Every New Year’s people set resolutions to lose weight. The nurses in Surgery Testing and Registration (STAR) at Clovis Community were no different. By week two of the New Year, most had fallen off the dieting wagon.  A few STAR staff members were sharing their woes of staying on diets and the idea of holding a weight-loss challenge emerged. A 12-week weight-loss challenge with weekly weigh ins and incentives sounded like a lot of fun, so the STAR staff decided to open it up to other areas of Surgical Services. Seventeen people from 6 different departments (STAR, SST, Scheduling, Phase II, Endo, and volunteer services) competed to lose the most. A STAR nurse kept track of the weekly weigh ins, logging them and sending out encouraging emails to the group.

“Staff jumped on board and took this seriously” says Mindy Judd, RN.In the end, the group lost a total of 175 lbs. “Staff began walking during breaks and lunches and the potlucks turned far healthier” says Kelli Teare, RN. 

The top “Loser” was outpatient volunteer, Diane Harrison, who shed 15.6 % of her total body weight. When asked about the competition Diane said, “This has been a great motivation to lose weight.” She goes on to recommend that the corporation should have friendly competitions among departments or possibly holding a CCMC versus CRMC competition.

Runner-up Margie Conway, outpatient navigator who lost 14.4% of her body weight says, “I enjoyed the friendly competition but the support we gave to each other created a bond! It was such a positive and fun experience.”

Losing weight is never easy, but having the support of a team to keep you accountable helped to keep these staff members heading in the right direction. Congratulations to all of the weight-loss participants for striving for improved health.

Kelli Teare, RN, Pre-Op Education Clinical Nurse III
 

Margie Conway, Lee Anne Bretz, Debbie Cossa, Donna Urbano , Diane Harrison, Kelli Teare, Judith Ellis, Mindy Judd and Valerie Henderson. Not Pictured: Olga Espinosa, Julie Novielli, Cheryl Miller, Kasey Payton, Laurie Adamo, Shawna DelaCruz, Lacie Batrich, and Jorge Diaz.