"March to the Moon" Fitness Challenge Helps State Employees Get Fit

"We are delighted with the March to the Moon event and the number of state employees who embraced this opportunity to be more active," said First Lady Conte. "We hope this event inspires state workers to continue their personal journey to better health throughout this year and their lifetimes.”

 

The March to the Moon fitness challenge was open to all state employees, and was designed as a fun way to help promote and improve health and fitness. Participants logged physical activity throughout the month of March on the Fitness Tracker on the Get Fit Tennessee Web site to earn fitness points, competing as members of their department’s team. At the end of the month, departments were ranked by the average number of fitness points. The top five teams and their average fitness points are as follows:

 

Department/Agency	Point Average
1.  Office of the First Lady	2,410.33
2.  Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency	2,133.73
3.  Department of Health	1,766.71
4.  Department of Commerce and Insurance	1,741.34
5.  Tennessee Housing and Development Agency	1,741.20

 

There were 1,948 participants in the March to the Moon Challenge. These state employees walked the equivalent of a total of 150,320 miles, took 300,640,200 steps and earned 3,006,402 fitness points.

 

“We have received reports of wonderful programs inspired by this fitness challenge, such as offices creating walking clubs that continue to encourage daily or weekly activity,” said Health Commissioner Susan R. Cooper, MSN, RN. “That’s exactly the result we hoped to see from this event, and we are thrilled that our fellow state employees have taken this opportunity to create healthy new habits.”

 

All Tennesseans are urged to visit Get Fit Tennessee at www.getfittn.com to take advantage of the free fitness and nutrition tools. Users can design their own fitness challenges for family, friends or coworkers, or simply track their own progress as they work to improve health and fitness. Get Fit Tennessee also offers free daily tips via e-mail, as well as features including a food diary and a cookbook of simple, healthy and economical recipes.

 

Get Fit Tennessee is a statewide awareness program developed by Governor Phil Bredesen with a focus on educating and empowering Tennesseans to move more and eat healthier to combat health risks facing the state, such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.