For Immediate Release
For a review copy of the book
or an interview with Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.,
please contact Dottie DeHart,
DeHart & Company Public Relations,
at (828) 325-4966 or DSDeHart@aol.com
Ready, Set, Get Healthy!: Seven Tips for Implementing an Employee Weight Management Program at Your Company
By Thomas B. Gilliam, Ph.D., coauthor (along with Jane Neill, R.D., L.D.) of Move It. Lose It. Live Healthy.: The Simple Truth About Achieving & Maintaining a Healthy Body Weight (Move It. Lose It. Live Healthy., LLC, 2008,
ISBN-13: 978-0-9762703-5-5, ISBN-10: 0-9762703-5-8, $19.95)
• Choose a program that’s based on small, gradual lifestyle changes. Don’t be sucked in by six-month programs or those based on fad diets and other get-thin-quick schemes. “I can’t stress enough that the only way to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight is to consume a moderate, nutritious diet and exercise regularly,” says Gilliam. “Educate your employees on the realities of weight management. A book like Move It. Lose It. Live Healthy.: The Simple Truth About Achieving & Maintaining a Healthy Body Weight can serve as a solid foundation for your corporate effort.”
• Connect the dots for your employees. Don’t just hand your employees a book and expect them to suddenly change their ways, advises Gilliam. You need a complete program that educates, motivates, and incentivizes. If you provide support at every possible level, your employees are more likely to be successful.
• Prepare for a long-term commitment. Six months isn’t going to cut it, says Gilliam. It takes about 24 months to achieve a healthy body weight and establish the kinds of lifestyle habits that allow employees to maintain their new fitness levels. Remember, the obesity epidemic did not occur overnight. It took years to occur and now it will take years to resolve.
• Be inclusive. Don’t single out obese people. Choose a body weight management program that emphasizes the benefits of lifestyle change—whose principles center on healthful, nutritious foods and regular exercise—and everyone will benefit. “Fitness” and “thinness” are not always synonymous.
“There are plenty of thin people who eat junk food and never, ever exercise,” notes Gilliam. “Programs like my own Move It. Lose It. Live Healthy.® will help them get fit and healthy, too. And even if you have employees who are already doing everything right, the program helps them keep up the good work and maintain their healthy body weights.”
• Make employee fitness a family affair. Most people care about their children’s personal health even more than their own. That’s why Gilliam’s Move It. Lose It. Live Healthy.program has a strong child-centric component—including cartoon characters with names like Heart “E” Heart, Sticky Lipid, and Thundering Triglyceride.
“The benefits are two-fold,” says Gilliam. “Your employees will appreciate your help in getting their families involved in getting fit, and it’s likely that your insurance costs will decrease as your employees’ dependents’ healthcare costs can often be very expensive.”
• Offer incentives. You may want to offer gift certificates to a sporting goods store or other fitness-related store for employees who reach pre-determined milestones. Another idea is to offer discounted insurance premiums. Or you can make it a “team thing” and set up friendly competitions between departments; the winning team gets rewarded with, say, a frozen yogurt party or an afternoon off.
“Even small incentives are powerful,” says Gilliam. “Let’s be honest: Walking every day and forgoing your coffee and doughnut break can be a drag. People like working toward a concrete reward. Be creative. Make it fun.”
• Remember…you get what you pay for. If you want your employee healthy body weight effort to work, don’t go into it half-heartedly. Don’t try to take the cheap way out. If you do, you’ll surely pay far more in the long run in spiraling insurance premiums, expensive injuries, increased absenteeism, and lower productivity. And your initial “bargain” investment will simply be money tossed to the wind.
“I tell people to buy a $45 pedometer when they start a walking program and they usually ask, ‘Why would I spend $45 when I can get one for $5?’” says Gilliam. “I tell them the cheaper ones don’t record steps properly; plus, they’re more likely to break. And if you don’t measure your steps, you’re less likely to stick with it. That’s how I think about workplace fitness programs: Spend a little more upfront—build a strong foundation—and you’re more likely to succeed. If you’re going to do it, do it right.”
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For more information, please contact Dottie DeHart,
DeHart & Company Public Relations, at (828) 325-4966 or DSDeHart@aol.com, or visit www.moveitloseitlivehealthy.com. |
