Is your workplace helping you weight loss?

DRetel

I work for an organic food company, we distribute and manufacter snacks and bulk food. We often have snacks on the sample rack that we can eat. It's hard to ignore them. Just because it's organic doesn't mean its not fattening! We also often will sample new products being introduced to us, to see how the staff feels about it.. (chocolate, cookies, chips, etc)
I've become really good at saying "No thanks", but some things are hard to resist, so I'll have ONE of something, instead of a whole package.

As for culture, almost everyone in my office is health concious. We used to have Yoga in the office every Friday, but we had to cancel as the yoga area was taken over as expanded office space.

onefuzzy

I am part of the wellness committee at my work and I must say motivating overweight, lazy people is extremely hard to do! We have weekly, monthly and yearly challenges and unless they are winning a prize or receiving money noone participates. We have had Biggest Loser competitions which have turned into high school dramas! And after the contest only 1 person kept the weight off.

We are constantly getting cupcakes, bagels, brownies...You name it we have it in our breakroom! I makes it very hard to stay on track when there are triggers everywhere!!!

I am very active and would love to ride my bike into work or take a run at lunch, but we don't have showers at my workplace.

My work does not make it easy for me to stay fit

Qarol

I wish. People are always bringing in something bad and leaving it in the break room. I can only walk by it so many times before giving in. My company has a lot of annoying, strict policies against stuff. Why can't it have a policy against bringing in fattening foods and leaving it in the break room?

Brownski860

I work for a large nationally known corporation. We do have access to a gym and walking trails which is nice. However the 3 cafeterias we have on campus are overpriced ($8/sandwich) and the fat/calories are horrendous. They do offer a "FIT" option for breakfast and lunch but thats like 500 calories. Lets not talk about the cookies/pastries/and icecream thats also available.
I eat breakfast at home and bring my snacks and lunch to work everyday. Much better on my wallet and waist.

PS - alot of people are overweight here b/c we all have desk jobs that we are at for 10-12hrs per day.

lizdavis07

no they are not like that at all!! :-( my coworkers are constantly telling my im too skinny and are constantly trying to shove doughnuts down my throat (lawyers and officers are always bringing our office doughnuts).

They are not supportive at all of me losing weight. They see me bring in a salad for lunch and tell me i need to eat more. They are all 50+ more pounds than i am, but if i actually listened to them and ate what they eat, i guess i'll be right there with them lol

We even have special lunches a couple fridays a month. We all bring a covered dish and have sort of a "pot luck"...i like to call those days "Bring Your Own Suicide" simple bc these women bring the greasiest, cheesiest, sinful dishes :laugh:

Sparksfly

I work on a military base so we have a gym available here for free. This includes locker rooms, scales, cardio/strength equipment, and fitness classes. Oh did I mention free personal training??


My actual office is quite bad with bringing in snacks and junk food. I always try to decline freaking delicious baked goods, but it really can be hard sometimes.

The food choices on base are AWFUL. Which is better for me because it forces me to bring a good lunch or I am buying a can of soup down at the exchange.

My coworker and I started a healthy challenge for our command, and it wasn't a huge success . My specific office won overall, and we receive a healthy snack every week for a month. People here mostly want to stuff their faces with donuts, and sit in their cubicle all day long. It's sad, but it's their choice!

iAMaPhoenix

Mine is pretty darn supportive. We have a full gym and large pool. There are aerobics, strength, yoga, water, and nutrition classes. We've got basketball courts, soccer fields, racquetball, baseball (kickball) and disc golf. There are trainers on site that will work with us individually. We have a full library on health and wellness topics as well as two nutritionists and several life coaches. The cafes always have healthy choices; some of the items are grown right here at a self-sustaining farm. We have special programs to help stop smoking, lose weight, run a 5K. They really make available absolutely everything anyone here could need to be healthy in all aspect of our lives.

What’s amazing to me, is how many people don’t take advantage of it.

Where do you work, at the YWCA or something?

zoombie_bear

wow that's great, here the boss got us a treamill, bike & weight n' stuff, fun really, no shower however

smelius22

i've gained 10 pounds in the last year i've worked here.. i have a desk job that doesnt require me to ever leave me desk pretty much. we always order food from a near-by burger place and have cookouts and people keep snacks around. its a little hard to sit in front of a computer all day and refrain from bored-snacking.

sandra_stoddard

Yes,my work place does help me.I work night shift in a hospital on a very busy medical floor,So I am constantly on my feet walking and nobody really brings sweets to work.Everybody is pretty much health contious.

Amandac6772

My workplace is EVIL when it comes to trying to lose weight. There is always some kind of crap around and out of 15 people there are only three of us at a healthy weight.

