Anna Winter may be Moree’s Biggest Loser contestant, but a number of team members at Coles are currently undergoing their own weight loss journeys.
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Ten Coles staff members have lost a combined 150 kilograms (and counting) since January this year.
What began as a challenge between two staff members, soon grew into something much bigger and has resulted in a healthier, happier and more productive work environment.
“I decided I needed to lose a bit of weight, and Don [Storey] decided to lose a bit, so we put $100 in and whoever was first to lose 15kg would win,” Moree Coles manager Ryan Lumb said. “Since then it’s become a thing in the store. It’s been fantastic.”
As Mr Lumb (who has so far lost 22kg), Don (who’s dropped 20kg) and Ashleigh Gregory (who has lost 7.6kg) began to lose weight, other staff members became inspired and soon joined in.
There is now a pair of scales in store and those participating in the weight-loss challenge have weekly weigh-ins – the girls on Mondays and the boys on Fridays.
“We were a fairly large store to begin with,” Mr Lumb said. “Part of our development is being a bit better every day.”
While everyone has different goals, each team member has been using the MyFitnessPal app to count calories to aid in their weight loss.
“Diets don’t work, it’s all about a better lifestyle,” Mr Lumb said.
“The initiative is to create a healthier workplace.”
James Powlton was drinking three to four litres of coca-cola a day, and consuming 70 standard alcoholic drinks some weeks and by cutting out his soft drink consumption and limiting his alcohol intake, has lost 15kg.
Other team members taking part in the challenge include Janine Stevens who has lost 23kg, Jessie-lee Harris who has lost 33kg, Merri-ann Storey who has lost 6kg, Gale Mckey who has lost 12kg, Sanjana Naidu who has lost 6kg, Brenda Nash who has lost 5kg and Melanie Collins who has also lost 5kg.
While being surrounded by food and temptations within the store has been difficult, Mr Lumb said doing it as a team has been more motivating for everyone – during tea breaks they’ll watch what each other is eating and now get salads for lunch instead of meat pies, kebabs or KFC.
“It’s been a pretty decent learning curve for everyone. We all struggled in the first week – we obsessed about food,” he said.
Now, the results speak for themselves.
“It’s a much better environment to work in,” Mr Lumb said. “The level of energy around the store is much better as a result. We see an improvement in ourselves and our team.”
