Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Happy Sunday, y'.
[00:00:10] Speaker A: All.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: You are listening to Fit to be Tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7 the capstone and Hi.
[00:00:16] Speaker C: Hello.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: How are you?
[00:00:17] Speaker C: I am well. We are still in January.
[00:00:19] Speaker B: We really are. But you know what? I have actually some big news for you. I don't know if you realize this. I realized this as I was actually.
So, Nika, you might have noticed on Facebook or other forms of social media, people are doing this, like, 2016 throwback. Like, they're wanting to do this, like, montage of, like, videos and pictures about, like, you know, the past 10 years.
[00:00:46] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:00:47] Speaker B: And so it was when I was doing that that I was like, oh, snap. This show debuted exactly 10 years ago. It debuted in spring of 2016.
Hey.
[00:01:00] Speaker C: And you have been with me the whole time.
Hey, Snaps. Snaps for Sheena.
[00:01:05] Speaker B: Well, you know, and so for any listeners who you know. Cause I know that you're out there and you've been listening for the past decade, you may or may not recall that the show actually started as Fit to be tied with Whitney and John.
I was a nutrition correspondent that I had one segment that I would do with them every episode, and we would do nutrition.
And then it transitioned to Sheena and John for a little bit when Whitney took a break. And then it transitioned to Sheena and Whitney, and then now we have Sheena and Na because you have been a longtime guest over the past decade, too. And so we're just in that era. But, yeah, I thought it was kind of fun if we were a visual podcast where we also had our episodes on YouTube or something else. This is where I would do like, the little, like, montage video of, like, the throwback pics.
[00:01:56] Speaker C: But happy birthday.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: Thanks.
[00:01:58] Speaker C: Fit to be tied.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: That's right. But, yeah, I mean, it's crazy to believe that it has been that long. It's been a lot of fun. One of the things that I've really appreciated over the years is getting to know our student producers. And so if you are listening to the show, you probably realize that this is produced and provided by 90.7 the capstone, and it's out of our office of student media, and we just have such incredibly talented students that serve as the station manager and production managers and everything else.
[00:02:29] Speaker C: Always. They've always been so professional, so helpful. They've always gone out of their way to, like, help in whatever way wherever they are out in the world. I know the past 10 years. I hope you are rocking it and remember us. I know and fit to be tied.
[00:02:46] Speaker B: That's right. Like all of these things. But sorry, I just had to throw, I had to throw that out there. I know before I mentioned that you were just saying it is still January.
[00:02:55] Speaker C: It is still January. But I will tell you, and I may eat my words later, but I don't feel like we are 83 days into the month of January like I have before in the past.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: Yes, same same. And I don't know if that's because my January has been broken up by some conference travel. And then also too, you know, I realize that by the time this show airs, I won't, we won't have known what has truly happened with our winter weather. But listeners, we are recording right now on what Tuesday, January 20th. And allegedly there's going to be some.
[00:03:34] Speaker C: Little icy ice, a little mischief.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: Yeah, so.
[00:03:37] Speaker C: So we'll. I don't know, that may make me feel like we're in the 83rd day of January. You never know. Yes. But you know, hopefully, you know, it'll just be a little bit of snow. We'll wake up the next day, it'll go back to 52 degrees and we'll rock and roll and usher February right on in the door.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: I mean, honestly.
[00:03:57] Speaker C: I know.
[00:03:57] Speaker B: And then February tends to go somewhat quickly. I don't know if it's a su effect with it, you know, just knowing it's a shorter month, all that kind of good stuff. I don't really know. I will say I'm gonna try not to get us too much in the weeds like I normally do in the first segment. But I will say following our last episode that we did, you know, we talked about smart goals, New Year's resolutions, things of that nature. And I said that for accountability purposes, I was going to actually make a smart goal related to my goals this year. So, listeners, you may remember last week I said that it was gonn focused on sleep.
And so right now my goal as it stands is to be in bed by 9:30pm Five days out of the week.
And for the next few months, basically I'm going to reevaluate in March to see if that's still strategic. And the reason I chose 9:30 would be that if I am allegedly Waking up at 4:30 for my 5am workout, I could technically get seven hours of sleep. But sometimes tiny children stop that dream from happening.
