that you’re taking of being healthier, happier and just more energized by working on our bodies while also staying motivated throughout the holidays,” said Carlos Velasquez, a fitness specialist with LIVE FOR LIFE.

Throughout the eight-week, self-directed program, Festive Fit Focus participants will receive weekly emails with health tips, including stress management tools, exercise suggestions and healthy recipes.

For Jennifer Foster, who found herself a bit less active than she used to be since she started working remotely, the program and accountability it brought provided the nudge she needed last year to get moving more and keep health on her mind during the holiday season.

The program helped motivate her to walk laps around her house during the day and go for longer walks in parks on the weekends.

“I felt like it was a cool way to kind of push myself to move more and be more present and mindful with my health,” said Foster, a grants and contracts administrator with the Duke University School of Medicine Research Administration Support Resource. “It felt like a no pressure way to do it. I tried to make healthier choices, but I really focused on the movement more than anything else.”

Participants will weigh themselves at the end of every week and privately report their weight. At the end of the two months, participants who submitted at least seven weigh-ins within 3 pounds of their starting weight will receive LIVE FOR LIFE DOLLARS to spend on prizes such as water bottles, fitness equipment and exercise clothing from the LIVE FOR LIFE store.

Festive Fit Focus isn’t about just making healthy choices over the eight weeks, though. Velasquez hopes the program is the starting point for long-term healthy habits.

“It’s very easy to build healthy, good habits into someone’s routine after eight weeks,” he said. “A lot of employees like the progress they’re seeing, enjoying the fact that they have a little bit more energy throughout the day. It helps them get going and keep these habits going for the rest of the year.”

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