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Lauren Updyke, MS ACSM HFI Executive Director for Employee Experience, The Whole U Fitness Fitness Trainer and UWHR Chief Wellness Officer

Hi everyone, I’m Lauren, the Executive Director for Employee Experience and UWHR Chief Wellness Officer. I am also the weight training virtual instructor and moving break lead. My role is to lead our Employee Experience team encompassing The Whole U, UW Combined Fund Drive and WorkLife programs.

I have spent over 20 years of my career in Health and Wellness. I came to the USA from Canada on a track and field scholarship to University of Louisiana. I have my Masters in Exercise Physiology, am a Certified Personal trainer through the American College of Sports Medicine, and have coached over 10,000 individuals online from all over the world. I worked with the wellness program at Duke University and Hospital for 13 years as fitness and health education manager.

This is my tenth year at UW and I love being a Husky. When I’m not at work, I am either training for a marathon, doing lots of strength training, traveling with my family, or racing from one kid activity to the next.

Around the World Twice: Results from Dare to Do

We created the Dare to Do Challenge to encourage faculty and staff to move more throughout the first six weeks of 2015. We’re happy to report that they rose to the occasion! Participants tracked their progress online each week, collectively climbing over 110 million steps and exercising nearly 800,000 minutes. In other words, we made [...]

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Week Five Dare to Do Challenge – Fit in Flexibility

Flexibility isn’t just about being able to touch your toes. A good stretching routine can significantly enhance your performance in both cardio and strength training. Not only does it decrease your chance of getting injured, it can also be a form of relaxation that improves both mental and physical recovery. In other words, it’s worth [...]

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Dare to Do More Strength – Week Three

The focus of week three of the Dare to Do Challenge is STRENGTH. While cardio is very important to your daily routine, strength training has benefits of its own: it protects your bones and muscle mass, keeps you functionally strong, improves your energy, and helps with your mood. Most strength regimes work, but with so [...]

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What to Expect When Breaking a Guinness World Record

January 28 is National Have Fun at Work Day, and we’re celebrating it in a big way. Last year over 1,000 UW faculty and staff set a world record for largest kettlebell class. This year we’re doubling that goal. A week from today, over 2,000 members of the UW community will flood Husky Field to [...]

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Burn Calories & Gain Energy at Work!

It is week two of the Dare to Do Challenge and over 1,200 UW faculty and staff committed to moving more. Whether you challenged yourself with weight loss, steps, or minutes exercised, all require burning calories. Burning calories is a crucial part of the weight loss equation, but it also has many other benefits including [...]

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Dare to Do Week One: Calories in vs. Calories Out

When you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain, and when you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose. It’s a simple equation, right? But it can be so hard to stay focused on creating a deficit each week. Incoming Calories Let’s start by defining a calorie as a measurement of [...]

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Week 8: Reset for the New Year

We hope you got through this holiday season with more ease thanks to the Stress Less Holiday challenge. Now it’s time to reset for the New Year. Nearly half of the American population sets a New Year’s resolution. Mine are always about eating more quality food, spending more time with my family, stop sweating the [...]

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Week Six – The Bitter Sweetness of the Season

It’s week six of The Stress Less Holiday Challenge and sometimes family can be stressful. My parents, my sister, and my sister’s boys are all coming into town this year. There will be 11 people in my small home for 10 days. Some may cringe at the thought of hosting for that long, but not [...]

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Dare to Do in 2015

We go into the new year with fresher eyes, new perspectives, better attitudes, and of course new fitness and weight goals. Whether or not we stamp it as a New Year’s resolution, we think about how we can be better inside and out. Some of us cut out specific things in our daily routine like [...]

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cinnamon sticks, anise stars and sliced of dried citrus

Time for Holiday Apps, Desserts, & Drinks!

I found some delicious holiday party apps, desserts, and spirits from the website that has revolutionized the way we present our food at parties: Pinterest. I can’t guarantee they are low calorie or fat-free, but here are some of my favorite picks for the season. My Top 3 Appetizers 1. Cranberry Brie Bites by YellowBlissRoad [...]

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Week 3 – Stress Less through the Holidays by Giving

We are in week three of The Stress Less Holiday Challenge! This week’s challenge is to find a way to give back. Last year my husband and I tried it. Instead of our typical couples date night, we cooked a meal for families in need. As we served the meal it was overwhelming to learn [...]

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Week Two – Plow through Holiday Stress with Movement

As the days get shorter and your after-work and weekend schedule fills with holiday to-do and festivities, it is easy to postpone your exercise for another day. If you knew how powerful 10 minutes of exercise could be on your stress levels, would you choose to make time? We are in week two of The [...]

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