[00:05:06] Speaker C: Yeah, but we'll see. I do have to say this morning my little sweet rescue pup woke me up to go potty and I looked at my clock and it was 5, 4, 4, 28. And I thought of you.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: Did you?
[00:05:23] Speaker C: I was like, why does she get up at this time of night? It's not even morning. Oh, yeah, no, it's night. But, you know, I have to give you props. Yeah. And snaps for that because that's some commitment, you know, as I am begrudgingly walking like 10 steps to the door to let the dog out. You are, you know, getting a heart rate max and burning all the calories, and I'm. I'm grumbling about, you know, getting out of the cozy bed. So I. You're winning in life, my friend. I need to reevaluate some of my smart goals.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: And probably off the air, I'll probably disclose why I'm having to do this and just corporate frustrations. I'll just leave it at that. But we gotta take a break.
[00:06:08] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: We have a fabulous show for you today with a fabulous guest, of course. We're gonna leave that teaser. You guys grab something to drink, run to the restroom, do what you gotta do. You are listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7 the capstone.
[00:06:30] Speaker A: Wvuafm tuscaloos.
[00:06:40] Speaker C: Happy Sunday, y'.
[00:06:40] Speaker B: All.
[00:06:40] Speaker C: You are listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and Neeka on 90.7 the capstone.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: That's right. And if you are just now catching us, as always, that's probably the best. But before the break, I was talking a little bit about my new year's resolution related to sleep, waking up really early for workouts, all that kind of good stuff. But thankfully, that is not our full blown topic for today. For today, we have a fabulous guest we're so excited to have, Sierra Morris, who is our program coordinator with wellness and work life here at the University of Alabama. Sierra, thanks for being with us today.
[00:07:16] Speaker D: Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here for the second time.
[00:07:21] Speaker C: I was going to say we'd love that you came back.
Thank you.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: Yes. And now, you know, if you unfortunately didn't get to listen the first time Sierra was on the show, we always like to make sure that our listeners know about our guests. Sierra, you know, we like to use in this first segment, you know, really talking about you, what your professional and academic background is and talking a little bit about your job. So first tell us what is your professional and academic background?
[00:07:49] Speaker D: So as you said, I am a coordinator for wellness and work life here at the university and my background is primarily in sport and performance psychology. So the mental side of athletics but also any kind of performance. I believe that life is a performance. So bringing ourselves to work, that's a performance. Everything that we do within our jobs, how we show up at home with our families, with our friends. And so that mental side is making sure that we are bringing our best selves to everything that we're doing.
I have a master's degree in sport and performance psychology from University of Tennessee, and I grew up in New York, but I've been here for a little over two and a half years at the University of Alabama in this role here.
So I love talking about well being in general, every aspect of well being, because there are so many different avenues to focus on and that mental side of life.
[00:08:54] Speaker C: So you were sharing with us off air that you are a marathoner.
So that goes hand in hand with that mental toughness.
[00:09:02] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:09:03] Speaker C: Because I'm going to tell you, I can run approximately 300 yards. And I'm like, yeah, okay, I'm done.
Like, I could have a tiger chasing me. And I'm like, can I be done now? Yeah. So the mental, the just the, the mental stability and discipline and everything that goes along with the physical of running marathons is.
It's just awe inspiring because I could never. I could never do it.
[00:09:31] Speaker B: Absolutely. And Sierra, I have a comment I'm going to make and then I have a question for you. So, so is, you know, our department of Health promotion and Wellness, we've had the pleasure and the honor of having you come speak to us specifically regarding resilience and character strengths. And so I love the way that you present that for both individuals and teams.
And then my question, which is completely unrelated to that, is that through everything you shared, I heard that you're from New York and then you went to Tennessee and now you're here in Alabama. Do you like the South? Do you want to go back up North? Like, what. What does this New Yorker think of being in the.
[00:10:10] Speaker D: Coming to the south was a big shock.
Grad school was definitely the biggest shock. College football.
People like college football in New York, but nowhere near the people in the south, of course. And I understand why, especially being here in Alabama.
But I like the south for a lot of different reasons. I do miss New York. My whole family's still in New York, so I'm lucky to be able to visit them. And of course, now we have phones and it's. It's easy to keep track of everybody, but it's very different in good ways.
