Improve your health through targeted programs and counseling on nutrition, diabetes prevention, weight loss and overall wellness for all ages.
Healthy lifestyles are achieved through nurturing mind, body and spirit, well-being and fitness. At the Y, it’s more than just working out. We provide educational programs to promote healthier decisions so you can know the best ways to stay fit.
See below for a list of our Wellness programs:
+ - Diabetes Prevention
The YMCA's Diabetes Prevention Program helps those at high risk adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles and reduce their chances of developing type 2 diabetes.
YMCA Diabetes Prevention is based on the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which showed that by eating healthier, increasing physical activity and losing a small amount of weight, a person with pre-diabetes can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes by 58%.
In a classroom setting, a trained lifestyle coach will help you change your lifestyle by learning about healthy eating, physical activity and other behavior changes over the course of 16 one-hour sessions. Topics covered include nutrition, getting started with physical activity, overcoming stress, staying motivated, and more. After the initial 16 core sessions, you will meet monthly for up to a year for added support to help them maintain their progress.
Program Goals:
• Reduce body weight by 7%
• Gradually increase physical activity to at least 150 minutes per week
Can I participate?
To qualify for the program, individuals must be overweight and at high risk for developing diabetes or overweight and have been diagnosed by a physician as someone with pre-diabetes.
Am I at risk?
Your doctor can tell you if you are at risk. He can determine this through a blood test with one of the following results:
• Fasting plasma glucose between 100 - 125 mg/dL
• HbA1c between 5.7% and 6.4%
• Random or casual blood glucose level of 240-199 mg/dL or higher
A combination of risk factors such as family history, overweight, gestational diabetes, elevated cholesterol, etc., may also put you at high risk.
Get excellent, professional instruction from one of our nationally certified personal trainers. Let one of our expert trainers guide you through new and innovative exercises to help you reach your wellness goals.
+ - Salsa, Sabor y Salud
Sabor y Salud improves awareness of habits leading to better nutrition and increased physical activity for Latino families with children 12 and under.
Salsa, Sabor y Salud builds on the rich traditions and values of Hispanic and Latino cultures to help families adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles. Families participate in eight weekly group sessions that help them learn about making healthier food choices and incorporating physical activity into their routines. Each week features a different theme incorporating traditional Hispanic and Latino culture.
Salsa, Sabor y Salud is one of few programs that encourage participation from the entire family. It is also one of the few programs that is specifically designed for relevance to Hispanic and Latino families and allows Ys to create relationships with other community-based organizations that support them.
The program is offered in partnership with the National Latino Children’s Institute (NLCI) and Kraft Foods and addresses the growing obesity rates and inactivity levels among Latino children in America. Designed by Latinos for Latinos, Salsa, Sabor y Salud was the first national program of its kind designed to encourage healthy lifestyles among Latino families. Kraft Foods and National Latino Children’s Institute (NLCI) launched the program in 2003, and together with the YMCA, continue to bring the program to additional communities.
