February 5, 2013

The Wellness Resource Center kicked off its MUVE campaign Feb 1.

MUVE stands for ‘MU Values Exercise and Eating Well,’ according to the introductory video on the [campaign’s website](muve.missouri.edu).

“The goal of the campaign is to help students live healthier lives by engaging in more physical activity and making it enjoyable, as well as learning how to eat well,” the video said.

Participants can visit MUVE’s website and register for the challenge individually or in teams.

Along with the introductory video, MUVE’s website contains healthy eating tips, including other videos with recipes aimed at the college lifestyle, exercises to do at home that don’t require any equipment and small tips on how to have a healthier life. “Add 1” is a section of the website that suggests easy ways of creating a healthier lifestyle — from adding one bright colored vegetable a day to adding one hour of sleep at night.

The MUVE website is also where participants in the challenge can log their daily exercise activities. The Wellness Resource Center’s system will convert all logged exercise into steps to create a uniform way of measuring a participant’s accomplishments, Tiffany Bowman, one of the challenge’s coordinators, said.

There is a list of walks and runs that challenge participants can also partake in, but they are not required to, Bowman said. She said the only event the Wellness Resource Center hosts is the Chad Eatherly 5K on April 28. The list also includes the Sweetheart Run/Walk on Feb. 16 and the St. Patrick’s Day 5K on March 16.

“We’re not looking for any specific exercise activity,” Bowman said. “We’re just wanting people to think of ways to add movement to their daily activities, such as taking the stairs over an elevator or parking further away and walking more on campus.”

Bowman said the campaign will also hand out prizes every couple of weeks and award a grand prize at the end of the challenge. Prizes – which include gym bags, water bottles, wristbands and t-shirts with the MUVE logo – will be given to the person or team who has logged the most exercise up to that point. The grand prize will be kept a secret until the end, Bowman said.

But the prizes don’t seem to be what’s motivating students to take part in the challenge. Nicole Neidenberg, a senior and peer educator for the Wellness Resource Center, said she’s participating in the campaign to keep up with her resolution to live a healthier lifestyle.

“(I) heard about it in one of our meetings and I thought, ‘Hey, this goes along perfect with my New Year’s Resolution,’” Neidenberg said.

MU graduate student Taylor Biddle said she likes to participate in events and programs the Wellness Resource Center produces.

“I am very goal-oriented and love new information regarding wellness topics,” she said.

The MUVE challenge will run through May 1.

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