[00:10:45] Speaker C: Are you laughing about our winter weather? Like, air that we, you know, we're preparing ourselves.
[00:10:51] Speaker D: Okay. I do tell people though, it is a different kind of cold in New York. You get more of a dry cold and when it's snowy, it's beautiful. I think at least you can appreciate the cold a little bit more down here.
It's not snowy. It's just really humid somehow. And also very cold and icy. Yes, yes, it's different.
[00:11:13] Speaker C: Okay. Thank you for taking up for us like that because I feel like non southerners think that we're just the armpit. Yeah. You know? Yeah.
So tell us a little bit about, like your main focus in your role as program coordinator for the Office of Wellness and Work Life here at the university.
[00:11:36] Speaker D: So the wellness and work life, we focus on employee well being. So we serve faculty and staff here at the university to focus on their health, their well being, as I said, their total wellness. So that is from the nutrition, physical, mental, social wellness, everything that goes into someone's whole person well being is what we try to focus on in a lot of different ways. We have a lot of programs that people can participate in throughout the workday.
Classes, education, fun things that they can do to not only learn about their health and how to be healthier or reach their goals, but also connect with their colleagues or coworkers, meet other people that have similar interests all throughout the workday because that aligns with the university, making sure that we're focusing on the whole person. And it's not all about the productivity that you did and all the things that you got done throughout the day in terms of your job. But we spend a lot of time working throughout the week, throughout the months. And if we're able to focus on our health during those times as well, that allows us to be our healthiest person and bring our best selves to work too.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: Yes. I love the way you articulate that because you're so right. We spend so many of our waking hour like a majority of our waking hours at work.
And so it would be such a disservice to employees if they're coming to work and then there's nothing that provides that self growth. And you know, they're just seen as someone that's supposed to perform and produce something and we're not taking care of our employees and they're well being.
[00:13:27] Speaker C: Right. And for our listeners, Sheena, you do the student side what Sierra does for our faculty and staff.
[00:13:36] Speaker B: That's right. And you know, and I think that while a lot of times, you know, and Sierra, you guys may run into this too sometimes I think that when students interact with our office, there's this assumption that we're, you know, it's all under one office or it should be under one office. But we know that our faculty staff, they're in a different season of life than our students. And so while there can be some common overlapping health issues, our approaches have to be different because we're addressing different health issues for those, those different seasons of life. So even though we're looking at health and well being from a holistic standpoint like you guys and the different dimensions of wellness, it's, you know, different tactics and strategies. And I think in a lot of ways they complement each other because I've appreciated the times that we've been creative with thinking about events that serve both of those populations at the same time and collaborating.
[00:14:29] Speaker D: Absolutely. There is definitely a connection because employees are here primarily to serve the students and work with them.
But you're right, there is a difference between the focus on health for college students and in health and employees too.
[00:14:47] Speaker C: Just different seasons of life, for sure.
[00:14:49] Speaker B: Well, I know that we'll need to take a break in just a little bit, but before we do that, Sierra, tell us what are some of your favorite things that you like about your job?
[00:14:59] Speaker D: There are so many I love that we are able to work with and meet almost everybody on campus.
Our population is a little over 6,000 employees, so every day looks a little bit different depending on what we're doing. But I do get to interact with a lot of people in a lot of different roles and that's one of my favorite things. I love meeting people, I love also hearing about what's important to them. And it's really cool when we are talking to people, individuals, and they know we're so focused on health and wellness and they are excited to share their journey or what they've discovered or the things that they're excited about within the health and wellness space. And it's also different because there are so many aspects of wellness and what works for someone doesn't work for somebody else or may not be as important in that particular moment in time. But it's really exciting to see how interested they are and they're discovering the things that do work for them.
That's one of the biggest things about being healthy in your well being is finding what works best for you and what you are excited about.
And that's also how we learn about new things because there's always something new. But if people are excited about and they know that it works for them, it's Interesting for us to hear as well.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: Very nice. Well, I just, I think given what you've shared so far and what I know that we're going to be talking about, I'm really excited about our conversation today. But you guys, we got to take a break. Go get hydrated, go for a walk around the block if you want to do that, get your steps in, do all the things you are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7 capstone.
