5 Tips to Prevent Holiday Season Weight Gain by Your Employees..and Keep to Their Wellness Goals
Help Your Employees Maintain Their Wellness Goals This Holiday Season
Austin, Texas: As the year winds down, now is the perfect time to give your wellness program a jump start or final push.
The Holiday season is upon us and office parties, Holiday parties, football bowl parties, and other gatherings are the norm for the next few weeks.
During these times of snacks, alcoholic drinks, soft drinks, finger foods, etc. – it is too easy to indulge and gain 5-8 unwanted pounds in short period of time.
Nothing de-motivates more than sudden weight gain– where a shot at hitting a predetermined weight goal has just disappeared in a few short weeks.
What can you do to inspire and motivate your employees to engage in more healthy eating habits this time of year?
Here are 5 Tips to Help Your Employees Keep their Weight Down During the Holiday Season
1) Have healthy snacks around. Vegetable platters are great with low-calories ranch dressing on the side. Eating healthy snacks reduces the need for craving indulgences. It also sets a good example.
2) Bring a scale in to the office and hold a weigh-in contest. Reward points to those that weigh in twice a day, points for those that maintain or lose weight during the Holiday period, etc. Also, having a scale in a populated area is a subtle and gentle reminder of the need to practice more healthy behaviors.
3) Hold a wellness meeting NOW to discuss ideas to reduce consumption and maintain a healthy eating and fitness routine in these days of both stress and joy. Keep the weight issue top of mind over the next few weeks.
4) Run an office-wide recipe contest for healthy foods, snacks and treats – and reward the best ideas. Maybe your employees will try some of those new recipes.
5) Reinforce healthy eating goals in all correspondences over the next few weeks–in e-mails, Facebook, paycheck stubs. Don’t let your employees forget the importance of maintaining their diet and weight goals so they do not lose momentum.
Momentum lost is hard to get back.
Encouraging your employees to keep those extra Holiday pounds off will be a lot easier than motivating them to lose those pounds next year.
Here’s to a healthy 2013 for you, your employees and your family!
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