According to Workplace Insights, 63% of office workers in the UK are said to be overweight or obese.
The desk-based nature of our work means many of us are physically inactive for several hours at a time. With the New Year upon us, this got some of us thinking about our own wellbeing.
So, by way of an employee-led initiative, we’ve decided to try and shed some of those over-indulgent Christmas pounds. Through January and February, around 25 of us will take part in ‘Weight Loss Wednesday’, competing against one another to lose weight healthily.
It’s a light-hearted competition that aims to get the New Year off to a nice, healthy start. It’s not all about losing weight though – we’re joining forces to support and encourage each other to get active, fit and healthy.
Some people find it hard to slim down individually, but research has shown if you lose weight in a group then you’re more likely to have success losing those extra pounds. Joining a group to help achieve your weight loss goals can make it more fun too.
It’s not easy losing weight, but with the help of our very own in-house nutritionist, Julian, we hope we can reach our goals. Julian will be helping us with his advice, tips and tricks. By providing this advice Julian will be helping us to encourage safe and healthy weight loss to prevent unhealthy eating and weight loss behaviours.
Office Manager Janice is managing the dreaded weigh-ins and encouraging us on a daily basis by offering weight loss tips and delicious, healthy recipes to help us on our weight loss journey.
Having completed week one of Weight Loss Wednesday, the combined weight lost is 29.4KG! This has involved a lot of healthy eating, gym sessions and exercise classes. The first week in and everyone is still very motivated and excited with who’s going to win.
We’ll keep you posted with how we’re getting on.
But for now, here’s one final word with one of our participants:
“I know it’s only been a week, but it’s been great motivation to lose weight – not only for the jackpot but also having the rest of the team encouraging one another. Although some people are trying to psyche each other out, I won’t be broken! I’ve got a goal and I’m going to make it. Regardless of whether I win or not, I want to get down to my goal weight.”
