Applebee's YMCA Fitness Challenge
The YMCA & Applebee's have teamed up to help promote healthy lifestyles to the community through diet and exercise. At the YMCA there are so many ways to incorporate fitness on a regular basis that losing interest is hard to do. In today's busy world, it's often hard to find time to make a home cooked meal, but you can make healthy choices while dining out and Applebee's has 5 Unbelieveably Great Tasting & Under 550 Calorie menu items to make that easier. Both groups are encouraging the community to be more active between now and June 19th.
Fitness Challenge Details
Everyone can get involved in the Applebee's YMCA Fitness Challenge. Just download a challenge packet and convert the activity you do into steps using the conversion chart. YMCA Members should turn their sheets in at their branch and they will get raffle tickets each week based on the total steps they have achieved. Each week tickets will be pulled for prizes that have been donated by Applebee's. Extra raffle tickets are given to those who go to Applebee's Dine to Donate Monday's.
New to Fitness?
For those just getting started on their journey to fitness, it's about getting off the couch and starting to get active. Items we do everyday like gardening, washing the car or vacuuming can be found on the step conversion list.
A Fitness Pro?
For those who have an regular fitness routine, we want you to take it up a notch. Try a new activity, add some extra intensity, or maybe some additional time to your workout.
Dine to Donate Monday's
On Monday's throughout the Challenge, Applebees will donate 15% of the bill to the YMCA's Annual Giving Campaign through their Dine to Donate program provided you download and bring in the Dine to Donate flyer.Applebee's is excited to help provided scholarships to families in the community that otherwise could not afford YMCA memberships and programs. Of the 17,000 people the YMCA serves each year, 1 in 8 receives a scholarship. Over $800,000 was provided in scholarships last year.
Staff Challenge
The YMCA believes that getting involved in the Applebee's YMCA Fitness Challenge can have a great impact on a persons life. For that reason, they created a separate incentive program for staff to get them involved and more active. Over 15 staff have changed their daily routine since the start of the challenge and are now incorporating daily activity into their lives. In the days ahead, we'll showcase some of their stories on our website and show some of what they have been doing through video and photos.
Business Leaders Challenge
The Business Leader's Competition is an exciting element of the challenge. The partners below have agreed to let the YMCA and Applebee's follow them during their challenger and report back the variety of things they've done, sometimes through videos and photos, in an attempt to help the community learn how it's really about a more healthy lifestyle and making it fun than just getting on a treadmill each day. The losers of the challenges have agreed to be "winners" by donating $50 to the YMCA's Annual Giving Campaign.
MICHELLE SMITH, YMCA vs ANNA BALL, Applebee's
Michelle was really excited when the challenge was created because she's lost 40 pounds since last summer by simply being more active and making better eating choices. She has 10 pounds left to go and hasn't yet began an intentional fitness routine. She decided to offer up a challenge to Anna who gladly accepted. Anna has a 6 month old baby and is trying to lose the last 10 pounds as well. She told Michelle she didn't know what she was in for because she is quite competitive and going to give her a run for her money. She was right- in her 1st week she logged 74,000 steps (which is off the charts!) just by doing a few fitness classes during the week and daily walks at night with her 3 year old.
ERIK SCHELLING, People First Bank vs TODD ELBRINK, Next Media
Erik and Todd both serve on the Joliet Area Young Professionals Board with Michelle. Each work long hours and balance families after the long workday. Personal fitness sometimes can get pushed to the back burner so this group wanted to help show creative ways to make it all work. Erik comes from the group of 'once fit' and as he got started the first week shared that it was hard the first day but got a little easier each day.
SARAH OPRAZEDICK, United Way of Will County vs REBECCA RAKERS, Joliet Area Community Hospice
Joliet Area Community Hospice and the YMCA are both proud to be United Way of Will County Agencies. Currently the United Way is in their Race to the Finish to help bring in the last of their campaign dollars to ensure that agencies get enough funding to do the great work they do to help support our community. Sarah, who has a young daughter, says Rebecca is her motivation to start getting active. She wasn't sure if Rebecca would qualify to be her challenger because Rebecca does not have any weight to lose. Rebecca, though, is a perfect example of how it's not about losing weight, it's about being healthy and fit.