[00:16:52] Speaker A: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:17:02] Speaker C: Welcome back listeners. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Neeka on 90.7 the capstone. And we are joined today by our guest Sierra Morris, who is the program coordinator for wellness and work life for the University of Alabama.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: That's right. And just before the break, Sierra was telling us about her professional and academic background, some of the things that she loves about her job here at ua, why she has appreciated the south as a New Yorker. But Neil, Sierra, we would love to kind of transition into talking about some of the different large scale programs that are officed by wellness and work life.
So kind of tell us, you know, some highlights, you know, and especially some things particular to this spring semester that our UA employees can be looking forward to.
[00:17:46] Speaker D: We have a lot of really fun things coming up. I think they're fun this semester in the spring, one of our biggest activities is our Crimson couch to 5K training and event.
This is actually our 16th year hosting the event.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:18:04] Speaker D: Yeah, it's pretty cool to look back at all the pictures and as I shared, I've only been here for about two and a half years and so I've had two years of experience doing this race. But it is really cool to see what's changed and what is still pretty much the same.
So we have that coming up. The training. Training is specifically for faculty and staff. It's a six week training plan. There are actually three separate training plans so you can choose based on your level, where you are starting and it's great because I do love running and I'm really excited to have that. Something new that we haven't done before that we're doing this year is our in person trainings.
So the training is all tracked virtually through an app that we use that's available for all faculty staff. But we are bringing some of the training to in person. So every Tuesday throughout the training plan we have meetups that are for everybody. So we'll have a bunch of different pace groups. So no matter what your pace Is if you're just starting out, you're with your walking plan, you can come, you can meet other people in your training plan, you can bring your friends, your colleagues.
It's 5:30 every Tuesday during training. The training starts on January 25th.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: Okay, perfect. Very nice. Well, okay. So just thinking about that and then, you know, knowing that you would have several groups to accommodate the different paces.
What, what does that volunteer opportunity look like for this? Is it a volunteer opportunity for the individuals that are leading those groups or you know, what kind where, how do you rally the troops to help facilitate all of this?
[00:19:54] Speaker D: It does take a lot of support because it is important to make sure that everybody feels accepted and there is a spot for them in these specific groups. So we are relying and thankfully supported by our, well, Bama ambassadors. So we have a number of ambassadors throughout the entire campus who have kind of the inside knowledge on what we're doing throughout the semesters and throughout the year that then go out and tell their offices, the people in their building, the people that they know around campus and try to share what we're doing and bring them along. So we have four ambassadors that are helping us as well as our team, the wellness and work life team, leading those training groups and getting excited about running or walking altogether.
[00:20:47] Speaker B: That's amazing.
[00:20:48] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:20:49] Speaker B: So I, you know, I'm thinking like, I have like all of these things, all of these questions. I know. Sierra, you mentioned crimson couch to 5K. That's a really big ticket item for your team. But I know that as we were planning this show, there were some other things that you guys wanted to promote that are some newer initiatives that you have available. Can you share some of those things?
[00:21:11] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:21:12] Speaker D: So I will just go back to the crimson couch to 5K for just a minute. So we have the race as well. So their 16th annual race on Saturday, March 7, and that's open to everybody. We want everybody to come. It's kind of like a celebration. If you did the training plan and then it's gonna be a great time for anybody. We'll have coffee, we'll have some snacks out there and we'll have a good T shirt.
So definitely sign up for that.
[00:21:37] Speaker B: I'm down for a T shirt.
[00:21:39] Speaker D: Yes.
And then the other things that we have going on, one thing that is a brand new kind of large scale initiative that we're starting this year is called Wellbo body. So it's focused on body composition testing that we have through our office that's completely free again for faculty, staff and that really we're starting that because we believe in data driven goals. You know, you talked about smart goals in the beginning and that is a great way to really focus in on those things that you want to get done and how to do them.
And so the well body machine, it's an in body machine that takes about 20 to 30 seconds to receive all of this data about your body composition. That's more than just the weight on the scale and more than your BMI that you get from maybe a health screening that you come through for, well, Bama or at your doctor's office.
And so it tells you your visceral fat levels. It tells you even how much lean mass or muscle mass you have in your right arm versus your left arm and your right leg and your left leg. That's such a cool data point to me.
