Is your job trying to help you lose weight?

jazzie2421

Yes, we're doing a Biggest Loser thing too, our entry fee was also $10 with cash prizes for winners taken from those entrance fees. Its a buddy system so you can win that way too. I walk with my "buddy" in the afternoon and walk by myself in the morning. We are also have a wellness room. It's not a lot, but they have classes and what not in there and some light equipment. Oh, and we have healthy snack choices available in the break room so you're not tied to junk food. I've already lost 3 lbs.

cdngirl71

My company I work for has gym at all the locations and also gives employees a discount at a local gym. Plus they have nutritionists come to the locations once a month and also have fitness assessments as well.

becoming_a_new_me

We have treadmills in every break room, get $125 in our nutritional products free per month, have smoothie contests instead of potlucks, and are having a fitness challenge this quarter. Whoever loses the highest percentage of body weight wins a Samsung Galaxy tablet and is featured in our monthly magazine. Second place wins $200 and goes in the magazine too.

TheGlen

We have a foosball table, ping pong, large screen TV/gaming console all set up as well, but I don't think there was any fitness/health motivation behind it...since we also have poker tables, arcade games and beer on tap (in addition to all the sugar filled pop/juice we can consume).

I'd love for them to have a fitness room/gym or provide healthy snacks, but I don't think it will happen anytime soon.

jazzie2421

I'm on the other side of this boat, I'm the acting wellness coordinator for our company, I didn't go to school for this, one day I just got elected becuase I'm happy go lucky and motivating.... (Um...ok?) And PS - I'm also not the skinniest bananna in the bunch.

Anyway...I have no budget, or they won't give me one anyway....I hate to change the subject OP'er, but I'd love to piggy back and find out what you guys think would be good incentives to offer employees....or how could we get employees motivated to work towards health goals and or try to lose weight?

What are some of the worst things an employer could do?

Anything would be appreciated.

There are tons of ideas floating around the internet. I would suggest a competition (that's always fun) - with buy in, healthy pot lucks where all the dishes have to be healthy, a recipe swap, bowling/dancing nights, things along those lines. Google "motivate employees" and you'll see a host of ideas.

TayJoMama

I'm on the other side of this boat, I'm the acting wellness coordinator for our company, I didn't go to school for this, one day I just got elected becuase I'm happy go lucky and motivating.... (Um...ok?) And PS - I'm also not the skinniest bananna in the bunch.

Anyway...I have no budget, or they won't give me one anyway....I hate to change the subject OP'er, but I'd love to piggy back and find out what you guys think would be good incentives to offer employees....or how could we get employees motivated to work towards health goals and or try to lose weight?

What are some of the worst things an employer could do?

Anything would be appreciated.

No Problem, I have to say that cash seems to be the biggest motivator. Last year during out BL contest alot of people joined just because they wanted to try and lose something, but the second through 5th place prizes were money!

emmyvera

No way in heck here. :noway:
I don't think hardly any of my fellow employees routinely work out. Everyone eats junk for lunch and comments on my 5 small healthy meals a day. People bring in cupcakes, breads, donuts, homemade high cal stuff to share. The employer itself has no incentives or encouragement whatsoever. It's terrible and I'm not exaggerating. :grumble:

But I really like my job and I'm close to home, so I'm totally cool with being the outsider. :laugh:

mjanet22

I work for a big hospital system, and there all about staying fit and active. They have a incentive program that pays you money to lose weight. You weigh in around May and you have until April of next year to lose 5% or more weight. After you lose the initial 5%of weight they pay you $10 bucks for every pound after that. I got $220 last year, and I'm back on it this year again!

My department manager is also debating on wheather to get us a treadmill for when we take our mini breaks. Hopefully she decides to so that way I can get a mini workout during the day.

TheGlen

We have a foosball table, ping pong, large screen TV/gaming console all set up as well, but I don't think there was any fitness/health motivation behind it...since we also have poker tables, arcade games and beer on tap (in addition to all the sugar filled pop/juice we can consume).

I'd love for them to have a fitness room/gym or provide healthy snacks, but I don't think it will happen anytime soon.

Now that I think of it though, I have seen some more recent health driven changes...
- corporate discounts for getting a membership at GoodLife
- we had a fitness challenge in the summer (winning team got $100 gift card/person, second place team got $50 gift card/person)

TayJoMama

We have treadmills in every break room, get $125 in our nutritional products free per month, have smoothie contests instead of potlucks, and are having a fitness challenge this quarter. Whoever loses the highest percentage of body weight wins a Samsung Galaxy tablet and is featured in our monthly magazine. Second place wins $200 and goes in the magazine too.

oooo- that sound awesome. A smoothie contest! And a tablet for the grand prize, very nice!

mrsbrown2k1

I work for a HUGE health insurance comany. They encourage it here. We have a gym with personal trainers and classes. It's running employees 20.00 a month. They have parts of the building mapped out for us to walk and know the distance. They do a lot of stuff through the year. I just can't think of it off the top of my head. WW's at work is here, too. Ironically, our stairs are off limits and only used during fire drill and emergencies. I learned the hard way. I was LOCKED in the stairwail my first day. No one told me stairs were off limits. How crazy is that??? Our wellness people are always arguing this facilities.

deksgrl

They offer us a "biometric screening" once a year, and they pay anyone who takes it. They check your weight, cholesterol numbers, measurements, etc.

deltagreen

I work at a liquor store that sells ginormous fountain pops for like 80 cents. Yeah, they're not very supportive.

shaj316

Yes and no...I have a great deal of flexibility to work from home 2 to 3 days a week, so indirectly speaking, my job allows me to prepare food at home which is a huge help. Also, on those days, since I don't have a 25 - 35 min commute, I sort of gain and hour or so that I can use to go to the gym or do something active instead.

