By Grace Clark
Today, team wellness is so important and more employees want to live a healthier lifestyle. One study on health perceptions of workers found that many now aim to prioritize better eating habits to reach goals like weight loss and improved overall wellness. However, doing so can be difficult due to time constraints, a lack of access to nutritious meals, and prioritizing work over well-being.
However, it’s one’s set point weight that can make shedding those pounds even more challenging. This happens when a person has retained a certain weight for a long period of time. Their body then struggles to lose that weight. Many factors play a role in establishing set point weight. Among them are unhealthy eating habits, medications, and genetics. These are also issues that can lead to poor employee wellness, affecting both their personal lives and how they perform at work. As a leader, it’s therefore important to ensure that your employees are fit and healthy.
There are a few things you can do to promote health and wellness.
Promote a healthy lifestyle
The best way to lead is to do so by example. Your employees should see you working towards healthy lifestyle habits. You can do this by bringing in home-cooked meals at lunch or going for more nutritious choices when buying food. You can also start working out by walking after work or going to the gym.
When your workers take notice, motivate them to do the same. One study found that encouragement from colleagues can be a driving factor for people to be healthier. Offer to work out with them when you can. You should also enforce boundaries between work and personal life. This will give them more free time to be active while also maintaining team morale. By promoting a healthy lifestyle, your employees will take after your lead and soon be losing a healthy amount of weight in no time.
Offer weight loss resources
There are people who want to lose weight but don’t know where to start. As a leader, it is important for you to guide them in the right direction. You can do this by offering resources they need for their journey. Have articles on hand on weight loss you can send to employees who ask. Hire a licensed dietitian to come up with viable meal plans. If you have health-conscious employees who qualify as overweight or obese, you can even refer them to medical weight loss programs. Through FDA-approved medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, these regimens help address genetically-driven factors that may make weight loss more difficult for some individuals than others.
Becoming their go-to person for weight loss advice by following any of the above suggestions will help you show empathy for your employees. It can also lead to better workplace rapport as a whole. You will come off as someone who truly cares for their well-being. Just remember not to overstep their boundaries. Only offer resources when asked, and make sure you aren’t making people uncomfortable. Speaking to them as a friend—rather than just their boss—can give them just the push they need to lose weight.
Make it a team effort
Weight loss journeys can be much easier to stick to when done as part of a group. Making it a team effort can even promote employee bonding. Try it out for yourself by scheduling voluntary workout classes after work. This doesn’t need to be done in person. Online fitness training has been found to be quite effective for weight loss. It also makes exercise more accessible and fun for many people. Teams can also make use of this as a time to get together without the stress of work.
By making healthy lifestyle habits a team effort, you can ensure that your team will be healthy, keep weight off, and feel motivated to continue their journey.
Being a healthy weight is important for employee health. Find a method that works for you and your team. Just remember that you are doing this for their sake, not for your own.
About the Author:
Grace Clark is a fitness enthusiast and writer. She believes that holistic wellness can lead to great benefits in the office. When she isn’t working, you will often find her hiking her favorite trail with her three dogs not far behind.