Fitness Improvement Training through Exercise and Diet is a student-run program that provides a manageable schedule for students to work out and keep healthy for the quarter. FITTED seeks to help students maintain a healthy lifestyle while learning different workout techniques and about holistic health.
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TRANSCRIPT:
SOT: A group of students, dressed in workout clothes, gather at the front of the bleachers at Drake Stadium. This is Fitness Improvement Training through Exercise and Diet, or FITTED, a student-run program in the Community Programs Office.
TRAN: I actually started FITTED as a participant my spring quarter my first year, and I just really loved it and they happen to be hiring at the same time.
SOT: That was third-year human biology and society student, Kathy Tran, who is the health education coordinator for FITTED. The staff at FITTED consists of three coordinators and four interns. They provide students with proper techniques in workout sessions that last one hour and 15 minutes on Monday and Thursdays. On Tuesdays, they hold classes for students in health education.
TRAN: Our health education is led by a registered dietician, Eve Lahijani, and she teaches a lot about mindful eating, nutrition and body image, stress management, a lot of life skills for college students.
LAHIJANI: Exercise is definitely an important component, but oftentimes students didn’t know how to eat or they are eating in a way that wasn’t balanced.
SOT: This is Lahijani, the nutrition health educator for UCLA Residential Life.
LAHIJANI: And that’s how this program was put together. It’s a very empowering program that I never tell them what to do or how to eat or what is right or wrong – they are empowered to learn how to listen to themselves.
SOT: The workout session usually consists of a warm-up, a workout that entails four exercises and finally a cooldown. First-year undeclared student Juan Muñoz and first-year undeclared life sciences student Cristal Torres work hard to achieve their goals of fitness during the program.
MUNOZ: So far, it’s been giving me fitness tips – like overall confidence in my training. Before this I would just go to the gym for an hour by myself, but we didn’t really have a set workout.
TORRES: In order to be healthy, you don’t need to go on a diet or anything – you just have to maintain. You need to eat healthy foods. Don’t cut down, you need carbs and I learned that you just need to focus on form in order to achieve that goal to be fit for your body.
SOT: Students can sign up for this nine-week program free of charge at the beginning of each quarter. With workshops pertaining to proper dieting, stress management or just exercising, FITTED provides an opportunity for students to engage in a multifaceted approach to health.
For Daily Bruin Radio, I’m Nora Sot.