wellness program

My company introduced a wellness program (run by a third party) to its employees last year at this time of the year and I considered it to be a great motivating event in my life. The first thing they did was to have us all take a health assessment and I found that my body fat and BMI were significantly into the obese category (I knew I was overweight but didn't realize I was obese), my blood pressure was high, and my cholesterol levels were poor. This was eye opening as I knew I was a bit out of shape, but didn't realize how out of shape I was. This inspired me to change to a healthier lifestyle when it comes to exercise and eating habits.

During the last year, those with poor overall ratings (myself included) were required to define at least one fitness goal (which could be as simple as taking a short walk a few times each week) and at least one food goal (again could be as simple as not skipping breakfast, cutting down on unhealthy foods, or drinking more water) and had to call a 'fitness coach' for a few minutes each month to discuss how things are going. My goals for the year included eating at least 5 servings of fruits/vegetables each day, taking the stairs instead of the elevator to my fourth floor office, avoiding greasy fast food, joining a gym, and visiting the gym at least 3 times a week.

Those with good ratings didn't have to talk to any coaches or make any goals and simply had to participate in one health related activity each quarter. These activities could be as simple as sitting in on a one hour presentation on their lunch hour, or taking part in a company sponsored activity such as the night they rented out the Olympic Ice Oval (from the 2002 Olympics) so we could learn curling (shuffleboard on ice), or you could participate in your own activity (such as a hike, bike ride, or run).

The year has been a great success for me. I'm down 71 pounds (some of it before I joined MFP), am only a few pounds away from my goal weight, and my BMI is back into the "normal" category. My pant size has dropped from 40 to 32 inches and I've recently taken a few bags of my jeans and pants which are in good condition but much too large for me now and donated them to charity. My cholesterol and blood pressure are down too. I eagerly look forward to my daily visit to the gym first thing each morning. I look forward to healthy meals each day and haven't had a burger or order of french fries at a fast food franchise all year long. My chats with my health coach have been brief but informative.

Well I guess others in the company haven't shared my enthusiasm for the program because today we had our meeting to discuss open enrollment. I had been anticipating that they would announce when our health assessment for the coming year would be and instead they announced the wellness program was being discontinued. The audience responded with thunderous applause. I felt like calling out "go eat another donut!" but held my tongue.

Sigh. I guess people don't like being told what to do. As for me, I'm going to continue my healthier way of life. I'm feeling fitter with each passing week, lifting more in the gym, and running longer periods on my cardio days and I'm currently starting to work towards running 5Ks this spring). If my co-workers want to be couch potatoes and devour bad food, that's their choice and it doesn't affect me at all.