HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Five Faces of WellnessThree | Plus Two
We ran a 40-days-to-wellness program despite the COVID-19 pandemic touching thousands of lives in the State of Maryland, USA. And one wondered: what would the response be like if members were invited to come into a church building once a week and also continue home practices during these rather sensitive times? It did not take us long to find out if the advertised program – Five Faces of Wellness (three plus two) – would take off!
THREE
Five Faces of 40 days to wellness started September 26 ended on November 02, 2020 at Redeemer’s Chapel.
(click here to see sample program). The motto or theme was “It’s not how you start; it’s how you finish”, accompanied by COVID related spiel such as “COVID cannot stop us – We got to keep on moving. We are back and we are coming back in style.”
The aim of the Five Faces of Wellness program was to a commitment for 40 days to eating healthy, exercising regularly and having a good night’s rest. Participants were provided guides and advised to document their weight weekly. The expected outcomes are weight loss and stress-free living.
The five faces segments
Diet: selecting from a recommended 10 10 10 list of healthy foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner plus water of course and occasional fast. This means that the participants were encouraged to select from 10 recommended foods for breakfast 10 for lunch and 10 for dinner. Only water was consumed during the day of fast. Water was substituted with juice, for persons with health issues such as diabetes.
Exercise:
This was executed in four phases and constituted:
- Five-minute warm up (jogging in place, heel kick, air punches and arm cycle)
-
Two-minute stretches (hamstring stretch, quad stretch, side bend, arm stretch and shoulder rotation)
-
Work out (Squats, jumping jacks, lunges, knee lifts, sit ups, jogging) and shoulder rotation)
-
Cool down including deep breaths while repeating the stretch phases.
Participants were expected and encouraged to do these at home, record them in their personal journals and come together once a week as a group.Sleep: Recommended 6-8 hours
Plus TWO
This included (i) a monthly Scripture and Thought and (ii) Stress management tips. The scripture for October was Hebrews 12:2 (KJV) “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”. The accompanying thought was “Jesus endured a lot for our salvation, but for the joy of having us with him for eternity, it was worth it all.”
We’ve endured a lot during this challenge, but for the joy of being a healthier person, it was worth it all. Stress management or control exercises included clenching of fists to relax, meditation, listening to music and deep breathing.
Incentives and Reminders:
Reminders were posted weekly on WhatsApp. Personal Journals were used to record weight, blood pressure and other daily activities. Members shared videos of workout at home as well as breakfast, lunch and dinner from the 10 10 10 recommended foods. Another incentive was a T-shirt to build team effort and distinctiveness. Food Tasting Special was a mixture of samples from mainly African and Caribbean countries.
Finally, there will be a graduation ceremony on November 08, 2020 where awards were presented including for/to: the most weight loss, most consistent participants, team/house leaders, house with the most participants.
May these Five Faces in Forty-day program inspire you to conduct one during 2021 at your church and for your community.
Noel Brathwaite, Project Consultant/Advisor
Noel Brathwaite, Ph.D, MSPH is Director, Minority Health and Health Disparities at the Maryland Department of Health. He previously served as the Director of Health Ministries and ADRA of the Caribbean Union, based in Trinidad and Tobago and headed the Department of Research at the University of the Southern Caribbean.