Some Kansas City public employees are on the path to losing 10 pounds in 10 weeks. Registered dietician Karla Barry leads Kansas City's Fountain of Health Wellness Program. She issued the 10 Pounds 10 Week Challenge and 100 employees signed up for weekly meetings offering nutrition counseling and fitness training. Barry invited me to come and check out the program.
The one-hour weekly meetings begin with participating employees weighing in. Barry shares healthy recipes and talks with the group about things like stress eating, journaling and making healthy food choices.
Fitness trainer Derwin Hall gives the employees a quick workout. During the meeting I attended at the Kansas City Health Department, Hall gave employees resistance bands and led them in a series of stretches and fat-burning exercises. I was honestly surprised that my muscles were hard at work doing simple exercises and I didn't even break a sweat.
Employees I talked with said they enjoyed having workplace meetings and the support of co-workers with the same weight loss goals. Kansas City's Fountain of Health Wellness Program meets at four locations right now: City Hall, the Water Department, Parks Department and the Health Department.
Other programs also offer diabetes training for city employees. A program to help city employees stop smoking is in the works. For more information, visit the Kansas City Fountain of Health Wellness program.
-------
Cynthia Newsome can be reached at cynthia.newsome@kshb.com.
