How Employee Benefits Can Promote Weight Loss

With more than 93 million Americans living with the condition, obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Nearly 42.4% of all adults are obese as of 2017 – 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Medical care costs are also much higher for obese individuals who are dealing with other health-related issues. Especially today, given the impact of COVID-19 on overweight and obese employees. This weighty cost may also affect the premiums on insurance plans. So, it’s no surprise that many employers are looking for ways to help their workers maintain good health and lower the incidence of obesity by developing benefits programs that promote weight loss.

The good news is, there are a lot of corporate wellness options and solutions to actualize this, and some of them are affordable, some programs are even cost-free to the employer.

Obesity can cause several preventable diseases or be a contributory factor or symptom. However, this does not necessarily mean that all obese people are sick or in poor physical condition. Despite being obese, many of them are healthy and will remain active all through their lifetime. Being obese can result from many issues, including injuries, hormonal problems, genetics, and illnesses that can make losing weight more difficult.

Below are six of the best ways employers can help their workers lose weight:

1. Offer Access to Affordable Weight Loss Services

The cost of weight loss surgery (bariatric surgeries) in the U.S. can be as high as $25K, reflecting the millions of dollars spent on weight-loss services every year. Employees don’t need to get into debt just because they want to shed a few pounds.

Ensure that your employee benefits are not too expensive so that everybody can access weight loss services, such as medical care, nutritional counseling, and fitness center memberships. Employee wellness benefits aimed at supporting weight loss and fitness should be communicated and promoted to all of your workers, no matter their weight.

2. Give Workers Continuous Support

Note that weight loss is not a temporary solution. It’s a total change of lifestyle. You must expect to be in it for the long term if your company will be getting involved with employees who are attempting to shed weight. Ensure that workers have access to on-site support, such as counseling and peer-to-peer groups. Create fitness teams and implore all your workers to partake in physical activities every week.

3. Encourage Employees to Minimize Stress

Stress is one of several significant health problems in the US. Many people are overworked and regularly find themselves in stressful situations that can increase their cortisol levels. Studies have shown that a surge in cortisol can lead to increased abdominal fat and the tendency to overeat. It is worth mentioning that even when following a seemingly best way to lose weight, abdominal fat takes the most time and effort to shed.

To help support employees in their stress management and weight loss journeys, you must provide safe places where they can release bodily tension and have quiet time to unplug when needed.

4. Set Up Fitness Options For All Levels

If your organization chooses to have an in-house fitness room or walking paths, ensure that they are accessible for every worker. You may have workers with mobility problems. Hence, you will need to adjust certain aspects of your facility to ensure they can also partake in physical activities.

Given the pandemic, an ideal option is to employ online fitness programs suited to an employee’s fitness level and accessible. Programs like Design Your Fit Plan by BioIntelligent Wellness’s Tamilee Webb is great for employees of all fitness levels. Other online programs, such as onepeloton.com, also deliver a variety of activities in an on-demand format.

When things return to pre-pandemic normal, it will help if you also visit off-site fitness centers and gyms to learn more about handicap accessibility. While all these things may seem trivial, they can make a lot of difference for a worker trying his/her best but finds it difficult to lose weight.

5. Provide Healthy Food and Beverage Options

Encourage your workers to lose weight by offering healthy food and beverage options. Load up your snack-machine with choices that set employees up for mental and physical success, rather than the antiquated breakroom salty and sugary vending machine snacks. For companies who offer Ideal Protein as part of their benefits offerings, they will offer Ideal Protein foods that we recommend for Ideal Protein diet phase 1 to vending machines located near meeting rooms to support their success and improve their employee’s weight loss results. They also opt for nuts, low sugar trail mix, and other healthy treats for their employees not following Ideal Protein.

There should be a water cooler in each department to encourage your employees to meet minimum daily hydration levels (1/2 your body weight in ounces) by drinking more water. Have a small kitchen area set up (if your organization permits) to bring healthy food to work. Alternatively, if you have the budget or space, consider consulting an outside food vendor (healthy food trucks are a recent hit) to partner in providing convenient, healthy food catering on-site or in parking areas.

6. Offer Fitness Devices to Monitor Activity and Weight Loss Success

One of the best ways to offer help to employees who are trying to lose weight is by using wearable fitness devices. Devices like FitBit or Ideal Protein’s IdealSmart activity tracker and scale are highly motivating as they can monitor things, such as the number of calories burned, the number of steps taken, and the total miles they have accrued.

They can also connect these devices to online communities of other people attempting to lose weight and improve their health. Create a team page for your company, and try to launch competitions and employee incentive goals so that all workers can participate. Offer incentives for meeting key milestones, and make sure you acknowledge employees who actualize those goals.

When Workplace Wellness Programs Go Wrong

Focusing only on employees who are obese is very discriminatory, so you will want to avoid this.

A corporate organization focusing on wellness solutions can make the mistake of alienating obese employees. This can make them feel singled out and threatened by workplace initiatives. This example is when company wellness programs and benefits go wrong.

A simple modification is to offer lunch & learns about a variety of health topics. These virtual educational sessions can cover essential issues like sleep, stress management, longevity, work-life balance, and more.

All workers must be treated equally and with respect and kindness, no matter their shape or size, to get positive reinforcement instead of hostile looks and criticisms.

Don’t ever pull an overweight worker and ask him or her about partaking in the program. Instead, you should continually encourage and motivate all employees to attain their wellness goals with positive reinforcement.

How Can Corporate Wellness Solution Programs Help Businesses?

Many obese people know that they have an issue, but many don’t know how they can fix it. They might be too afraid to begin a weight loss plan. By providing healthy, practical options and encouraging your employees to participate in them, you can boost their productivity, energy levels, and moods. This demonstration of concern for employee wellness can increase engagement and raise morale at your workplace.

You may also discover that it reduces employees’ sick time and absenteeism, which can harm your company’s productivity and profit. It’s not only advantageous for your employees but also for your company.

If you are looking for an Employee Benefits program to support your organization’s wellness needs, we encourage you to look into our corporate wellness solutions. You can also schedule a free consultation to learn more about the cost-free resources we provide for employers or call us at 858-228-3644.

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