The Wellness for Life taskforce sponsored a walking program again this year in March, after many years of great success with walking programs, led by Denise Crute and Kim James. This year’s program started March 30th and ran to May 22nd. Similar to past years, staff volunteered to lead walking groups, and each group committed to walking twice per week together, with a company-wide goal to walk 10,000 steps per day. This year, IQ Solutions gave staff the opportunity to purchase a FitBit device to further encourage movement throughout the day and 50 percent of the cost was graciously paid for as part of the wellness initiative. Staff who purchased the FitBits also have access to a community board, where they can further encourage their team members and other staff to ‘get moving.’
A walking group was also formed for remote workers, who kept each other accountable by sending text message and email reminders to each other to walk each day. In addition, meet-up times for all groups were also sent out via email, which gave staff the option to join in on walks with other groups and the opportunity to get to know other people outside their designated walking group.
Staff are seeing great results from the walking program and those who participated reported becoming more active throughout the workday as a result. John Bobosh said, “I’ve found that seeing the number of steps I’ve taken and having a goal motivates me to walk/run a bit more. My body fat percentage has dropped about 6 percent since I started the walking program.”
The walking program has also facilitated a new level of camaraderie among staff.
Josh O’Dell said, “Before we started, I might have checked my step-count in the evening and been content with 9,000 as I sat down to relax and watch some TV. Now if I’m at that level, I’m pacing my living room floor while my show is on, waiting for that 10,000-step buzz from my FitBit before I call it a day – and oftentimes I’ll keep on walking around even after it happens. Why? The team needs me, that’s why!”Staff continue to use their FitBits, even after the walking program has ended. Kathryn Mueller also takes the stairs now, whenever possible.
The Wellness for Life taskforce would like to thank everyone who participated in the walking program and encourage everybody to keep walking! Happy steppin’!
