• minimize holiday weight gain...
    MAXimize employee health
  • Everyone knows how challenging it can be to keep pounds off during the holiday season. This year, encourage and support weight maintenance and healthy habits over the season by offering your employees a Maintain Don’t Gain Holiday Challenge. Whether participating in “teams” or individually, the shared experience keeps everyone energized and accountable for maintaining their pre-holiday weight.
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Make your challenge work

It’s easy to provide participants with the tools, motivation and education to stay active, eat healthy and maintain weight during the holiday season. Here's how:
Step 1: SPREAD THE WORD
The Challenge should run from just before Thanksgiving through the New Year. Announce the challenge and hold a brief kick-off meeting to introduce the program and encourage participation. Set a time, date and place for weigh-ins.

Step 2: WEIGH THE POSSIBILITIES
Keep the “official” scale in the office, rather than ask employees to weigh themselves at home. Some companies keep it simple and weigh participants only on the first and last day of the Challenge. Weekly weigh ins, may be more effective in that they allow participants to better track their progress and refocus on healthy choices if need be.

Step 3: EDUCATE, ENTERTAIN & EMPOWER
Teach participants about healthy nutrition and exercise and being accountable for their actions. Provide guidance and educational tools throughout the course of the Challenge to help employees stick with their plan and meet their weight maintenance goal. Stick to YOUR goal of keeping the Challenge fun and social by hosting lunch hour seminars, challenge “support” groups, power walks or even fitness classes on site.
Step 4: OFFER INCENTIVES
Individually or in groups, people like working towards a reward. Be creative. Perhaps your challenge can be set up as a friendly competition between departments with prizes. Or you might reward individuals who attend "events" such as group fitness classes or health presentations held throughout the challenge period. You could even hold a weekly raffle.

Step 5: CELEBRATE
At the end of the Challenge, recognize team and individual successes. Though everyone may not have met his or her weight maintenance goal, the health benefits and knowledge gained are a great gift for the holidays and a terrific way to start the New Year.

announcing the challenge

Use these tools to announce the challenge, plus educate & motivate participants!
  • • Keep Participants On Track
    Help Challenge participants get off on the right foot. Our Activity Tracker (FCJ-41T or FCJ-41Z) includes two months of log sheets–plenty to track progress throughout the Challenge period.
  • • Motivate More...For Less!
    Raffles are an exciting morale booster! A great way to use our 50-Piece Incentive Pack (RP-152) might be to ask participants to attend Challenge-related “events” each week. For each "event” they attend, such as a lunch & learn program, a lunchtime walk, even a weigh-in, they could receive one raffle ticket good for either a weekly prize drawing, or a drawing at the end of the Challenge.

challenge Timetable & Checklist

  • 6 Weeks Before
    • Obtain management approval
    • Choose your kick-off date; the week before Thanksgiving is ideal
    • Create program and select educational materials and motivational incentives
  • 4 Weeks Before
    • Publicize event via email, bulletin board, etc.
    • Order educational and promotional materials, incentives and rewards
    • Confirm speakers and their availability; arrange for on-site exercise classes
    • Get registration paperwork ready
  • 1 Weeks Before
    • Send reminders to staff encouraging them to sign up as individual participants or in teams
    • Begin sign up
  • During Program
    • Monitor participant and team progress at each pre determined weigh-in
    • Continue to encourage participation by providing educational opportunities, encouraging communication and team reports (if applicable)
    • Distribute incentives as they are earned
    • Provide recognition of individual and team successes
  • After Program
    • Hold a special event to announce winners and present prizes
    • Announce challenge winners in a company-wide email or newsletter
    • Get participant feedback so you can improve your program for next time
  • Follow-Up
    • Provide final reports of success or progress to each participant or team
    • Document all results and create report for management on outcomes
  • DID YOU KNOW...EVEN A LITTLE WEIGHT GAIN ADDS UP!
    Challenges such as Maintain, Don’t Gain For The Holidays make it rewarding for your employees to stick to a healthy lifestyle plan...minimizing their health risks and maximizing your wellness initiatives.