Learning to Be Healthy and Active Again

It’s January, and with it comes all the promise and possibility of a new year. It also brings a host of New Year’s resolutions.

Fortunately, Cincinnati Children’s offers a benefit for eligible employees. It’s free, and it can help you achieve two of the most popular New Year’s resolutions—weight loss and improved physical fitness.

Scarlett Ripberger, research assistant, Critical Care Medicine, used to be pretty active. She liked to run, stay fit and maintained a healthy weight. But things began to change a few years ago.

“I lost my mom, and it really put me into a dark time,” said Scarlett. “A year after she died, I got pregnant. We had our son, and the pandemic hit right after.

“I gained weight, but who hasn’t with COVID-19? I wasn't healthy and active, and now I have an almost 3-year-old. But it wasn’t just about losing weight. It was about being healthy for my son and being able to keep up with him because he is running around all the time.”

In the past, Scarlett would practice portion control when she ate to maintain a healthy weight. “But since I’ve gotten older, my body has changed,” she said. “Also, how and when I can eat is different because I’m trying to keep up with a toddler.”

She needed something that would work with her schedule and help her change her mentality on how and what she was eating.

Enter Wondr.

Wondr is a wellness program that is clinically proven to help you lose weight, sleep better, reduce stress and more. It teaches simple skills that are based on behavioral science.

The program is offered as a free benefit to Cincinnati Children’s employees. It is available to you as a covered preventive medical expense if you are on the medical plan and as an employee benefit if you are not enrolled in the medical plan.

This is exactly what Scarlett needed.

“I really liked this program because it included things I wouldn't have thought to do, like a sugar reset or measuring how I'm eating. It helped me learn more about my body and taught me to eat only when I was really hungry.”

It also taught her skills like being mindful of how much time she spent eating so she could learn to eat slowly. “Particularly when I’m at work, I need to remember to take my 30 minutes and eat my whole meal without interruptions,” she said.

While Scarlett has lost weight on the program, that was never her goal. Her goals were about being healthy and more active.

“I will set a timer on my iWatch to remind me to get up and walk around for five minutes and then come back to my seat at work,” she explained. “We get so structured about sitting and working at a computer that we forget to move.”

This is the first weight loss/fitness program offered by Cincinnati Children’s that Scarlett has tried. An added feature for her is that she can use it all the time.

“I knew this was a program I could follow through the winter and monitor myself, especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas,” she said. “This program has taught me that I can eat sensibly and still enjoy the holidays. I'm eating everything I want to eat. Now I just know when to stop.”

Scarlett highly recommends this program for other employees.

“I've very much enjoyed the program, and I’ve looped my husband into doing it too. It’s not only helped me, but it's benefited my whole family. I absolutely think this program is for everybody.”