June 30, 2017

TSH Diet Bet Challenges: 2017

 

At Tennessee Steel Haulers (TSH), we are always striving to promote health by encouraging our employees to participate in fun challenges throughout the year. In the past we have always done a Biggest Loser competition starting in January, where we awarded the prize money to one female and one male who lost the most weight during the competition. However, this year we decided to change it up a bit. Instead of a Biggest Loser competition, where there were only two winners, we did a Diet Bet challenge so there could be more winners, which encouraged participation. It was such a success that we actually ended up hosting a second challenge afterwards!

Our first Diet Bet challenge started on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017 and ended on Wednesday, March 1, 2017. Each contestant had to lose at least 4 percent of their body weight in one month in order to be a winner. Everyone signed up and paid $10, and then weighed in. Everyone’s $10 went into the winning pot, and TSH matched the pot to double the amount. At the end of the month, everyone who hit their goal split the money in the pot! To help everyone achieve their goals, we sent out weekly emails with recipes, exercise tips and meal planning advice.

Twenty-three people signed up for the first Diet Bet challenge, which put the pot at $230; The company match put the pot at $460. There were four winners—one male and three females—putting each person’s winnings at $115! There were also eight honorable mentions, who each lost three pounds or more within the month, but fell just short of the four percent goal. Overall, everyone who participated lost a combined 90.9 pounds in just 30 days. That’s the same weight as two five-gallon buckets full of water!

We were so impressed by the results of the first challenge that we decided to launch another, but increase the difficulty a little. This second challenge took place April 3, 2017 thru June 30, 2017. The goal was for participants to lose eight percent of their body weight during the three month period. Just like the first challenge, everyone signed up, placed $10 in the pot and weighed in. We continued weekly emails to provide encouragement and meal tips.

Seventeen people signed up for the second challenge, putting the pot at $170; The company match put it at $340. There were three official winners this time, but one individual came in so close at seven percent that we included her as a winner.The three official winners who hit the eight percent goal each won $100, and the fourth winner who came in at seven percent won $40.

The total pounds lost in this second challenge were 140. That’s equivalent to 100 basketballs or 150 footballs! Overall, we are very proud of every single contestant. We hope to encourage a healthy lifestyle for our TSH family.