Are you ready to lose? Since that New Year’s resolution may already be long forgotten, we’re proud to bring back another round of Lose Baby! Our first weight-loss competition, which ended in September 2015, was such a success, and we can’t wait to create another supportive and light-heartedly competition in all of our stores. We have more employees than ever signed up, and today they’re all huddling around the scale to record their starting weights.
Our focus on this ninety-day round is healthy weight loss, keeping a confidential record of percentage weight lost per individual, and helping one another stay on track with weekly healthy goodies, and informative and educational materials on proper diet and fitness. Our top priority is overall physical and mental health, being positive, supportive and encouraging throughout, and keeping our eye on successfully working as a team to be a healthier company.
If you’re an employee deciding whether or not to sign up for Lose Baby, what can we say to convince you? We can spout the many benefits of a healthy diet, and recite the same old sayings about teamwork, but we’d rather you hear from our own weight loss hero. Details Department Manager John Ruffin lost 60 pounds (16.2 percent of his body weight), during last year’s Lose Baby, and we sat down with him before the competition started.
“I had a couple of health issues, like high blood pressure,” said Ruffin about his decision to enter the competition last year. “Really, I just wanted to live longer in general.”
Ruffin certainly achieved his health goals: In addition to his blood pressure lowering, he reported that he now has more energy and sleeps better at night. His advice to those trying to significantly lose weight is to stay focused and to cut out starches, bread and sweets, adding, “When I was going to fall off the train, I just thought of my kids and future grandkids.”
Ruffin recommends the three-month competition to all of his colleagues, and plans to enter again.
“I’ve definitely gained a couple of pounds since the last one ended, but I’m planning on losing it easily. Last time I was on my own in my department, but this time I’ll have a couple of guys in the [Detail] department with me. I’ve actually got a lot of people saying — joking — that they’re not entering because I’m in it again!”
Don’t let him scare you away, employees! While Ruffin was awarded $1,000 for losing the most weight in September of last year, the grand prize will now be split up, with $500 each for the male and female who lose the most. Before the final weigh-in day, we’ll have guest speakers and instructors to teach our employees how to develop healthy habits. Employees, check your emails for these dates, as well as a link to a private Facebook group to join for motivation and messages.
We can’t wait to Lose, Baby!
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