Personal trainer Amy Jones was joined on March 3, 2010 by several dozen Government Center employees who are participating in the 2010 Fitness Challenge to answer questions about nutrition and fitness during one of two lunch-time presentations. The event was sponsored by the Mass In Motion project and Children In Balance to enable those who are working on improving their fitness to have a conversation with Ms. Jones who works primarily at the Neighborhood Fitness Center at Community Development Recreation (CD-REC) at 72 Bank Street. "This was a terrific chance to ask some questions and get straight answers from someone who knows a lot about this subject," commented Health Department employee Brenda Ritz. A number of the participants have been working at losing a few pounds and have been having difficulty both finding time to exercise and in making good nutritional choices. "Losing weight is one of the most difficult things that people do," noted Jones. "We can't expect people to be successful without first learning how to make complex behavioral changes," she added. Additional educational opportunities are available through the Challenge, and Ms. Jones is available to speak to other groups of employees engaged in the Challenge at their worksite by contacting her at CD-REC at 508-679-0922.

(Top row) Personal Trainer Amy Jones responds to a number of questions posed by Challenge participants during one of two lunch-time presentations in the Fall River Room at Government Center. (Middle row, center) Community Development employee Mary Camara and Paul Thibault listen as Ms. Jones replies to a question. (Middle row, right) Fall River Health and Human Services Director Henry Vaillancourt and Joana Mateus listen as Council on Aging RSVP volunteer Ron Arruda describes his experiences. (Bottom row, left) Council on Aging employee Susana Ponte checks out one of the pedometers given to participants as Gerri Machado of Community Development looks on. (Bottom row, right) Ana Almeida and paula Ferland are given a healthy sack lunch by Mass In Motion project coordinator Julianne Kelly.