The Nutrition Services department at Tyrone Hospital organized a weight loss competition for hospital employees to encourage healthy habits. The competition was kicked off during March in recognition of National Nutrition Month and concluded at the end of April.
\nEmployees were invited to form weight loss teams and the winning team was determined by the total percentage of weight lost. To help them get started, Tyrone Hospital\u2019s registered dietitian was available to meet with participants to offer healthy weight loss tips. Weekly weigh-ins were held and weekly results were posted to give weight loss participants and the rest of the Tyrone Hospital family an opportunity to monitor the teams\u2019 progress.
\nPete Byich, Director of Nutrition Services at Tyrone Hospital, said the competition was an opportunity for employees to work together and use their camaraderie to address a health issue.
\n\u201cThe event was a success because most all of the participants lost some weight and in the process received information about the importance of healthy nutrition and physical activity. People were serious about their weight loss goals, but they also had a lot of fun and brought some humor to the competition.\u201d
\nThere were more than 40 participants who comprised eight weight loss teams. The names the teams adopted were as colorful as the spirit they brought to the competition: The Flabby Gabbies, Groovy Money Makers, Bottom Feeders, Bankrupt Bellies, XXX-Ray, Fabulicious, Chunky Monkeys, and ProCare Pound Posse.
\nIn the end, the collective weight lost by the teams was 324 pounds or .4 percent of the teams\u2019 collective starting weight.
\n\u201cExcess weight contributes to a variety of health problems,\u201d said Linda Petrunak, R.D., registered dietitian at Tyrone Hospital. \u201cAll of the participants are winners because any amount of weight lost is a step in the direction of better health.\u201d
\nThe team with the greatest percentage of weight lost was the XXX-Ray comprised of employees from the hospital\u2019s radiology department. The team\u2019s initial weight was 910 pounds and their ending weight was 859 pounds or 5.4 percent less.
\nTerry Crouse, a member of the XXX-ray team said his involvement in the competition benefited not only him but his teenage daughter as well.
\n\u201cShe adopted healthier habits along with me and as a result she lost 17 pounds.\u201d Crouse lost 21 pounds in the competition, the second largest amount lost by an individual.
\nRecognition was also extended to Ricky Smith, Housekeeping Supervisor. With a total weight loss of 32 pounds or 13.45 percent of his initial weight, he was the biggest individual loser.
\n\u201cIt was a great experience,\u201d said Smith. \u201cI learned that even making small changes can make a big difference. All I did was give up soda, drink more water, eat smaller portions, and exercise more.\u201d
\nByich said the hospital is grateful for the support received from the Northern Blair Recreation Center, LA Fitness in Tyrone, Metz & Associates, and ProCare Rehabilitation for sponsoring the weight loss event.
\n\u201cWe are already talking about plans to do the competition again next year,\u201d said Byich. \u201cWe are even kicking around the idea of asking other local employers if they would like to coordinate an employee weight loss competition between organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Nutrition Services department at Tyrone Hospital organized a weight loss competition for hospital employees to encourage healthy habits. The competition was kicked off during March in recognition of National Nutrition Month and concluded at the end of April. Employees were invited to form weight loss teams and the winning team was determined by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39034\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}