Not only is it focusing on and allowing you to figure out exactly what to do to reach your goals, but I do think that it also helps you look long term. So that breakdown of your muscle mass between your right and left sides allows you to make sure you're balanced so that as we age, you can stay stable and you're not risking fall or you're really dominant on one side or your other side. So definitely more than just that data.
But it's been really well received so far. We're all booked up until about middle of March, but we're excited to see that everybody is really excited about it and looking forward to it. And that's something that's available all year round.
[00:23:40] Speaker B: That's incredible. Nika, as Sierra was talking, I saw you nodding your head and you're like, yes, yes, yes.
[00:23:47] Speaker C: We used to provide this when I worked at Vincent's, which is now UAB St. Vincent's but, you know, one of the things that I know dietitians say, personal trainers say, is the scale will lie to you every time. You know you can lose, what is it like up to six or seven pounds of water and fecal weight a day?
So, you know, you don't go to bed weighing 150 pounds and then wake up the next day and weigh 157 and you've gained seven pounds of fat. That's not right. That's not realistic.
But so many people have a scale in their house and they weigh every day, and so much of their happiness is hinging upon what that number says. And so I love what you guys are doing because you're showing like, hey, let's not worry about a number. Let's look at other things, like how strong are you? You know, how much lean mass do you have watching? Even if the number on the scale doesn't go down, you can watch that lean mass go up.
[00:24:50] Speaker B: Right.
[00:24:52] Speaker C: Know in my former life as a personal trainer, you would see people gain muscle mass, but they wouldn't lose weight on the scale and they would give it up altogether. And you were trying to convince them, if we could just take a zipper and unzip your body and you could just look in and see that you are making, like, great, great strides. So don't give up.
[00:25:11] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:25:12] Speaker C: I love that y' all are bringing this to the university's faculty and staff, because I just feel like there are so many people out there that just this will probably be the answer to a lot of things maybe they've struggled with their whole life.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: Well, you know, and I sit here thinking, as a dietitian, especially when I'm familiar with some of the inbody machines capabilities, where it even is, you know, talking about resting metabolic rate and calories, and I think that, you know, it just brings a level of awareness. So if you have someone that maybe is over fueling themselves or maybe they're chronically under fueling themselves because they've completely overshot how much they're restricting and not realizing, oh, in order for me to build lean body mass or.
Or burn fat tissue or whatever else, I actually need to fuel my body a little bit more for it to have the energy to expend and do that. So I think just providing some level of awareness and context to changes with their body is so cool.
[00:26:09] Speaker C: Oh, I love. I can already see the pieces, like, coming together from some people where they go, all the stuff we've been told is true.
[00:26:20] Speaker B: I know.
[00:26:21] Speaker C: I love the analogy you always give about the builders on a work site.
[00:26:25] Speaker B: Oh, yes. With carbs and protein. I know. Just anytime, like, we can just use analogies or like you said, Sierra, just having that data for people. You know, we're on a college campus, we have these very intellectual faculty that they like their numbers, they like tracking the data. So to provide something else for them to be able to track in a helpful way is great. And, you know, I was debating on whether or not to include the. One of the other questions we had for this segment because we've got to take a break. And just as a teaser, listeners, what I'm about to ask Sierra, and we'll ask Neeka, as. As a fitness professional, is what are the health benefits of moving your body?
So I'm gonna let our.
Let our guests Ponder that. And we're gonna, we're gonna take a quick break because, you know, it's not, not going to be a 30 second answer. So with that said, you guys run to the restroom, do what you got to do. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7 the capstone.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:27:39] Speaker C: Thanks for joining us, listeners. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Neeka on 90.7 capstone.
[00:27:44] Speaker B: That's right. And today we have had the wonderful Sierra Morris, program coordinator in wellness and work life. And if you are just now joining us, you have got to go back and listen to our previous segment. Sierra has shared so much about what her area has to offer. She's also shared about her professional and academic background. And right before we took our break, you know, I was teasing that we would be talking about what are the health benefits of moving your body. So you know, Sierra, in those situations where you have faculty staff who are, you know, looking into getting into a movement program for the first time and they're, you know, and you're wanting to educate them about the benefits of joyful movement, aside from just, you know, maybe weight goals that they have, what do you typically articulate to them?
