BetterU Women Complete 12-Week Health Challenge

Congratulations to the Fairfield County women who completed the American Heart Association 12-week BetterU Challenge, sponsored by Stamford Hospital! What a wonderful evening to celebrate their achievements and send them off on the next leg of their healthy journey. Even though BetterU is over, we know they will take their new healthy habits with them to live a heart-healthier life!

Thank you to Stamford Hospital, the BetterU program sponsor, for their support of the program and for their commitment to women's health. And many thanks to the staff supporting the participants for their leadership, inspiration and motivation!

And thanks to Kendra Porter, Image Consultant, Glo Beauty Bar and Denise Simon Studios for providing free beauty makeovers for the group for the evening! 

The BetterU participants had some outstanding results from the program!

As a group:

• 42.2 lbs total weight loss or 3.0% drop in body weight for group overall
• 26.4% drop in triglycerides 
• 4.1% drop in fasting glucose
• 8.7% drop in resting heart
• 4.2% drop in diastolic blood pressure
• 25.3 inches lost around the waist or 6.9% drop in waist circumference
• 2.8% drop in body fat percentage
• 53.3% increase in flexibility
• 31% increase in sit-ups (core strength)
• 94.4% increase in pushups (muscular strength)
• 70% increase in balance test time
• 100% increase per day in fruit and vegetable intake (double intake from program start)
• 50% increase per week in heart healthy fish intake
• 41.7% increase per week in whole grain intake (less refined starches/grains more whole)
• 41.5% drop in daily sodium intake (average drop of 1493 mg/day)
• 93% drop in calories per week from added sugars
• 58.3% increase in nuts/seeds/legumes intake per week
• 81.8% decrease in processed meat intake per week
• 58.7% drop in saturated fat percentage of total daily calorie intake
• 23.3% increase in American Heart Association My Life Check score

 Individual successes include:

• Highest weight loss for an individual participant 17 lbs
• A 10 point increase in HDL level
• A 201 point drop in triglyceride level
• A 13 point drop in fasting glucose level
• A 6.25 loss of inches around the waist
• An increase in pushups of 13 and an increase in sit-ups of 13
• A participant who increased her weekly exercise minutes by 270
• A participant who increase her daily intake of fruits and vegetables by 4 cups

Thanks to all the participants for their 12-weeks of working hard to improve their health. You've shown us that preventing heart disease and stroke is within our control!

We invite everyone to learn more about preventing women's #1 killer--heart disease, at www.goredforwomen.org .