Department of Personnel

The 2011Weight Loss Challenges (WLC) brought some amazing stories of weight loss success from both competitions. People came together and started taking control of their health by losing excess weight and fighting the very real risk that being overweight poses to them and their families. There were 1,111 participants in last year's competitions that lost a cumulative total of 2,567 pounds, turning back the deadly toll of weight-related diseases - threatening nearly half of Americans.

While losing more than a ton over the course of a year is an amazing feat, the real work comes in keeping it off. It's time to start preparing for the 2012 Weight Loss Challenge - Competition One (WLC1).

The essence of the competition has not changed at all; this fun eight-week program challenges all City employees to get together in teams, to support each other in an effort to see who can lose the most weight. Everyone is eligible to participate, regardless of whether or not they have participated before. Each participant who loses or maintains their weight over the eight weeks will qualify for participation incentives at the end of the competition. To WIN the competition - as an individual or part of a team - all past participants must be within ten pounds of their final weight from the previous competition.

Here's what you need to know.

The second competition begins January 23, 2012 and ends on March 16, 2012.

Form a new team or keep your old team of three to five employees, elect a team captain (all captains must have an active employee e-mail address), have EACH team member complete the registration form (see associated document link on this page) and return it to Matt Meyers before Wednesday, January 11, 2012. *Note:  Employees may participate as an individual, but will not be eligible to win the team portion of the competition.

Mark your calendar for the initial weigh-in the week of January 16-20. Matt Meyers, Bee-Fit Wellness Coordinator, will visit 25 different City worksites for an initial weigh-in on the official WLC scale. Everyone will be "weighed in" and "weighed out" on the official WLC scale to ensure accuracy for all sites. To qualify for any incentives or to be eligible to win either the team or individual competition, you must have a beginning and ending weight recorded from the official WLC scale.

When the competition begins - January 23 - team members will need to weigh in on their worksite or home scale and report their weight to the team captain each Friday morning for the full eight weeks of the competition. (If you don't already have a scale at your worksite, an inexpensive unofficial scale will be provided once the competition starts, for you to track progress and report weekly weights.) The team captains will, in turn, report their team's weights to Matt Meyers by 1 p.m. each Friday. (Any team not reporting by 1 p.m. will not be included in the weekly standings reports that are sent out.) All team captains must communicate weekly team totals to Matt Meyers via e-mail or voicemail. (These totals will be used to track progress only and will have no bearing on the individual or team prizes at the end of the competition. A tracking sheet will be sent to all captains, after registration and prior to the competition start.)

The competition officially ends on Friday, March 16. The following week of March 19-23, Matt Meyers will again visit the worksites for the final weigh-in on the official WLC scale. To qualify for any incentives or to be eligible to win either the team or individual competition, you must have a beginning and ending weight recorded from the official WLC scale.

Individual and team winners will be determined by percentage of weight lost, not total pounds lost. For example, if your team's starting weight was 400 lbs. and together you lost 50 lbs., the team's percentage lost would be 12.5%.

Every participant is invited to celebrate and even brag a little during the Award Ceremony, tentatively scheduled on Wednesday, April 4, at noon in the City Hall rotunda. Team t-shirts will be given out to all who have qualified, winners of the team and individual competition will be announced and a large group picture will be taken on the steps of the rotunda.

 

Prizes:

All participants who report a weight loss or maintain their weight during the eight-week program will receive a Bee-Fit Weight Loss Challenge t-shirt.

 

Individual Prizes:

1st Place - Flat Screen HD-TV (or equivalent valued at $300)

2nd Place - Wii interactive gaming system (or equivalent valued at $200)

3rd Place - Garmin GPS system (or equivalent valued at $100)

 

Team Prizes:

1st Place - (valued at $100)

2nd Place - (valued at $80)

3rd Place - (valued at $50)

Contact Matt Meyers at 622-4849 or meyersm@stlouiscity.com if you have questions.

Department of Personnel

City of St. Louis

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