Creating a walking club for camaraderie, community and health

About three years ago, Kela Naso had a revelation about her health.

Her father-in-law had fallen critically ill, and her grandpa had recently died. Life is short, she knew, and she wanted to improve her health. 

The Denver Water engineer decided to embark on a 75-day wellness program called “75 Hard,” which combines daily nutrition, exercise and mental toughness targets with the goal of building long-term healthy habits. 

Naso started walking every day at lunch, and before long encouraged her husband, Gerry Tichelbaut II, who works in Denver Water’s fleet shop, to join her as well.

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Within a couple of years, each had lost 30 pounds, and they noticed improvements in other measurements of health too — reduced cholesterol, improved blood pressure and more.  

“I had a lot of goals in my 20s, but in my 30s, it felt like that ship had sailed,” Naso said. “But I realized it’s not too late until it’s too late. You better start now.”

Now, Naso encourages other Denver Water employees to join her lunchtime walks and has started a walking club at the water provider’s Operations Complex. The group meets on the first Tuesday of each month in the lobby of the Administration Building and takes laps around the complex; Denver Water employees can join for a quick lap or the entire hour. 

“Walking and being outside is natural caffeine," Naso said during a recent walk. "You can let go of the morning, take a break from the screen.”

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Denver Water focuses on workplace wellness because research shows that employees who are in good physical, mental and emotional health are more likely to deliver optimal performance in the workplace, said Nate Sassano, who manages Denver Water’s wellness program. 

The walking club is one of Denver Water’s many wellness programs, which include a fitness center, regular wellness challenges and health club reimbursement, among other initiatives.

“Healthy and happy employees have a better quality of life, a lower risk of disease and injury, increased work productivity, and a greater likelihood of contributing to their communities,” Sassano said.

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Naso and Tichelbaut say the physical transformation they’ve noticed has been a small side effect of the mental overhaul they’ve undergone since starting their health journey. 

Naso said building new healthy habits and sticking to them taught her to trust herself to overcome challenges.

“Once I finished the 75 Hard challenge, I thought, ‘I’m never going to start over.’ I never thought it could take me as far as it did,” Naso said. “But I know that where I’ll end up is better than where I was going. I don’t ever want to go back.”

It’s emotional, she said, to talk about the changes she has seen.

“I look back on the person I was, and that person would never, ever have believed that I could accomplish what I did,” she said.

In addition to completing the initial challenge and the years afterward, Naso has become a certified wellness coach and fitness instructor — and an all-around enthusiastic motivator. 

Her husband credits Naso for helping him reach his wellness goals and said she inspires others to become better versions of themselves, building a community of people who want to improve. 

“Even if you want to make a little change, just take a walk,” Tichelbaut said. “You never know what it’ll lead to.”