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Promotional Ideas for January Weight Loss, Health & Wellness Programs

January is Healthy Weight Month. Every January millions of Americans will make New Year’s resolutions to get healthy and lose weight. Many organizations launch employee weight loss competitions or health and wellness programs at the start of the year. These programs are beneficial to the overall health of an organization because they decrease absenteeism, build comradery, lower health care costs and increase job satisfaction and productivity. 

The success of these programs depends on participation. The two key components to enlisting participants are an incentive for participating and a reward for the top finishers. For employees, the most valuable top award would be a cash prize or extra vacation time. With valuable health and wellness giveaways promoting your company and your program, companies can incentivize employees to sign up and stay engaged for the duration of the program.

Experts suggest getting 10,000 steps a day for good health. Solar powered pedometers are great eco-friendly promotional products to kick off health and wellness programs and to get employees moving. Low-cost promotional pedometers track up to 99,999 steps per day, distance and calories burned.  

There are varying schools of thoughts on the time it takes to break a habit. Some say 21 days and others say 66.  All weight loss competitions must come to an end but to keep people from dropping out before the end, determine checkpoints throughout the competition and offer a small reward. The checkpoints could be for weight loss, i.e., five pounds, 10 pounds, etc., number of days exercised or number of steps taken. Employees will be more committed to staying with the program if they are rewarded for these ongoing accomplishments. Ideas for eco-friendly health giveaways along the way include portion plates, reusable lunch containers to encourage healthy eating or reusable waters bottle for drinking the recommended 64 ounces of water daily. Any reusable water bottle will encourage people to drink more water but recipients will truly appreciate this ergonomically designed Genuine Thermos® Brand water bottle with a rotating meter that monitors daily water consumption. A high end water bottle such as this Thermos bottle is an ideal eco-friendly promotional product for all employees who complete the program. 

In addition to competitions and giveaways there are many other wellness program ideas for employers to encourage healthfulness among employees on an ongoing basis. It can be something simple like having healthy snacks available or installing a bike rack to encourage bicycling to work.  Organizations with bigger budgets can invest in standing desks, subsidize gym memberships or offer weekly yoga classes.

Big or small, employees will appreciate any company perks that promote health and wellness.