The Full Plate Club

I have signed up for a 4-week nutrition and physical activity program at work! I am so excited about this program that I wanted to share it with you. It has been only a week, but I am already beginning to see a change in my daily diet and level of physical activity. So check it out, and if you want to give it a try, feel free to modify it to suit your needs.

The Program

First, we had to select a team of 4 and register at our Fitness Center. You could do this as a family, or find a couple of friends to join you. Select an inspiring team name to make it real and interesting.
Each team has an “empty” plate at the beginning of the week. After completing the activities assigned for the week, teams can earn “portions” to fill their plate. To get a “full” plate, each member of the team must complete these activities to a certain level.
Teams earn raffle tickets based on how full their plates are at the end of each week. There is a bonus raffle ticket if a team earns all four full plates at the end of the program. After it is all over, they will be able to win “fun and exciting” prizes in a raffle.

The Activities

There are 6 “portions” on a plate with different goals/activities for the week:

Fruit – all 4 members must eat breakfast within 2h of waking at least 4 times per week
Meat/Bean – Complete a nutrition trivia worksheet each week
Grain – all 4 members must complete at least 30 minutes of exercise (or 10,000 steps) on 4 days of the week
Vegetable – at least 2 members must eat 7 or more servings of fruits and veggies 3 days of the week
Dairy – at least 2 members must eat 1 or more of the healthy food items marked with the Full Plate Club logo in the cafeteria
Oil – different activity for each week: complete health profile; take a group fitness class; find the nutrition fact sheet for at least 1 meal at your favorite restaurant; complete one of the 12 online program on stress management, nutrition or weight management

Why I am excited

The main reason I am excited is that I am now eating more fruits and vegetables each day! And I am realizing that it is quite hard to get 7 servings in a day – you really have to eat a fruit and/or vegetable at each meal.

Second, I am regularly eating salad with dinner, which I used to do in the past only occasionally. One trick we use is that we add some of our favorite fruits – strawberries, peaches, blueberries, mango slices, even pieces of cantaloupe or watermelon – in the salad. We also throw in almonds, sunflower seeds or walnuts! In short, everything goes, because that’s the way we can get it all in one meal.

Third, I can now mix walking with my workouts to complete the physical activity requirement. I usually go for a run or light strength building workout 3 times a week. But that is not enough since I am told we need to maintain a good level of physical activity at least 5 times a week. Now I can just go for a long walk on the days I can’t hit the gym and complete my 10,000 steps. I have also signed up for yoga once a week!

Why it works

I don’t think that winning a prize at the end of the 4 weeks is the driver for me. I think here are a few reasons it is working so well -

Being in a team encourages you to complete your activities, after all you don’t want to “let your team down”
The program is quite flexible and comprehensive
It is only a 4 week program, not going to last forever
It is educational – you need to look up nutrition information online to do those trivia worksheets
It is fun to see your team’s plates “fill up” on the board
It gives you something different to talk about with your friends and co-workers around the water cooler!

So wish me luck that I can stay with the program for 4 weeks and get used to the 7 servings of fruits and veggies a day!

This program is designed for adults, but I am sure you can tweak it to work with your young kids if you like. Share your ideas and opinion in comments below.