Bryan Solis lives to compete. Inspired by the desire to make healthier choices, he created a weight loss competition for staff in his department, Information Services (IS). Participating departments now include Information Services, Cable TV and Media Services, Clinical Engineering and Communication Network Services.
The result? As many as 37 employees have weighed in to participate in bi-yearly, six-week competitions inspired by NBC’s The Biggest Loser.
“I began thinking about making better food choices at work when Loma Linda University Health installed healthy vending machines on campus. I organized the competition to encourage healthy nutrition and exercise that would help participants reduce their weight,” he said.
Competitors encourage each other to have fun, eat healthy meals and exercise. The event also serves as a fundraiser with first-place winners donating funds raised to charity. While there is a $30 registration fee, participants who finish having lost five percent of their total weight are refunded $25.
Cake and donuts in office kitchens are replaced by food made from healthy recipes, and camaraderie grows as staff take daily walks, breaking up long hours spent sitting at their computers. “The walking group is completing approximately 8,000 steps each per day, or about four miles,” Solis said.
After work, some play tennis or participate in other sports. This all leads up to weigh-ins with weekly updates about leaders and cumulative pounds lost.
The top three biggest losers for 2017’s first competition are Leslee Cook with 10.2% of body weight lost; Eric Morales, 8.76 % of body weight lost and Joni Colburn, 6.8 % of body weight lost.
“I truly enjoyed the pep talks, the healthy tips, the walks and the surprising competitiveness that sparked in the final weeks. Without you, I would not have had the honor of choosing the charity for our donation,” Cook said in an email to her coworkers. Cook chose 1st Call 4 Cancer, a charity started by a family friend whose husband had lost his battle with cancer.
Previous biggest loser Angie Frantz (2015) donated $420 raised to Operation Smile which helped two children receive cleft lip/cleft palate repair surgery. Eric Morales, who won in 2016, donated $645 to the Aysia Hillyer Memorial Fund to help cover funeral costs incurred by an IS team member.