Workplace Competition Brings Out the Best in Employee Health

Orases believes in workplace wellness and healthy eating habits, but every once in a while we find ourselves making excuses for our lackadaisical lounging and abominable self-indulgence of every sugar-coated, grease-slathered goody we can get our hands on. Our team found ourselves munching on bagels, donuts, ice-cream and Wint O Green Lifesavers, while intently admiring the sun-loving, apple-munching building mate who does jumping jacks by the fountain on his lunch break, and who also just so happens to be in great shape. What had we become? Who were we trying to fool?

In March, we put our heads together and decided that enough was enough. There was plenty of competition to go around in our office and although some of us scoffed as we relinquished our comfortable desk chairs to standing desks, we slowly crept toward a realization that maybe, with the encouragement of our coworkers and support from our managers, we just might be able to achieve great success and satisfaction through healthy accountability and commitment.

The Grand Marshall OF The Standing Desk

As it went, Nick became The Grand Marshall of the standing desk. He spread signs around the office about the disadvantages of sitting and soon 75% of our office had dismantled their Herman Miller desk legs and replaced them with sawed off chrome shower curtain rods from the local hardware store. Once everyone assumed an upright stance, while spending countless minutes calculating how many calories they were burning by simply standing, they began to get a familiar itch to up the ante.

The 30-Day Challenge

We began a 30-Day Challenge that most of us participated in, even though it contained a ton of ridiculous rules that prohibited all bread, sugar and thousands of crunches and push-ups (yeah, this was my challenge). Bonus points were given out on a weekly basis for cooking healthy meals or riding/walking to work. People were seeing results and soon everyone was anticipating the next big challenge.

After losing several pounds and significantly improving our eating habits in just a little over 2 months, we are ecstatic and have committed to our newest challenge, The Fitbit Step Challenge. We’ve broken up into 3 teams: The Hot Bod Gods, The Fitbit V and Step-A-Roni Pizza. Our goal is to reach 5.5 million steps as a team in 31 days. Now, 7 days after the start, we have already reached 1,307,303 steps total! We’re walking to lunch, walking around the office instead of emailing or chatting and missing Ray Donovan and Criminal Minds to ensure we hit our daily goal of 10,000 steps.

Much of our success depends on continuous encouragement and sheer willpower to reach our objectives. At Orases, we strive to exceed expectations by setting S.M.A.R.T. goals that allow us to measure our results. By challenging ourselves and our coworkers, we invoke a positive attitude in the office and hope to raise awareness in our community while setting the standard for a brighter, healthier and more enjoyable workforce in Frederick. #orasesfitbitchallenge

Cheers!