We all know how important it is to stay healthy, especially as we age. We are continually bombarded with articles, studies & reports on how exercise and a healthy diet can increase your life expectancy, help you maintain or reach a healthy weight, put off the onset of Alzheimer’s, help with balance thus decreasing falls, etc… (Do we really need to keep funding research to keep telling us how important exercise is?)

But most of us are busy people (especially in this industry), working, caring for family (young & old), & trying to keep some sort of social life, among many other things… How do you fit in the workout? How do you make it worth the time lost to other parts of your day?

Following in the footsteps of other companies like Google, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and local health systems, New LifeStyles made it a priority for their employees by entering the Texas Round-Up, a State sponsored event to raise awareness of the importance of exercise. Once a year the program kicks off and encourages employees of participating companies to exercise & log it on a website. If you reach the goal of  2.5 hours of exercise/week (30 min., 5 times a week), you get a certificate from the state. To sweeten the pot, New LifeStyles, and many other companies are offering other rewards to the employees who reach their goal. A nice gift certificate and a little competition between colleagues can really get things going!

 Is a fitness program something you could incorporate into your business/office? What would you have to do to get people to participate? Does your state have a similar program? Ask around and get some feedback. You may be surprised that people just need a bit of encouragement, as we all know what we should be doing.

Stay Fit!

JC

PS Congrats to New LifeStyles for winning the Silver medal in the Corporate challenge for companies with <100 employees!