During November, LIVE FOR LIFE received over 50 entries for the Eat Wise & Exercise lifestyle makeover contest. During the 10-week program, the winners will provide regular updates as they start eating wise and exercising! For more information about the contest winners (including their winning essays), click here.

Looking Forward

Posted January 14, 2008: The winners comment on their win and goals for the program.

Individual Winner: Craig Galunas

January 14 is fast approaching and I am getting prepared. I have already met with my personal trainer and she is great. We've completed a fitness assessment and begun a little preliminary "workout" to help me get off to a good start. My next meeting is with my nutritionist. I am looking forward to that, too.

This whole experience so far has been wonderful and exceeded my expectations. I am really looking forward to the start of the program. I haven't really set any weight-loss goals with my trainer because she is not really focused on weight loss as much as just moving and living a healthy lifestyle. I know that once I get going the pounds will start to come off. I am excited and ready to get moving.

Group Winner: School of Nursing

After submitting our application for the lifestyle makeover, people quickly forgot about it. When we were notified that we won, it was a wonderful surprise and confirmation that we were going to begin a journey together. Some of us work closely together and some do not, so this will quickly develop our built-in support group. Others in the School of Nursing have said they will cheer us on, and they want to track our progress. We see this as only the beginning, eventually we hope to include other interested parties by sharing tips and strategies with them. We hope to extend some of the knowledge we learn into procedures here, such as what type of lunch to order for a workshop we are presenting at the school.

Some of us have a weight loss goal, some have a shaping-up goal, and others simply want to put good practices into place before they have a health problem. We have begun the count down as a group, and some members have begun strategies, such as journaling, to track their progress. We are anxious, excited, a little apprehensive, eager, and committed to achieving our personal goals and supporting each other in reaching those goals. If we had not won this opportunity, some of us would have formed small groups and tried to do what we could, but would not have such a diverse group and such wonderful support from exercise and nutrition professionals. Let's get started!

Submitted by: Group Co-Captain Catherine S. Taylor, RN, MSN, BC, Manager, Clinical Placements