What is a Bonus Challenge?

For some introductory information about Summer Shape Up RI, please visit here.

Summer Shape Up RI has added new "bonus challenges." These are 2-week mini-challenges that will encourage you to try out new ways to get even healthier and in better shape!

What's a Bonus Challenge? Each bonus challenge lasts two weeks. The first one will help you learn how to track your calorie and nutrition intake so you'll know just how much you're consuming every day. After that, you'll be offered challenges that will help you incorporate stretching into a more "flexible" lifestyle, teach you new ways to get rid of body-cramping stress, and help you achieve better quality sleep.

How does it work? Every two weeks during the 8 weeks of Summer Shape Up RI, we'll send you all the information you need to count calories, monitor your daily nutrition, do stretches, relieve stress and get more zzzz's. Every day that you use the nutrition tracker or try out a new strategy for stretching, stress reduction or sleep, give yourself a check mark in your logbook or in the on-line system - and a pat on the back for embarking on a healthy new venture.
 
Does it affect your team's standings? Nope. The idea is for you and your teammates to have fun and try something new. If you're counting calories, improving your nutrition, feeling more flexible, less stressed and better rested, we bet you'll have more energy to send those pedometer steps soaring.
 
Here's a brief look at each bonus challenge.

Round 1 (Weeks 1 and 2) Bonus Challenge: Nutrition and Calorie Tracking.  Use our new web-based Nutrition Tracker to monitor your nutrition intake and add up all the calories you eat every day over a 2-week period (it contains thousands of food items, including restaurant dishes). You'll be able to analyze what, when and how much you eat with this computerized food diary to help you make some healthy changes.

Round 2 (Weeks 3 and 4) Bonus Challenge: Stretching.  Stretching is an important part of an active lifestyle because it gives you the flexibility to do things you need and like to do. But in everyday lives of working at desks and sitting in traffic, stretching often doesn't happen. In our two-week mini stretching challenge, we'll give you the chance to incorporate healthy stretches into your daily routine. Try one of them every day and you're on your way to increasing your flexibility, improving your circulation and banishing muscle cramps. We promise: Some of these stretches you can do in the car!

Round 3 (Weeks 5 and 6) Bonus Challenge: Sleep Better.  Sleep deprivation is a major problem for many Americans; it's linked to chronic illnesses from high blood pressure to obesity. Fortunately, plenty of techniques can improve the quality of your sleep. We'll provide you with lots of suggestions, as well as the info on why they can help. During the two-week mini-module, give some of them a try and see which ones help you have a better night's sleep.

Round 4 (Weeks 7 and 8) Bonus Challenge: Stress Reduction.  The little stresses of everyday life can build up and actually harm your health. So our mini-challenge on stress will offer you ways to better respond to the stress level in your life. The idea is to try out a stress management technique every day for two weeks - we'll give you the low-down on lots of them, such as easy breathing techniques, ways to consciously relax muscles, yoga you can do on the job, and  ways to do what's really important and often neglected: nurture yourself.