Biggest loser at work - need ideas on how

kittzle

I'm thinking of pitching an idea to co-workers to get a biggest loser challenge going on. I work for a great company and know they'd totally go for this, and there's even a gym in the corporate office (I'll not point out that it's still closed due to current remodeling construction). But we also have many stair cases and lots of walking space to encourage exercise at work.

Am curious if there's some information about how to put this together, how to track it, ideas, etc. Would love your help getting started!

kateparedes

Hi! This was successfully done in our office last year. Every participant had to pitch in 10,000 pesos (approximately 240 USD) and was given six months to lose weight. The one with the highest percentage lost wins the entire pot. They also had mini side bets for those who lost most at each checkpoint, and those who gain more than 5% of their starting weight had to pay double their pot.

It was a huge hit! The final weigh in was done in july last year. The winner won a 3600 USD pot!

Chrissle

I'm running one at my work and after I got the participants narrowed down, this is the email I composed...we have a lot of people who participated but that couldn't readily come here for an offical weigh in so I just had to "trust" them.


Hey LOSERS! Welcome to the competition!!! Our overall goal is to have a little motivation to develop better eating habits paired with a better schedule of physical activity. As with any lifestyle change, please make sure that you are eating and working out in a healthy manner that your body can readily handle.

The timeframe is a little longer than most so that everyone has a chance to establish healthy habits and so that you have plenty of time to work toward your goal. We are all here to help each other so don’t be afraid to ask for tips, advice or a workout buddy! Lean on your fellow participants for support and motivation…it will help get you through! More importantly, the end of the program should not cause the end of your motivation…as I mentioned before, this is a lifestyle change…stick with it!

Something that is a really good (FREE) tool/support community is My Fitness Pal (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/). This allows you to track food and exercise and offers a wealth of choices from workout ideas to recipes and success stories. Of course that is totally optional but it does help hold oneself accountable. For those of you who have a smart phone, there is also a free app.

If you prefer to exercise in the comfort of your own home as opposed outside or at a gym, don’t forget your local library. There are LOTS of workout DVDs readily available for your (pain or) pleasure.

Now on to the good stuff (guidelines)….
• This challenge will last from September 26th, 2011 – January 30th, 2012...this will get us through the holiday season and will allow us to pig out for Superbowl Sunday, as a reward 
• The “entry fee” is a modest $10.00, to be payable within a reasonable amount of time
o Payouts will be 80% to 1st place, 20% to second
• Weigh ins are to be turned in bi-weekly by 4:00 Monday (there are too many people off-site to have them come here)…either your actual weight, or CUMULATIVE % lost is acceptable
o If you are comfortable with giving me your actual weights (less to track for you ), these are due this coming Monday and will always be held completely confidential
 If you prefer to provide me with your % lost, the first submission will be due 10/10/2011
o I have attached a simple calculator to figure out the %...just remember that you always compare weight lost to STARTING (WEEK 1) weight…we want % lost for the entire program…
 Please leave these rounded to 2 decimal places
o Please also always use the same scale to do your official weigh in
• The winners will be determined based upon % of weight lost, not pounds lost

That should cover it. Again, invite anyone who would like to participate…the more, the merrier.

Thanks SO much for committing yourself to such a good cause.

Brown_Eyed_Beauty

I did one at my work but there are so many negative people here so they made it a hassle. Good luck and I hope it goes well! One thing thing I did do was got the nurse inside our building involved so it was accurate. Not all works have that though :-/

kittzle

I must say, I'm looking forward to sending out an email that says "Hey Losers". LOL