Early this year, our Wellness committee in Milwaukee decided it would be fun to host a weight loss challenge at work.

At Creation, we’ve been advocates of Workplace Wellness for a long time (I’d just like to take a moment and encourage other companies to take a look at the Well Workplace program through the Wellness Council of America).

Over the last decade, we’ve seen the growing popularity of television shows like NBC’s The Biggest Loser, aimed at fighting obesity and challenging people and communities to start living a healthier lifestyle. We thought we’d tap into this kind of group challenge as a way to keep us motivated and to have some fun!

Just What the Doctor Ordered

We posted the flyers, sent the emails and spread the word for our new challenge, called Just Lose It! It turns out that it was just what many of our people were looking for.

Support and accountability are important elements in a weight loss challenge like this one, and so we asked people to form small teams (minimum of 2 people and a maximum of 5) and to sign up to participate.

To our delight, at the very first weigh-in on March 1st, we had 23 teams and a total of 82 participants! That’s about one-third of our people here in Milwaukee.

Weight-Loss Support & Motivation

We knew we’d need some expert support and coaching. Kim Flannery, a nutritionist at the Wisconsin Athletic Club, started us off with some valuable information about what sort of nutrition our bodies need and how we can get it. Over 140 people attended her session! We continue to use some of her tips and recipes from her blog: http://kimthedietitian.wordpress.com/

It’s been several months now, and we’ve been walking together, weighing in and trying to hold ourselves and our teammates accountable. Like any challenge of value, for some of us it has been a struggle, while others have done very well.

Our weigh-out is coming soon and we will be announcing our winners at our Spring Wellness Walk. We will be sure to keep you posted!

Are you planning a workplace wellness event? What kind of tips would you offer to people trying to motivate and organize this kind of weight loss challenge?