Employee weight loss programs that actually work

Companies all across America are turning to weight loss programs to help their employees drop excess weight and reduce health care costs. Weight loss programs have been implemented at small and large businesses and have been successful. The hardest challenge is getting your employees to actually participate in the program and actually lose the weight. The simplest way to motivate the employees is to offer them some type of compensation to participate in the program.

Weight loss groups are one of the best ways to actually see progress with your staff. It is much easier to lose weight when you have other people trying to lose weight with you. Weight loss groups can get together before or after work and exercise. Some groups even eat lunch together and go on walks during their lunch breaks.

One of the best ways to get your employees to lose weight is to start offering healthier food choices to your employees. Remove the candy bars, sodas, and potato chips from the vending machines and replace them with granola bars, juice, milk, and apple chips. The healthier alternatives will keep your employees away from the foods that cause them to gain weight and they will start to feel better.

Employers also need to be aware of the foods they offer their staff members for meetings. Instead of bringing in pizza for lunch, bring in a meat and cheese tray and allow your staff members to make their own sandwiches. You can also substitute fruits for doughnuts and bagels. Always keep some fresh vegetables in the office and bring them to staff meetings, this will provide your employees with some healthy snacks to have during meetings and even throughout the day.

The Journal of the American Medical Association did a study on 57 overweight employees for 16 weeks. They found that the main reason why the employees actually lost the weight was for the incentives. The prizes they were given came in the amounts of $10 up to $100. The employees would have daily weigh-ins and needed to reach their daily goal weight. Then there was another weight loss group that contributed their own money to the challenge. These employees invested anywhere from one cent to $3 a day. The company would match their donations and the employees would need to participate in daily weigh-ins. If the employees failed to meet their weight loss goals, they would lose all the money they contributed and all the money their employer contributed. The study found that everyone that participated in the challenge lost around 13 pounds.

Of course in order for a program like this to be successful, employers must continue to keep their employees motivated. This can come by talking to them daily about their weight loss progress. You can even help them lose weight by asking them to participate in daily exercise with you, like going for a walk during your lunch hour.

You can also motivate them to continue participating in the program by giving them small prizes mid-way through the program. Something simple like a half-day off work or a $10 gift card may be the extra motivation some employees need to continue participating in the program.

So far, the most effective weight loss program is the one where employees provide money to the "pool" to participate. Since people don't like to lose money, they work harder at losing the weight so they will keep the money they already have and gain more money.

Whatever program you decide to go with, make sure you stick with it and that you get your money's worth out of the investment.

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