Current Students and Staff

// University News

Bauble with snowflakes saying 'Lboro Experts'

4 Dec 2017

Paralympic gold medallist Jonnie Peacock launches University’s experts’ guide to a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year

The University has launched a Christmas and New Year health and wellbeing campaign – an eight-week initiative which aims to inspire positive changes to physical and mental prosperity.

Throughout January and December academics and experts will offer advice and insight into ways to be healthier and happier over the festive and New Year period.

More than a dozen topics will be covered including willpower, exercise, sleep, losing weight, mental wellbeing and finance.

Our experts cover numerous academic disciplines, from sports science, to business and economics and English and the arts.

All of the content will appear on the University’s website, and will be shared via Twitter and Facebook throughout December and January, with photos and videos also appearing on Snapchat.

We’ll also be featuring the stories on the internal news so that staff can take advantage of the unique knowledge of our in-house experts. Look out for the Christmas bauble appearing on the pre-Christmas stories and the 2018 banner in the New Year.

The campaign will be delivered in two parts.

The Christmas half will focus on improving your festive break, and will include advice about:

  • Why you should let yourself indulge – how to do it without going to extremes
  • The phenomenon of ‘alcoholidays’ – how a change in routine affects your sleep
  • Tips for encouraging youngsters to go for greens and not feast on unhealthy snacks during December
  • How to avoid supermarket spending tricks

The New Year half will then feature a collection of articles which aim to get 2018 off to a fit and happy start:

  • How to improve your willpower
  • The benefits of setting goals within your New Year resolutions
  • Kick-starter fitness routines
  • Improving your finances
  • The science of losing weight
  • The importance of good sleep

Launching the campaign is gold medal-winning Paralympian and Strictly Come Dancing star, Jonnie Peacock. Jonnie is also sharing his own expertise with some simple advice for improving New Year diets.

The first campaign piece, released today, brings with it some welcome news about the merits of indulgence – and how allowing a few festive luxuries over Christmas might be better for you than attempting all-out abstinence. The feature, Indulge, it’s okay is by psychologist Dr Gemma Witcomb and PhD researcher Chris McLeod from the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science.