The only real problem comes when I travel for work. My daily schedule goes out the window while on the road and I have a hard time especially in more rural areas finding food that is healthier yet still good.

yulinerinwang

I wish. My job is the reason I get fat... LoL. I work at Starbucks and get free drink all day long.

jenniet04

Yep!! We have a gym in the building with cardio and weight machines and a room for classes (there are also locker rooms with showers). We have a yoga instructor come in and teach classes and there are people within the company that do classes for Zumba and P90X, or you can schedule time in that room to do whatever exercise you want (there's a TV and DVD player and a stereo with a Ipod dock). They also have a ping pong table, a bicycle storage room and do weight watcher challenges. They sponsor a Bloomsday race team (local 12K) and lots of fundraiser runs/walks.

The cafeteria has a full salad bar and lots of really great healthy options and the company subsidizes the cost so it's pretty cheap.

All this was just an added bonus for already working for a great company.

ETA - the gym in the building is free, but they also get great discounts rates to local gyms if you want to join. Our health insurance covers a free check up every year and they have lots of "get healthy" programs that you can join for free and get tons of support. My husband just used their quit tobacco program to quit chewing tobacco and they paid for everything - even the prescription that would have cost us about $200 a month.

aippolito1

Not really, but I work retail, so the more days I work, the more hours I'm on my feet everyday, which helps.

DannyMussels

No, they offer free food to everyone. Nothing is healthy.

Semi-related. Some ppl go on 6-10 cigarette breaks a day..nearly one every half hour.

wtf mate

ladyfox1979

I work for an investment firm but my office is a 2 person office but lucky for me there is a curves center literally 2 doors down, so I go on my lunch hour to workout.

Shell_7609

Not a thing here

irjeffb

Quite the opposite. Several people in my department started a "Biggest Loser" competition and we were told by HR that we had to shut it down because somebody might be offended and we can't judge people on their appearance.

ZyheeMoongazer

My company has recently step up walking workstations. A computer setup on a treadmill. They also put workout stations in the courtyard. Although they did it at the worst time, right before winter. Being that this is Minnesota I don't think I will see many people out there for several months.

On the flip side of companies helping and prompting healthy lifestyles. Our "Job Well Done" treats from leadership are always candy, cookies, cake, or other various junk food. Also the lower level management all have candy dishes on the file cabinets.

chelsea_thatsme

nope not a bit. if anything they help me gain weight by bringing donuts and ordering pizza...:(

yulinerinwang

I'm in the military and so they always try to compel us to lose weight and stay in shape. It's hard though, as I work a desk job and have to sit on butt most of the day. I've been considering trying to get a standing desk.

In the meantime, me and an old supervisor have been "racing" to 200 lbs. Whoever crosses that line first gets 25 bucks from the other one!

Uhhh that sounds wonderful! I should join military!

xHelloQuincyx

i work at starbucks.

last night my manager bought me a cookie that was as big as my head because i was the only one who would come in during a snow storm.

so no they dont help me stay active haha. i did have to sweep, mop, put up chairs and tables, do an hrs worth of dishes, restock, make peoples drinks etc... which makes me sweat a bit after 8 hrs but i consider that more slave labor then keeping me healthy...

BobbyDaniel

I work in a church, I'm the pastor...and if anything, people have done more to stop or stall my weight loss than help it. Some were unintentional, like the sweet little old ladies who would leave a dessert on my desk after their WMU meetings just to "treat" me...others actually griped and complained about me losing weight.
Thankfully though, a few people have caught the bug and have begun their own weight loss programs! So while I'm not getting much help, I'm helping others!

jillica

We are currently doing a Biggest Loser competition. I'm in 2nd Place!

Jenn728

The company I work for also does an annual biggest loser contest, they bring in fitness instructors for free classes, we eat a buffet lunch and are offered "healthy options". There are usually different incentives to get healthy. Like recently everyone who weighed in and kept and turned in food and fitness logs were eligible for some sort of prize. We have a licensed nutritionist on staff who is available for help and weigh ins.

stephabef

I work in a bar, so we're already running our butts off. However, the free shift drink, when I choose to take advantage of it, certainly isn't helping any

timadotcom

my job does everything to make us fat, it's a private company so my boss smokes his head off everyday, we have the skinny people who think it's nice to bring in snacks like bagels, bags of candy, donuts and so on. Some of them think it's fun to go for an ice cream run ( even if it is 50 below outside).

So overall my job is a great place to work if you want to lead a nicotine filled obese lifestyle.

Luckily I have MFP and my gym! I am the only person in my office that works out, there are about 30 employees here.