[00:28:33] Speaker D: There are so many long term and short term benefits to exercising and moving your body in a way, as you said, joyfully, and how someone, someone actually enjoys it.
I think the biggest thing that I would encourage people to think about as they're thinking about starting a routine in terms of physical activity and exercise is to definitely find something that they enjoy. The benefits of exercise mentally and physically. You can feel almost exactly after you're done, typically like a lot happier, energized. Even if you had a really intense workout, which you, you don't need to, but if you have an intense workout that you would think drains your energy somehow, it just improves your energy. Well, not somehow, but there's a lot of hormones and there's a lot of things that are released in your body that allow you to feel like that.
But then I also love the long term benefits, especially for somebody who is thinking about functionality as we age or as you're going through your, the stages of your life, thinking about the benefits that you'll receive, maybe not immediately after, but long term, like being able to play with your kids, play with your grandkids, go for a walk whenever you want to and feel energized and not worried about having to say no or how long is that walk Again, is there going to be a seat? Is there anything you want to be able to say yes to the things that you are asked to do or that you truly want to do because you have the ability and that excites you. So it's a little bit of delayed gratification, but it is truly worth it. And oftentimes, if you are tying your goals and your actions to something that's really, really important to you, you are going to stay motivated through those tough moments. So if you say, I'm gonna be as healthy as I can and as physically active as I can because that allows me to live long enough to actually live and play with my grandkids, that's gonna mean a lot more to you than anything else that you're gonna see on the scale or any kind of, like, data or number.
[00:30:55] Speaker B: That was one of those little mic drop moments right there.
Okay, so with wellness and work life, I feel like, Sierra, one of the big things that you guys promote are the well bama rewards.
And so can you tell our listeners a little bit about that program?
[00:31:16] Speaker D: So, speaking of motivation, we do know that incentivizing things, whether that's free food or free T shirts or money, does motivate people as well. So we like to incentivize our the classes and activities and challenges that employees participate in through our office with rewards. Well, Bayman rewards, you can earn a $50 gift card for attending a health screening through our office. Our well Bama health screenings throughout the.
You can also earn points for different things that you participate in and earn up to actually $100 in WellBamer rewards every single year.
So if you're with us for 10 years, you can earn a lot of money, which is great.
We just switched to a point system last year which has gone really well. It's broadened the things that people can participate in throughout the year, and they actually can choose how they earn points. So someone can attend. If they really, really like our wellness classes, they can attend 10 wellness classes and earn 100 points, which then translates into $100. If they don't have time for the wellness classes or that's not something they're interested in. They can do the crimson couch to 5K training and the event for 30 points and then pick and choose how they earn their the rest of their points throughout the year.
We have a lot of things that you can participate in, and so having that choice is also really motivating for people because then they're able to choose what they're actually interested in. And excited about.
[00:32:55] Speaker C: Now.
Part of benefits of being, you know, active in wilbama rewards, you're talking about getting the T shirt and getting the gift cards. But tell the listeners about the.
The price tag. That is what they would pay to go get the biometric screening that you guys offer. Not only for free, but we'll give you doll dollars in the account.
[00:33:20] Speaker D: Yeah, we're paying you.
[00:33:21] Speaker C: Yeah. To get your numbers checked, I wanted to just roll on up in a clinic and say, hey, will you take my, you know, glucose and my, my cholesterol, my bmi, my blood pressure, and then can I get some health coaching? I mean, roughly how much are we looking at as a benefit here?
[00:33:39] Speaker D: Honestly, I'm not even sure how much that would be.
[00:33:43] Speaker C: At least 300, 350.
[00:33:45] Speaker D: Before I was going to say probably close to 500. If you're thinking about the coaching aspect.
Interpretation of your biometric screenings.
[00:33:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:56] Speaker D: Yeah. And plus, you think about the time that it takes to take off from work, drive somewhere, wait in the waiting room for how long?
[00:34:06] Speaker C: Now, you guys that are listening, if you've never done the wellness screening, Sierra, would you tell them, like, what they would expect? Like, you walk in and you fill out some paperwork and then walk happens.
[00:34:19] Speaker D: So you can schedule an appointment online. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to go through everything.
Of course, it depends on how busy we are at that time. But we do try to keep it fairly easy because we expect you to come during the workday.
