By Tyler Bui | Assistant News Editor
The fifth FitWell Expo will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in room 250 of the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation.
The event, organized by FitWell, the wellness department and counseling center at Baylor, will feature five speakers centered around the theme “Eat Well, Be Well, Move Well.”
Van Davis, assistant director of the wellness and FitWell programs, will speak on behalf of the “Move Well” portion of the expo.
“There is so much misinformation out there. We want our students especially to come in and learn how they can be healthy and be well on campus,” Davis said. “There are some great people here who can educate and provide great information that is correct and motivation, and hopefully when people leave, they can learn how to better move well, eat well and be well. Being healthy is not a destination; it’s a journey.”
The event will open with a short Zumba session, and at the beginning and end of each session there will be a “fit break,” where different FitWell classes will be exhibited, such as yoga, boxing and conditioning.
Regina Mastin, a certified eating disorders registered dietician and clinical dietician at the Baylor University Counseling Center, will talk about the human body and its intuition.
“My talk is entitled, ‘Every Body Knows.’ I am going to talk about how we are born knowing what to eat and how to move and when to rest, and how diet culture sometimes get in the way of that,” Mastin said. “Hopefully, people will leave with the idea of how to better take care of themselves.”
Following her talk, Stan Wilfong, registered dietician at Baylor and senior lecturer in family and consumer sciences, will talk about fad diets and their effects.
Alyssa Petty, wellness outreach coordinator at Baylor, will speak about how to holistically be well in regard to eating, being active, sleep and stress management. She said that students, faculty and staff should attend the event to learn how to take care of your body in different ways.
“Wellness is everything. When you’re not well, your academics fall,” Petty said. “It doesn’t matter how old you are, how young you are, taking care of your body whether that is mentally, physically, spiritually or socially, you’re going to need that for the rest of your life. If we can equip our students, faculty and staff with tidbits of information to help them be well this semester, why not come and grow in the information.”
Dominque Hill, director of wellness at Baylor, will be the keynote speaker at the expo. He will talk to participants about stay motivated to live a healthy lifestyle and how to stay motivated to goals and future plans.
“Wellness is a lifestyle; it’s not necessarily an activity or an event. When you come to an event like the FitWell Expo, you’re learning strategies to help you live a healthier lifestyle today, tomorrow and in the future,” Hill said. “It’s not about something that is a quick fix, but it’s to learn how to make healthier life decisions that will help you in the future. It’s an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to come together to learn more about how they can integrate a healthy lifestyle into their current lifestyle. We want to help you be the best version of you.”
Davis said the main purpose of the event is for participants to come gain information on fitness, wellness and nutrition to live a healthier life in the new year. Davis’ favorite part about the expo is to see the Baylor community unite.
“I look forward to seeing the community come together—students, faculty and staff all mixed together because the information about fitness is the same,” Davis said. “It’s not age-specific. It’s for everyone. To see people leaving feeling better, not only from the information that they received but from the ‘fit breaks,’ and to know that what they have learned is going to help them to live healthier and be happier.”
