How You Can Encourage Weight Loss At Work?

Dealing with unhealthy employees can increase your healthcare costs but it can also cause you to have other issues as well like decreased productivity as your staff members always need to take time off from illnesses or they are not in good health and cannot seem to find the stamina to work hard. Obesity is increasing healthcare costs but it is causing many companies to start charging employees for living such unhealthy lifestyles because of these excessive costs. Employers can help their staff members to identify their weight issues at hand and to find ways to address them. From using workplace wellness programs that encourage weight loss to the way in which you focus your efforts on being able to provide them with healthier snacks and food choices, encouraging your employees to lose weight has never been easier!

When you host staff meetings and other things, stop bringing cake and unhealthy foods. You need to provide your staff members with healthier food choices like fruits and vegetables. When you do this, it definitely makes it easier on your employees to focus on healthier eating in the workplace. It also shows them that you are focused on helping them to lose weight and that you are not trying to make their problem worse by giving them doughnuts and unhealthy food choices in a staff meeting.

The foods that you offer as rewards are just one of the things that you can do in order to help your employees to lose weight. Not only do you want to work on giving them healthier options but you have to consider your vending machine foods as well. If these foods are unhealthy, they will slow down the metabolism of your employees and they may find that it is harder to be productive. You have to offer your employees healthier snacks in the vending machines. Get rid of the soda and candy and offer them fresh water, 100% fruit juice, granola bars, fresh fruit slices, and other things instead. Foods like this can provide more energy and they do not come with the sugar rush and sugar drop that other foods come with.

What else can you do? How about offering different rewards to your employees for their hard work? It seems like offering food seems to be the universal thing to do in most companies as a way to reward their employees for hard work. While it's nice to have pizza once and awhile, offering it as a reward for hard work can start sending the wrong message to your employees. You need to look into other rewards that you can give to your staff members that they will be able to appreciate just as much or may be able to appreciate more than the food rewards you are offering. Tangible items like mugs, t-shirts, flashlights, and other things are going to be appreciated just as much as food or you may find that your staff appreciates them more than the foods and other gifts you are providing.

A good wellness program is another way to encourage weight loss. You should look into the cost of implementing one and to see the benefits that it can provide. Many companies are able to get a return that pays out $5 for every $1 they invest into the wellness program. These programs likely will include memberships to local health clubs or may provide an on-site exercise facility for your staff members to use. Consider the various types of wellness programs out there and create one that is unique to your company and will be able to encourage proper weight loss among your staff.