This is definitely a benefit for all employees.
[00:34:38] Speaker C: And you guys, where you guys at?
[00:34:40] Speaker D: So we will travel around to different locations around campus throughout the entire year. We'll come to basically your building or at least walk away close to your office. That's another benefit. Yes.
And then, so you'll get a quick prick on your finger for glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, and then we'll get a little bit more data like your height and weight and your waist circumference, and then you'll be able to talk to a health coach about your results right there.
[00:35:13] Speaker C: The blood work takes pressure, too, right?
[00:35:15] Speaker D: Blood pressure that also takesthe blood results itself takes about seven minutes. So you'll still get their results right there. You'll be able to talk through everything, ask any questions that you have that you feel like you can't ask or don't have time to ask at a doctor's office, maybe to really understand your total cholesterol versus your LDL or your hdl, and then how to actually boost those numbers or maintain where you are if, if you're all good and you're happy with those numbers.
[00:35:47] Speaker C: So. And because of hipaa, nobody knows.
[00:35:51] Speaker D: Right.
[00:35:52] Speaker C: Your stuff.
[00:35:52] Speaker D: Right.
[00:35:53] Speaker C: It's not reported to Big Al, anybody.
[00:35:55] Speaker D: Yeah, it's not, it's not reported anywhere. We keep it safe. We don't share it with your health, the health insurance company. It doesn't affect anything in terms of your employment or your premiums or anything. It is truly a benefit for you as an employee at the university.
[00:36:13] Speaker B: So go do it. Yes, please, go do it. And you know, and I think one thing I'll say that I really enjoy with the health coaching aspect is that whenever the health coaches are working with the faculty staff about some potential goal setting, you know, there are going to be some health and wellness related goals that for a lot of people may feel a little bit out of the box because you have things related to like taking, you know, better control of finances this year or sleep. So just because it is a health screening where they are getting those anthropometrics and, you know, and things related to your labs, you might think like, oh no, like I have to make like this exercise goal or this nutrition goal. And while those are options, you have some other outside of the box goals, whether it's stress management related, getting more sleep. And so I love that because I think sometimes people don't think about those exclusively as health related goals. Right.
[00:37:08] Speaker D: Yeah. Everything is so connected as we've been talking about it is total well being and total wellness. And so, yeah, if you're not specifically interested in those physical wellness goals or nutrition per se. Yeah. The financial, the stress, the connection piece, it all comes into health.
[00:37:24] Speaker C: So like Sheena said, you're sitting there and they're like your blood pressure and you're like, yeah, it's been really high. You know, I'm under a lot of financial stress. Well, lo and behold, y' all are going to have probably a financial workshop that I can come to at some point somewhere and earn points and learn more. Yeah, right.
[00:37:42] Speaker D: Well, we would definitely be able to direct you to what we could do.
[00:37:46] Speaker C: So.
[00:37:46] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:37:47] Speaker C: But I mean, y' all, all.
[00:37:48] Speaker D: Anything, any kind of education and motivation, accountability.
Yes.
[00:37:52] Speaker C: So a lot of the workshops are not just like Sheena said, where it's like, change your diet, get on an exercise plan.
Do you have, could you share of some of the. More like off the beaten path maybe. I know I've seen the yoga in the library.
[00:38:06] Speaker D: Yep. So we've done yoga, we've done Zumba in person.
[00:38:11] Speaker B: We.
[00:38:12] Speaker D: I. Because I have that background in sport and performance, psychology and resilience. I teach a couple classes on resilience. The upside of stress. So how to use stress to your advantage.
Because sometimes de stressing or avoiding stress isn't an option. We're always stressed.
So different mindset shifts. We are having Dr. Burkhart, who's a physician at UMC, talk about how to build a happiness box.
That's an in person class. So you can actually build a happiness box. And when you need a little boost of energy, you can open your happiness box and say like, oh, okay, you know, not everything's terrible right now and make you smile a little bit. So, yeah, we really try to focus on so many different aspects of wellness.
[00:39:00] Speaker C: Right. So it's not just diet, Nick.
[00:39:02] Speaker B: No, not at all. But y' all, like, we've got to take another break. Sierra, I hope that you are willing to stick with us for our last segment because I want to talk a little bit about the well bama ambassador program. Okay, you guys, you are listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7 the capstone. And we will catch you after the flight.
