Remember when your mother harped on about eating those fruits and vegetables? She was on to something.
Starting Monday (March 6), as part of National Nutrition Month, the Laboratory's Wellness Center (HSR-2) is again sponsoring the Colorful Choices nutrition incentive program to highlight the benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables.
"Colorful Choices is a 20-day nutrition incentive program that is a feast for the eyes as well as a satisfying way to eat and stay healthy," said Marta Gentry Munger of HSR-2. Employees are asked to eat at least 100 servings of fruits and vegetables for 20 days in March. And though the number seems high, it averages out to just a minimum of five servings a day of fruits and vegetables, Gentry Munger explained.
"With this program, there is no calorie counting, no gram tabulating, no weighing or measuring portions," said Gentry Munger. "Colorful Choices takes the confusion out of nutrition."
Gentry Munger said participants select fruits and vegetables from five color categories. The program also provides recipes, tips, education materials and a fun, easy log.
Employees can sign up for the program by going to the Wellness Center's Web page at www.wellness.lanl.gov/ online beginning Monday. There is no cost to sign up for the program and there are free gifts (while supplies last) to employees who sign up. Once registered, the Web page has information about the many colorful fruits and vegetables that employees can add to their diets. There also will be prizes awarded at the conclusion of the incentive program.
Participants in last year's program told HSR-2 in a post-program survey that Colorful Choices helped them make healthier eating choices, including increasing the amount of vegetables in their diet. And Gentry Munger said that 100 percent of the survey respondents said that they achieved their goals they established.
"It motivated me to pay better attention to the variety of produce I was eating," and "It made me stop and think about what I needed to eat for the day" were just two of the survey responses from participants last year, Gentry Munger noted.
Gentry Munger said the Wellness Center also is hosting a class at 12:05 p.m., March 14 designed to help employees increase their healthy eating. Called Stealth Nutrition, the class provides tips on how to add healthy vegetables to the daily diet. Registration is required for this class at http://www.wellness.lanl.gov/svc/classes/hp/hp_sch.htm online or by calling 7-7166.
For more information, contact Gentry Munger at mgm@lanl.gov by electronic mail or 7-5483, or Linna Nguyen at 7-7166, or Phyllis Webb at pwebb@lanl.gov by electronic mail or 5-3559.
