August 23, 2016

82416goforgoldinside640After a thrilling three weeks, the Olympic Games Rio 2016 ended with closing ceremonies on Sunday, but Texas Children’s Employee Health and Wellness team is challenging you to keep going for the gold. The Go for the Gold well-being challenge, which kicked off on August 1, encourages staff and employees to be physically active for 30 minutes a day for at least 20 days throughout the month. The challenge ends Wednesday, August 31, so there’s still time to finish strong.

To help give you that final push to the finish line, the Marketing/PR Department has partnered with Employee Health and Wellness, and is giving you a chance to win two tickets to the Houston Texans vs Tennessee Titans football game on October 2. The Texans-Titans game is sponsored by Texas Children’s Hospital and will celebrate the National Football League’s Play 60 campaign. Play 60 encourages children to be active 60 minutes a day to help decrease childhood obesity.

How do you win the tickets? Well, if the Olympic games and the Go for the Gold challenge got you moving, tell us how you’re doing. Let us know how you’re getting your minutes of physical activity in regularly. Are you taking bike rides with your family? Working it out in Zumba with co-workers? Or making laps around the medical center? Click here, and tell us how you’re getting physical, and you will be entered into a drawing for two tickets to the Texans vs Titans game at noon Sunday, October 2. So that’s it – tell us your game plan, and we will select 25 lucky winners to each receive a pair of tickets.

The deadline to enter the drawing for the Texans tickets is Wednesday, August 31. You must be enrolled in the Go for the Gold challenge to be eligible to win.

To enroll in the challenge, click here. Winners will be announced in September.
For more details about the hospital’s partnership with the Texans click here.

More about Play 60

As part of the Play 60 initiative, Texas Children’s and the Texans sponsor the Play 60 Challenge, a six-week program at Houston-area middle schools aimed at getting students excited about developing a healthy lifestyle. Also part of the Play 60 umbrella is the Play 60 Grant, which is $50,000 in grants designed to help schools with equipment for P.E., sports, or after-school programs that will get them moving.

Running With Bulls

It’s time to get active with the Houston Texans!

TORO’s Kids 1K presented by Texas Children’s Hospital and the Running of the Bulls 5K Run and Walk presented by H-E-B and are back and registration is open.

Here are the details:

Sunday, October 9, 2016
NRG Park
Competitive 5K Run: $30
Non-competitive 5K Run/Walk: $25
TORO’s Kids 1K: $20

You’ll get the full Texans experience at the Finish Line presented by Mattress Firm by running through the Houston Texans game-day bull tunnel and finishing on the floor of NRG Stadium for a post-race party, featuring free food and drinks, live music, giveaways, autographs from Texans celebrities, and more.

To register, click here.

August 16, 2016

81716goforgold640Texas Children’s recently launched Go for the Gold, a well-being challenge that encourages you to be physically active for at least 30 minutes a day for a minimum of 20 days.

So far, more than 1,400 people have signed up for the challenge, which started August 1 and will run through Wednesday, August 31, to parallel the Rio Summer Olympics. Registration is still open. Click here to sign up for the challenge. For challenge details, visit the Wellness site.

To support you along the way, we have group exercise classes happening throughout the month of August. Click here to learn more.

August 1, 2016

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Texas Children’s is dedicated to supporting you in achieving optimal health and well-being. That is why we are pleased to invite you to participate in Go for the Gold, a well-being challenge that encourages you to be physically active for at least 30 minutes a day for a minimum of 20 days.

The challenge is taking place August 1 through August 31, to parallel the Rio Summer Olympics. Registration is now open! Click here to sign up for the challenge. For challenge details, visit the Wellness site.

To support you along the way, we are also pleased to invite you to our Go for the Gold kick-off events at Main and West Campuses on Wednesday, August 3 and to our group exercise classes happening throughout the month of August. Click here to learn more.

June 1, 2016

6116typhoontexastri640More than 1,000 children participated in the Typhoon Texas Kids Tri, making it the second largest kid’s triathlon in the world.

Texas Children’s Hospital sponsored the event, which was held on May 22 at the new Typhoon Texas waterpark in Katy.

Participants ages 6 to 17 swam the lazy river in the waterpark then biked and ran around the Katy Mills Mall before sprinting back to an amazing finish and post race inside Typhoon Texas.

Congratulations to all!

April 27, 2016

42716beyondthescale640Together with Weight Watchers, Texas Children’s is excited to introduce Beyond the Scale, a new program with a holistic approach to a healthier, happier life that encompasses the evolving needs, mindsets and science around weight management. As part of our commitment to your health and wellness, Texas Children’s is subsidizing 50 percent of the program cost.

This new program includes:

  • New SmartPoints® plan to make healthy eating simple. The new system delivers weight loss while using the latest nutritional science to go beyond both calories and the previous Weight Watchers PointsPlus system.
  • New fitness approach that fits a busy life. Members receive personalized activity goals and have access to the new FitBreak by Weight Watchers™ app.
  • Personalized program that serves each member’s lifestyle, goals and challenges. Based on an assessment, members receive daily and weekly SmartPoints targets, personalized activity goals and relevant content designed to help find and fuel inner strength.

To learn more about Beyond the Scale, check out this video.

How to Get Started:

  1. Register online at https://wellness.weightwatchers.com
  2. Use the following to login:
    1. Employer ID #10805693
    2. Passcode #WW10805693

Interested in hosting Weight Watchers At Work meetings at your location?
Group meetings are available for groups of 15 or more employees at any location. Please email wellbeing@texaschildrens.org to receive an interest survey and steps to providing At Work meetings.

We are looking to schedule weekly At Work meetings at the Leopold L. Meyer building. If you would like to participate, please complete this interest survey.

Check out our upcoming Employee Health & Wellness events in May!

April 26, 2016

52616MindfulnessMay640Here at Texas Children’s, we lead tirelessly every day at work and home. There are times that even the ordinary demands of life can cause some feelings of unease and stress which may result in mental and physical fatigue or anxiety. The simple act of mindfulness can reduce the negative impact of stress and anxiety by helping us pay attention to our thoughts and feelings in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.

To support you on your path to mindfulness, Employee Health and Wellness will be offering a variety of activities in May at both Main and West Campuses. These activities include the following – click here for more details.

Weekly educational mindfulness seminars
Learn how to practice mindfulness in everyday activities during the following sessions:

  • Mindful Eating
  • De-Clutter To Live Your Best Life
  • Putting Mindfulness into Practice
  • Mindfulness in Daily Life

Yoga classes
Practice mindfulness by rebooting, strengthening, and calming your mind and body during this holistic practice. All levels and abilities are welcome.

What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging one’s feelings, thoughts, and physical state. Mindfulness can be used as a therapeutic technique offering lasting benefits for mental functioning, emotional and physical health, overall well-being, and can be implemented in every aspect of daily living.

The many practical benefits of mindfulness include:

  • Enhanced well-being and stress reduction
  • Freedom from harmful patterns of thought and emotion
  • Increased ability to focus as well as clarity of thinking
  • Increased learning capacity, memory, productivity and better communication

To receive Mindful Moment text messages during May, text MINDFULNESS to 882-02. Message and data rates may apply.