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FitFeud Corporate Wellness Blog
Corporate Wellness Conference 2011 Recap: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
I attended the Corporate Wellness Conference in Chicago this week, and even though conferences are time-consuming, relatively expensive, and tiring, they can be really valuable. Overall, this was a great experience and was indeed valuable. I learned a lot and met a lot of great people.
What follows is a no holds barred collection of my thoughts, notes, and complaints. The inclusion of "the bad and the ugly" will probably keep this from getting picked up by Corporate Wellness Magazine, but at least you'll get the full unvarnished story.
The use of "the good, the bad, and the ugly" is just an easy writing device, but it belies the true nature of my thoughts. The conference was at least 2/3 good, and I plan on attending (and exhibiting at) next year's conference (so maybe they will pick this up after all). I think this will be reflected by the volume of helpful, positive notes below vs the volume of critiques and complaints.
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Move the Needle: Simple Fitness, Weight Loss, and Nutrition Link Wrap-up
We're highlighting simple, small steps almost anyone can do to help them reach their fitness and weight loss goals. We want to help people "move the needle" (thus the #MoveTheNeedle hashtag.) We tell our weight loss competition clients all the time that they need to focus not on finding one solution, but helping people find the many things they can do to help them make small changes in their lives. Those changes will collectively result in major changes and results and be easier to stick with over the long haul.
Here's a recap of the links we posted to Twitter last week:
- Nutrition: A Low-Calorie Meal Is Shown to Pay Off
- Fitness for less: 4 low-cost ways to shape up
- 20 Everyday Activities and the Calories They Burn
- The Best Weight Loss Trick of All Time
- Drinking water instead of fizzy drinks significantly reduces risk of diabetes
Do you have any small tricks or bits of advice that have helped you incease your activity levels or improved your nutrition? Let us know in the comments below and keep up the good work!
Move the Needle: What a 1% BMI reduction would do for the US population
Lost in the news about the study that projected a 50% obesity rate in the US by 2030 was some information that, if looked at with the right attitude, was promising.
The study found that "a population level decrease in BMI by just 1% would avoid 2.05 to 2.4 million diabetes cases, 1.4 to 1.7 million cases of heart disease and stroke, and 73,000 to 127,000 cancer cases," as pointed out in a recent American Medical News article.
Just one percent, and just look at the impact that will have! We can do that, can't we?! *
The cost of inaction is too high, and the benefits of even small gains are too great to not shoot for.
This isn't about finding the end-all be-all solution to obesity. This isn't about chasing down the ultimate root cause. This is about moving the needle. Helping people take the first step. Then the next.
Track the hashtag #movetheneedle on Twitter to keep up with other news and info related to the idea that small changes and slight gains can make a big difference.
* (FitFeud weight loss competitions regularly produce average BMI reductions of 2% or more, by the way.)
Practical tips on how to run a successful office weight loss competition
At FitFeud, our main job is to help our clients structure the most successful weight loss competitions possible. The thing is, we also help anyone else that asks us. Each week I talk to people who are not potential prospects for whatever reason - company is too small, timing isn't right, budget, etc. - that want to run a weight loss (or other fitness-related) competition as part of their corporate wellness program.
When people ask for help, they don't want high level strategic stuff. How many times have you heard the advice that "getting senior leadership involved" is important? Gee, thanks. Thus, this post.
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Anthony Bourdain: Make Obesity Epidemic an Issue of Patriotism and National Security
Celebrity chef and celebrated eater, Anthony Bourdain, recently spoke out about the recent study that suggests half of all Americans will be obese by 2030. He says forget the stats. The way to make an impact on people is to make solving the obesity epidemic one of patriotism and national security.
The stats, though, back Bourdain up in his point. For example, the military rejects 21% of recruits for for being overweight, up from 12% in 1995.