Missing: Nearly 500 pounds of Kansas City-area resident, often seen wearing loose clothing to cover bulging midsections and oversized keisters. If seen, please bid “Good Riddance!” from the rest of us.
Results from the Fittest Execs and Fittest Companies Challenge are now in the books, and after two installments, this community is close to half a ton lighter than it used to be. That’s but one key metric produced through the committed efforts of 181 contestants representing 34 teams who completed the 2010–2011 installment of this corporate wellness initiative sponsored by Ingram’s in partnership with the Metropolitan Medical Society of Greater Kansas City, YMCA of Greater Kansas City, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Carondelet Health, Athletic and Rehabilitation Center and Holmes Murphy and Associates.
Born of the conviction that good health is good business, the Fittest Execs and Fittest Companies Challenge debuted in 2009, then gained impressive momentum—doubling in size—in the subsequent year. Participants were assessed at the onset of this 111-day journey to fitness, and again at the end, to measure improvements.
What did they achieve? Overall, 138 members of the competition registered a net increase in their health metrics, a success rate of nearly 80 percent. Success is a relative thing, though, and some contestants achieved more of it than others. In the following pages, you’ll read about the high performers, learn what motivated them, what exercise and diet practices worked for them, and what, in the end, made the difference between this program and others that many have flirted with, only to fail.
The bottom line, though: In the 15 key metrics measured to compile each participant’s overall health score, the ENTIRE FIELD recorded gains in 13 metric areas, covering body-mass index, blood pressure, triglyceride levels, strength and flexibility measurements and much more.
That success was testament to both the effectiveness of the Fittest Execs and Fittest Companies Challenges’ structure, and to the vital influence of executive leadership, as C-level executives were em-bedded into every team.
Jo Ann Mendenhall, human resources director for A. Zahner Co., this year’s Most-Improved Team, may have put it best when she reflected on the importance of bringing executive leadership into the fitness mix: “When I see my co-workers continue to work on their health and look fit—that makes ME feel good and helps me work on my own personal goals,” she said.
Fittest Team: Dermatology & Skin Cancer Center
