Creating a "Biggest Loser" Competition for Your Workplace (and coming out a winner)

The popularity of the television show "The Biggest Loser" has motivated many companies to start a weight loss challenge. Losing weight should be a reward for eating better and being more active. Making lifestyle changes will help sustain weight loss and avoid the ups and downs on the scale. Fit City Challenge encourages living a healthy lifestyle by eating healthier and being more physically active which can result in weight loss and/or weight maintenance. Here are some tips for developing your office's "Biggest Loser" competition.

1. Doctors Approval. To ensure the safety of participants, encourage physician approval prior to competition, especially for those who have been sedentary and/or have existing health concerns or issues.
2. Create Safe Guidelines. Discourage your employees from using unhealthy measures to lose weight such as; laxatives, over the counter diet pills, sweat suits, excessive exercise or skipping meals to lose weight quickly. This can be harmful to their health and they may gain the weight back after they stop. Remind people that lifestyle changes are the best way to maintain long-term weight loss.
3. Individual or Teams? Determine if your company would prefer to compete as individuals or teams or both. Teams can be assigned or chosen. Try to mix up body shapes, sizes and fitness levels to be competitive.
4. Offer Incentives. There are many ways to do this. You can charge each person $10 to participate and the winner takes it all. You can offer time off from work, gift cards, publicity (name in newsletter or e-mail), or a break on insurance premiums. If competing on teams, make sure incentives are appropriate (and approved) for a group.
5. Set Limits. Set a specific number of weeks that the competition will last. Typically 6-12 weeks is a good amount of time.
6. Impartial Judge. Identify a fellow employee who is not involved and has no stake in who wins. This person can perform weekly weigh-ins, if you are having them. The same scale should be used each time, and weigh-ins should be performed at the same time of day. Provide a confidential place for the weigh-ins.
7. Weekly or Just Once? Determine if you want the group to do weekly weigh-ins or weigh just at the beginning and end. With weekly tracking, the loss percentage (see #9) can be publicized among the participants, if desired. This can help with motivation and accountability.
8. Percentage Only! To encourage people of all sizes and fitness levels to participate, ensure them that only percentage of weight loss will be considered. The recommended healthy weight loss is - 2 pounds per week (though some weeks there may be a large loss and some weeks none at all). There is not a percentage recommendation, as that will vary so much by the beginning weight of the individual.
9. Arm Them With Information. Hold Lunch and Learns, hand out nutrition brochures, share recipes, offer pedometers and encourage them to walk (2,000 steps=1 mile), send weekly e-mails with wellness information. Use the Fit City Challenge website (www.fitcitychallenge.org) "calculators and tools" tab to find out how many calories you burn at various activities such as playing childrens games, raking leaves and walking.
10. Have a Party! Hold a kick-off event to publicize your competition. Be sure to go over the rules and expectations with all participants. You can offer tracking sheets for participants to track their weight loss and activity or they can use the Fit City Challenge online fitness log. You must register at www.fitcitychallenge.org to have access to the online log. Use this as an opportunity to educate employees while having fun. For example, have weekly competitions such as a hula hoop or jump rope contest. Find fun ways to get your employees moving and laughing together. This is also an important lesson that exercise can be as simple and fun as a childs game.

Then Celebrate! No matter how much weight everyone lost, you have created an atmosphere of health and wellbeing. Now you can continue to walk together at lunch, share healthy recipes, and bring only healthy items to share in the break room. Many employees who did not participate will now be motivated to join in your healthy lifestyle and may be your next "Biggest Loser".

Submitted by: Amy Bertram, PT, APT, CEI  Trinity Consulting, Inc.