[00:39:28] Speaker A: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
[00:39:37] Speaker C: Thanks for hanging with us, listeners. You are listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and Neeka on 90.7 the capstone.
[00:39:43] Speaker B: That's right. And today we have had the best time with Sierra Morris, program coordinator in wellness and work life. And Sierra has just been telling us about all of the just amazing initiatives that their team does. We had a lot of conversations specific to the things that they do in the spring. But equally, there's so many great opportunities in the fall. And with that said, we have full confidence that we'll have Sierra or one of her other team members join us in the fall so we can focus on those programs. But Sierra, I know I mentioned right before the break that I really wanted us to set aside a little bit of time to talk about the well bama ambassadors.
We may have some listeners that are familiar with it, but can you tell us a little bit more about how they can get involved with that? Is it a rolling recruitment process? Is there a recruitment process just at the beginning of the year and then also to the wellness champions. So when people are wanting to share their own wellness story to be featured on your website, what all does that look like for our employees?
[00:40:47] Speaker D: So the wellness ambassador program is a two year commitment. Commitment. We just welcomed our new cohort of ambassadors last August.
[00:40:58] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:40:58] Speaker D: So they'll be with us for the duration of this year and then end their their service basically in 2027, the summer. So if you are interested in being a, well, Bama Ambassador, 2027 is when we would welcome more new applications. We rely on our ambassadors to provide us with information that they're hearing from their colleagues in their areas, what they're interested in, what they're working on, as well as some other ideas that they've heard about that they think that their employees would really, really enjoy.
We also rely on them for different ways to promote our health screenings classes.
Some of them will even teach our classes with their area of expertise and their interest, interests. And so we rely on them for a lot of different things. But it's great to have so many ambassadors that are plugged into their offices, whether or their departments or their even divisions, because we are a team of three. And so we do our best to understand the whole population. But having that support and that kind of inside knowledge will help us provide the classes and education and challenges and fun events that we want to do that actually people, people are interested in and excited to participate in.
[00:42:22] Speaker C: I love that.
[00:42:22] Speaker D: Yeah. And then as you the second part of your question, the spotlight on wellness. If somebody has a wellness journey that they're extremely proud of or they heard their co worker talking about and they know their co worker is working so hard, we would love to spotlight them.
You never know who you're going to motivate and what story is going to land with that person. So we love hearing those little things that you're doing or those big goals that you reached or are even working toward.
So it really, truly depends on the person. But if anybody has a wellness journey that they're even still working on, it doesn't have to be a drastic change. It's just something that they're really proud of that they want to share. We would be happy to hear that and feature you.
So we have a form on our website, Wellness UA Edu, that can fill out on behalf of somebody, you can nominate somebody or for yourself.
[00:43:22] Speaker B: Man, I just thank you for that. You know, I think it was great to hear about all of the different ways that faculty staff can get plugged into your programs, but then also represent your programs. And so Sierra, for our listeners as we kind of close today, if they wanted to learn more about you and your team, what website should they go to?
[00:43:44] Speaker D: So our main website, Wellness UA Edu, is where, where you'll find more about us, our challenges, classes, things that we do throughout the year. And then if you are faculty, staff, your well, Bama Portal is your home for everything. Even your health screening data is housed in there. So that is available through MyBama.
Hopefully everybody knows how to get there. But if you don't feel free to email us or call us contact information on the website, we're happy to help.
[00:44:16] Speaker C: And check your mailboxes because I always get a cute little like a little little postcard or fire to remind me.
[00:44:23] Speaker D: Just we do a monthly newsletter that goes out to everybody that has a lot of good, more timely information.
What's coming up in the next couple months.
So check your inboxes.
[00:44:36] Speaker B: I love it. Sierra, thank you so much for being on today.
[00:44:40] Speaker C: Yes, we love that you came back and joined us second time and hopefully in the fall a third time.
[00:44:46] Speaker D: Yes. This is great. Thank you so much for having me.
[00:44:48] Speaker B: Yay. Well, roll time, y'.
[00:44:50] Speaker D: All.
[00:44:51] Speaker B: You have been listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7 the capstone and we hope that you have an amazing week.
[00:45:03] Speaker A: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
