There was indeed a lot of moving going on in May!
In our first community challenge, 110 people participated in My Fitness Pal's Movin' in May challenge. The month-long event was structured around a daily challenge to sit less and move more. It attracted participants from 24 states, as well as Canada, India, United Kingdom, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and United Arab Emirates. "Movers" had the option of doing the daily challenge, the day's alternative challenge, or sitting out for the day. People posted updates as to how the challenge went for them, noting frequently that it led to even more activity than they had planned on. Participants also encouraged each other and provided feedback on what they liked or didn't like about the daily challenge.
Movers were also encouraged to make a personal pledge to themselves to sit less and move more through our Act Now form. Each person submitting the form selected a targeted goal of how much they wanted to reduce their sitting time (30 minutes a day? 60 minutes? Two hours or more?). We aggregated these targets to show the community-wide impact from all Movin in May participants. In all, 38 people committed to reducing their time spent sitting by 12,593 hours per year. It is striking how even a modest reduction in sitting of 30 minutes per day snowballs over the course of the year to more than 182 hours or 7.6 more days each year. Who wouldn't like an extra week? Gotta watch those chairs. They'll suck the life right out of you.
We wrapped up the month with evaluations and recommendations for improving the series. 88% of those submitting evals said the challenge was useful to them, all participants indicated they would be sitting less after Movin' in May was over, and 85% agreed they wanted to see the series repeated on My Fitness Pal in the future. Guided by this input as well as other feedback from participants, we intend to repeat the series again in the fall and spring.
Although My Fitness Pal provided the framework for this particular challenge, our 30 Day Sit Less/Move More program is adaptable to other organizations: businesses, schools, churches, and civic groups. If interested, please contact me for details.
Congratulations to all the Movin' in May participants!
I'd love your feedback on this post! Comments are welcome, but please review the blog rules.
In our first community challenge, 110 people participated in My Fitness Pal's Movin' in May challenge. The month-long event was structured around a daily challenge to sit less and move more. It attracted participants from 24 states, as well as Canada, India, United Kingdom, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and United Arab Emirates. "Movers" had the option of doing the daily challenge, the day's alternative challenge, or sitting out for the day. People posted updates as to how the challenge went for them, noting frequently that it led to even more activity than they had planned on. Participants also encouraged each other and provided feedback on what they liked or didn't like about the daily challenge.
Movers were also encouraged to make a personal pledge to themselves to sit less and move more through our Act Now form. Each person submitting the form selected a targeted goal of how much they wanted to reduce their sitting time (30 minutes a day? 60 minutes? Two hours or more?). We aggregated these targets to show the community-wide impact from all Movin in May participants. In all, 38 people committed to reducing their time spent sitting by 12,593 hours per year. It is striking how even a modest reduction in sitting of 30 minutes per day snowballs over the course of the year to more than 182 hours or 7.6 more days each year. Who wouldn't like an extra week? Gotta watch those chairs. They'll suck the life right out of you.
We wrapped up the month with evaluations and recommendations for improving the series. 88% of those submitting evals said the challenge was useful to them, all participants indicated they would be sitting less after Movin' in May was over, and 85% agreed they wanted to see the series repeated on My Fitness Pal in the future. Guided by this input as well as other feedback from participants, we intend to repeat the series again in the fall and spring.
Although My Fitness Pal provided the framework for this particular challenge, our 30 Day Sit Less/Move More program is adaptable to other organizations: businesses, schools, churches, and civic groups. If interested, please contact me for details.
Congratulations to all the Movin' in May participants!
I'd love your feedback on this post! Comments are welcome, but please review the blog rules.