Suedre

Mine is pretty darn supportive. We have a full gym and large pool. There are aerobics, strength, yoga, water, and nutrition classes. We've got basketball courts, soccer fields, racquetball, baseball (kickball) and disc golf. There are trainers on site that will work with us individually. We have a full library on health and wellness topics as well as two nutritionists and several life coaches. The cafes always have healthy choices; some of the items are grown right here at a self-sustaining farm. We have special programs to help stop smoking, lose weight, run a 5K. They really make available absolutely everything anyone here could need to be healthy in all aspect of our lives.

What’s amazing to me, is how many people don’t take advantage of it.

Where do you work, at the YWCA or something?

Nope, a tech company. Our doctors are even onsite. Pretty awesome really. I'm very fortunate.

iAMaPhoenix

Mine is pretty darn supportive. We have a full gym and large pool. There are aerobics, strength, yoga, water, and nutrition classes. We've got basketball courts, soccer fields, racquetball, baseball (kickball) and disc golf. There are trainers on site that will work with us individually. We have a full library on health and wellness topics as well as two nutritionists and several life coaches. The cafes always have healthy choices; some of the items are grown right here at a self-sustaining farm. We have special programs to help stop smoking, lose weight, run a 5K. They really make available absolutely everything anyone here could need to be healthy in all aspect of our lives.

What’s amazing to me, is how many people don’t take advantage of it.

Where do you work, at the YWCA or something?

Nope, a tech company. Our doctors are even onsite. Pretty awesome really. I'm very fortunate.

Please tell me where to send in my applicaton...I am so there.

yanicka

Mine is pretty darn supportive. We have a full gym and large pool. There are aerobics, strength, yoga, water, and nutrition classes. We've got basketball courts, soccer fields, racquetball, baseball (kickball) and disc golf. There are trainers on site that will work with us individually. We have a full library on health and wellness topics as well as two nutritionists and several life coaches. The cafes always have healthy choices; some of the items are grown right here at a self-sustaining farm. We have special programs to help stop smoking, lose weight, run a 5K. They really make available absolutely everything anyone here could need to be healthy in all aspect of our lives.

What’s amazing to me, is how many people don’t take advantage of it.

Where do you work, at the YWCA or something?

Nope, a tech company. Our doctors are even onsite. Pretty awesome really. I'm very fortunate.

Need any technical drafter???? LOL

sharonsjones

Thats awesome!! I would love to be able to run on my lunch break and take a shower!! My work place is not supportive. Most everyone I work with do not understand why I eat the way I do and work out. Frustrating sometimes.

marquesajen

At both my workplaces there's sometimes sweets on the backroom table. Most of the people I know at both places are interested/appreciative of efforts to get healthy and some are active at that goal. Of course, one place we have 10 employees and maybe 15 at the others, not big.

ayshamc

We have showers in the building that we are allowed to use and we get a big delivery of Fruit to our office every Wednesday.

On the downside, we have a HUGE box of Biscuits that are for meetings....hence the damn Gingernuts on my diary every other day....they are the lowest Calorie ones in there though - I could actually go for the really nice cream filled ones, god knows how I don't some days lol!

alyssamiller77

Yes and no. Yes in that they have some "biggest loser" type challenges, they offer fitness classes for free and we have fitness centers at a few of our offices. Additionally we have a wellness reimbursment plan that reimburses I believe up to $15 a month for a health club membership.

No on days like today where they had Cream Puffs and Blue Ribbon Brownies from the Wisconsin state fair available in the cafeteria for all employees. They've done other events like that with Krispy Kream doughnuts, cake and other sweets. So like I said, yes and no.

cheri0627

My company does fit challenges and stuff, but I never actually have signed up for them. They also have decided to get rid of all the old vending machines and put new ones in with "healthy" snacks. (Mostly carb heavy and still not good overall.)

The area I work in, not so much. My old boss brings donuts in every Friday. There's the breakfast club which does include fruit, but also includes bagels and pastries and all kinds of killer tasty stuff that I just don't want any of. (I have been asked to join several times but I never do.) And there's often cake or cookies or something else like that in the kitchen.

The building I work in has some classes they offer on site for a reasonable cost, which is actually what got me started on this journey. A friend talked me into signing up for the boot camp class last fall. She no longer goes, but I rarely miss a class, and when I do, I make it up. I also now go over to the gym that does the class and do CrossFit and Olympic lifting there. I love it!

SueInAz

It's iffy here. I work for a very large, multinational engineering company. In my town, there is a newly renovated company gym which costs $50/year (cheap!) and includes Zumba/yoga/spinning classes in addition to a full range of machines, but sadly it's at a different site from where my office is located so it's not convenient. No weekend hours, either. There is a great wellness program which offers some fitness challenges, free pedometers, health screenings, etc. but a very large percentage of employees are overweight to obese. We work 9 hour days, mostly at our desks. There are no longer too many meals at meetings but when there are it's usually pizza or sandwiches.