Congratulations Nova Challenge Finishers!

The Nova Challenge Recap & Participant Interviews

Three months ago the Nova team and community embarked on a journey towards a healthier life, in which everyday for 90 days participants completed various activities in order to create new sustainable habits. This free program for members worked on the premise that it takes 21 days to build a habit, and 90 days for that habit to become a lifestyle. Through the use of a digital app, called Obii, participants were able to log on each day and find 1-5 new habit activities that could be completed. Each new day and week built off of the previous weeks in order to gain strides in many aspects of a healthy lifestyle. 

This program not only focused on physical fitness, but also incorporated nutrition, mental health, nature, community, rest and recovery. With this wide range of possible lifestyle changes, participants were able to choose to do certain activities that met their personal goals such as mental health, rest and recovery.

The activities provided in the program all came with tips and tricks from the Nova Team, in order for participants to learn the value of each new activity. Although some activities presented in the were possibly already habits for some participants, many activities were new allowing participants to learn, grow and improve.

This program was designed for habit building and lifestyle changes. It also was a competition for some people, with each activity completed gaining the participants points. Each month there was constant movement on the leaderboard. Congratulations to the winners and all who took part in The Nova Challenge! The top three participants of The Nova Challenge were:

• Pam & Rob Smith: 8,255 pts
• Darrell Chatten: 7,830 pts
• Philippe Lafreniere: 7,695pts
• Average Points: 3,313 pts

We interviewed some of our participants and this is what they had to say about The Nova Challenge: 

1) You have been very active in The Nova Challenge since we began it in April. What tips, tricks or mindset did you employ to help you remain so consistent for the last three months?

• “I personally like a challenge and the timing was perfect after a long year of Covid restrictions.  I tried to read the day's challenges early so that I could plan my day to complete as many of the challenges as possible.  Sometimes I knew that I would not be getting them all in, but I worked to get them done in a reasonable time frame.” - Anita Boyce

• “During the pandemic and the lockdowns, it could have been very, very easy to slip into some bad habits. The challenge reminded me that I can’t let things slide. And it was also fun to compete with other members, if it was just a little bit.” - Alan Cross

• “Tips and Tricks:  Just do it, take the time, procrastination is harder than getting it done. Enjoy it!!” - Julie Sleeman

2) How do you feel The Nova Challenge has helped you during lockdown?

• “The Challenge has helped me in several ways during lockdown. This has been an isolating time for everyone and the Challenge helped me feel part of a community and given structure to my days as well as something to look forward to. As well as helping me stay active and eat healthily, several of the challenges have also helped mentally by encouraging me to set time aside to appreciate the many things I am grateful for and to stop and refocus during the day.” - Pam Smith

• “The challenge has been a great distraction from reading depressing pandemic world-wide news. The posts from everyone participating was a community to be part of and gave some insights into how others were living and  coping with the pandemic. Good to see the sense of humour.” - Rob Smith

• “I looked forward to seeing what each day held - it gave me something different to do which was great for combating the mundane nature of this pandemic, especially in a stay-at-home order. I don't think I've done too many squats, push ups and planks consistently and I'm noticing increased strength in those areas! It made fitness, nutrition and wellbeing a daily habit, verses a once or twice a week event.” - Leona Olney

• “The challenge was perfect during the lockdown because it helped me get out of the house for the outdoor activities such as nature walks, cardio walks, bird watching etc. Trying new ingredients and recipes made cooking a little more interesting.  I found that at the beginning of the pandemic I was calling people to see how they were doing but after a while I was only relying on text messaging.  The challenge would remind me how important it is to connect with people by calling them rather than by just texting.” - Roohi Bashir

3) How has your life changed from before the challenge to after? Are there particular lifestyle habits or skills you learned from The Nova Challenge that have improved your life? 

• “Since taking part in the Challenge I realize that I can quite easily be more active and almost double my daily step count! Weekly food prep has been very helpful especially when trying to fit in veg with every meal and I will continue to do this. The 7hrs sleep a night is a bit challenging for me but I will continue to try not to waste time in the evening but go to bed earlier so I can get up as soon as I feel like it in the morning.” - Pam Smith

• “I sit at my computer a lot, so this has encouraged me to take more breaks, to get outside more and to slow down. I've appreciated the overall benefit of just looking at my health and wellbeing differently - shifting away from it being a series of events (that in my head always had to be 60 minutes), to more of a daily practice. The habit building focus has created longer lasting change.” - Leona Olney

•  I was surprised how I was able to keep up with the challenge during Ramadan.  I would use fasting as an excuse not to exercise or go out for walks.  I realized that I am able to do both on the same day in a modified form.” - Roohi Bashir

• “Change and Improvement:  Good habits are hard to learn but very valuable skills.  Taking the time to breathe, meditate or reflect and gifting myself that time in the day has been a skill I hope to continue.  Also doing something physical every day has been of great value to my well-being.” - Julie Sleeman

4) Is there any one habit that stands out above the rest that you will keep practicing now that The Nova Challenge is over? 

• “While I will try to continue the habits above, the unexpected new habit I will try to continue is taking a brief time out in the day to meditate and to focus on breathing. This does seem to have both a calming and energizing effect for me.” - Pam Smith

• “Certainly the 'no screen time during meals' stands out as one habit we will continue as a family.   I am indeed grateful to the Nova team for all of the ideas and encouragement.” - Anita Boyce

• “The idea of eating until I’m only 80% full. I came from a childhood where you had to clean your plate no matter what. That’s a hard habit to break.” - Alan Cross

5) We are thrilled you were able to benefit from this and we wish that more of our members took advantage of this free program. What would you say to encourage those who did not participate to join us next time?

• “Just enjoy the challenges and have fun with it.” - Rob Smith

• “It's FREE! So why not at least try it out? But if that isn't a motivator, then I'd say it's a great way to feel a bit of camaraderie, to challenge your comfort zone (for example, doing food meditation, cooking with ingredients for recipes you've never heard of, slowing down and being more deliberate and conscious with various activities), and to have some FUN!” - Leona Olney

• “First, it’s not hard once you get in the routine of checking the app. And the goal isn’t to win. It’s to do yourself a favour.” - Alan Cross