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| Shape Up RI News |
February 11, 2008 |
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Greetings! 
How is your team doing? In Shape Up RI, every team creates its own personalized plan for pursuing good health during the campaign based on the needs, desires, and preferences of team members. Some teams are power-walking during lunch, playing sports, or joining a fitness center together. Others are eschewing junk food, increasing their consumption of fruits and vegetables, sharing recipes online, and taking healthy cooking classes. What is your team's plan for success in Shape Up RI 2008?Every year I am amazed by the number of teams that form across the state in response to our challenge. This year over 1,200 team captains stood up and volunteered to recruit a team, distribute pedometers and wristbands, and motivate their members to succeed. We are off to a running start. With over 12,000 participants and growing by the day, the word is out that Rhode Islanders are coming together on teams and as a community and working together to improve our health. Let's keep up that momentum. I urge you to work as hard as possible early on in this program. Our past results show that the teams that make real progress in the first round tend to achieve the best results in Shape Up RI. We are already one week into this twelve week campaign! I would love to hear about your team and its progress. Yours in Health, Rajiv Kumar
Chairman
info@shapeupri.org
P.S. Please call us at 401.421.0608 if you need any assistance.
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| Important Notices |
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 Helpful Notes for You & Your Team
Registration
Registration for the program will remain open until February 17. Visit the Team Building Forum to find new team members. Consider reaching out to someone -- there are still people across the state looking to join teams with open spots.
Changing Team Preferences
Team captains can change their team name or team competition divisions any time until February 17 by logging into TeamTracker and clicking on "Manage Your
Team" and then "Edit Team Preferences." Report Starting WeightIf you are participating in the weight loss division, don't forget to log into TeamTracker to submit your starting weight. Using Your Pedometer
Need help using your pedometer? About.com has a great article about How To Use a Pedometer. |
| Sign & Post Your Team Contract |
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Make the Commitment 
Once signed, make a copy for everyone and hang it in a place (at work or at home) where you'll see it every day. Use it as a strong motivational factor for reaching your goals. You're now a part of a team and by signing this contract you are not only committing yourself to better health, you're helping to empower your team to achieve greatness!
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| 1,200 Motivated Teams |
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| Names, Photos, and Stories
Every team has a unique story about how and why its members joined Shape Up RI. We want to hear about your team and your reasons for joining our family. What is your motivation? What are your goals in the program? How do you plan to achieve success? Have you already seen early progress?
Please email your team stories and team photos to info@shapeupri.org. We'll post your team photo in our online photo gallery. This year there are some creative and hilarious team names. Click here to view all of the team names. Some of our favorites include: Not So Little Compton, Shape Up or Ship Out, Mission SlimPossible, Warriors of Wellness (WOW), The Shapely Seven, Red Hot Chili Steppers, Ground Pounders, Flubbergasted, Dietary Divas, Diminishing Assets, Best Foot Forward, Nothing But Curves, Joggernauts, and Team Success: We Have Rolls So We Have Goals.  Team Change The Equation from Brown University was featured last week on a special segment with health reporter Barbara Silva Morse on the Channel 10 evening news. Their team captain is Rochelle Ives.  Team Members from the North Central Chamber of Commerce with Governor Carcieri at the 2008 Opening Celebration at Providence Place. |
| Sharing Openly With Your Team |
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 Be Candid with Team Members
We encourage all of our participants to share goals, aspirations, challenges, and successes with their team members.
If we truly want to improve our health, we must begin a candid conversation about our hopes and dreams and the real obstacles that stand in our way.
While this is a friendly competition, we want everyone involved in Shape Up RI to come out a winner by achieving personal goals. Keeping up a dialogue about your health is important for your success. Facing a particular challenge? Feeling frustrated? Ask your team members for help. We are all here to support each other on this journey.
We urge you to talk about your successes too. If you've found a particular workout that you enjoy, share it. Maybe you discovered a new healthy recipe that your family raved about. Perhaps you've reached a major milestone on your path to better health -- don't be afraid to announce your achievements to your team.
Share as much as you can with your team -- it will help power all of us through this challenging endeavor.
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| Have a Healthy Valentine's Day |
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 Advice from the Clinton Foundation
February is American Heart Month! Show some love by incorporating these heart-healthy tips into your plans:
1. Get your Valentines moving! Being active is a great way to spend time together, so go for a long walk or have a dance party in your living room!
2. If your kids exchange Valentines, encourage them to be creative! Challenge them not to hand out candy, but to give out 100% juice boxes, snack-sized packages of dried fruit like raisins, or animal crackers, pretzels, or reduced fat popcorn!
3. Be unconventional-instead of flowers this year, send a fruit bouquet, which can be beautiful and yummy!
4. Remember to not go overboard eating Valentine treats-balance the sweets with fruits and veggies.
5. Make it a family dinner date- stay at home on Valentines Day, get the gang in the kitchen, and cook a heart-healthy family meal together! Remember to incorporate lean meats or fish and foods low in saturated and trans fats!
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| Calendar of Upcoming Events |
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 There are over 125 free events scheduled!
Browse the online calendar today to sign up your team for upcoming events in your area. Attending Shape Up RI events is a great opportunity to gather with your team to learn, exercise, and build team spirit.
Due to very high demand for events this year, we ask that you only RSVP if you are committed to attending the workshop. If you do RSVP but are unable to attend, we ask that you please call or email us so that someone on the waiting list can have your spot. Would you like to host a free health or fitness event for the Shape Up RI community? Call us at 421-0608. Click here to view the 2008 Calendar of Events. |
| The Power of Teamwork - Inspirational Quote |
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A single individual is capable of amazing things in this world. But when a group of individuals come together to form a working unit, this can turn into magic. While individuals possess many skills, when they are alone some of these skills may not come out. Interaction among others can lead to great things. Creation becomes easier; long projects become shorter; unrealistic goals suddenly seem within reach; the possibilities are endless.
Teamwork however is not that simple. A good team or group does not work well together automatically; they have to work hard at working well together. But once a group meets this point, where it is clicking on all cylinders, this is when incredible successes can happen. Remember the power of one is great, but the power of many is even greater. | |
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