Baylor’s Getaway to Good Health campaign has reached its halfway mark, and many have made it all the way to New Orleans in this virtual fitness challenge. They have done this by exercising throughout the day and averaging at least 5,000 steps per day since the start of the campaign in February.

CNRC fitness participants

But some participants in the campaign who work at the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor already have made it to the end point of the campaign in Panama City, Fla., and all the way back to Houston! They have done this by taking the Getaway to Good Health campaign one step further. They turned the virtual journey into a visible one.

The CNRC is comprised of Baylor employees and USDA scientists. That sparked the idea for Kathy Jenkins and Mamie White to create a map that tracks everyone in the building who is participating.

“We just really wanted everyone who works around us to be a part of it, and this is how we all keep up with each other,” said White, project manager at the CNRC.

The map spanning a wall in their office individually tracks each walker with personalized pins and serves as motivation for the whole building. There are unofficial walking groups amongst colleagues, which helps with motivation as well.

“We walk. Kathy is the expert on how many steps you can get from point A to point B,” White said. Jenkins, technical services manager, added, “I know from here to the Baylor Clinic is 1,800 steps and that’s only if you walk up the escalator.”

However, all of this hard work does not always come easy. “Mamie got an email from somebody one week who said she was not feeling well so she was just going to fly to Panama City,” said Jenkins.

But on those days when buying a one-way ticket to Panama City seems like the better idea, walking through the office and seeing the map charting participants’ progress provides motivation to keep walking.

Jenkins and White stressed the importance of sharing and comparing workout or walking routines. “I know if I don’t exercise in the morning I won’t get any steps to move over that hump,” White said.

At the start of the campaign, White had already lost 50 pounds. With the help of the walking challenge she has now lost 70 pounds.

Overall, White said that eating healthy, strength training and exercising are the keys to good fitness, and to making it to Panama City. No matter where participants currently stand in the Getaway to Good Health campaign, taking small steps and staying motivated like employees of the CNRC have will help with completing the journey.

If you would like to join the Getaway to Good Health campaign it’s not too late, contact Wellness Coordinator Jesse Gavin at jesse.gavin@bcm.edu.

Fitness map