Healthy eating challenges for your corporate wellness program

Study after study proves that when employees eat better, they feel better, their overall health is better and their workplace productivity increases. Workplace wellness is a win-win – employees feel better, and companies have a happier workforce, increased productivity and lower health care costs. When people are at their desk and they’re hungry, they tend to grab whatever is easiest and closest – not what is healthiest. Emotional, mindless eating due to stress or tiredness is an easy habit to acquire and a hard one to break.

But how do you bring healthy eating habits into the workplace, without the social stigma of body size shaming or pressuring employees to participate? To get employee buy-in, let employees organize and manage the challenge, with HR’s support. Usually a challenge that is long enough to create some momentum, is the most likely to succeed. While you may have heard that it takes 21 days to change a habit, research has demonstrated it typically takes 66 days to anchor a new eating, drinking and exercise habit (ranging between 18-254 days). While a 30-day nutrition challenge can get things started, longer challenges will optimally create more long-term results that stick.

3 Keys to Making your Workplace Nutrition Challenge a Success:

Most important is information. An informed employee is the most likely to participate in a nutrition challenge because they understand the benefits and want to make the change, but need help.

Secondly, provide the tools and resources to help employees succeed at their wellness challenge. Reminders, support such as healthy foods and drinks, and positive reinforcement are very important to helping your team develop healthy new habits. When key managers and company leaders actively participate in the challenge, it creates both top-down and bottom-up motivation throughout the organization.

Lastly, incentivize. Everyone wants to be rewarded, even for doing what they know they should be doing – but aren’t. Rather than celebrating individual results, foster a sense of community and reward all participants. Incentives don’t need to be costly or elaborate, but they should be meaningful to the challenge: think fun t-shirts, a fruit smoothie coupon, a lunch-hour yoga class, mini massages, healthy meal kit delivery service vouchers or a grocery store gift certificate.

3 Healthy Eating Workplace Wellness Challenges

Here are 3 company challenges you can try this summer to encourage healthier, happier employees.

1. Eat Better Challenge

We are surrounded by misinformation and food options every day. To help your employees make smarter choices, start by introducing them to three broad categories of food:

Natural or minimally processed foods

Natural and minimally processed foods are foods that have been altered only slightly but have no added salt, sugar or oil.

Examples include:

• Eggs
• Fresh fruit
• Pre-washed salad
• Rice
• Grains ground into flour
• Pasteurized milk
• Dried legumes
• Frozen vegetables
• Fresh or dried pasta
• Unsweetened yogurt
• Unsalted nuts, natural nut butters
• Cooked or frozen meats
• Dried unsweetened fruit

Processed foods

Processed foods are those that are natural or minimally processed foods but that have added ingredients such as salt, sugar or oil.

Examples include:

• Cheese
• Pickles
• Canned fruit
• Canned legumes
• Canned stewed tomatoes
• Ceef jerky
• Deli meat
• Canned fish
• Simple bread (made from flour, yeast, water and salt)

For a list of the healthiest processed foods check out our blog post here: The Top Processed Foods to Keep in Your Diet

Ultra-processed foods

Ultra-processed foods may not be recognizable as a version of an original natural food and will have additives included for colour, flavour, aroma, texture or ingredients added to extend the shelf life.

Examples include:

• Cake mixes
• Frozen entrees
• Sweetened baked goods
• Sweetened breakfast cereals
• Cereal bars & candies
• Pop & diet pop

Challenge:

Eat more natural or minimally processed foods

How:

• Give participants a list of natural or minimally processed foods
• Have each participant count the number of natural or minimally processed foods in their daily lunch
• Tacking can be done on paper, in a shared online spreadsheet, or with a habit-tracking app (like strides).
• Add up the total number of natural/minimally processed foods each person recorded
• Combine individual totals for a team score each week
• At the end of the challenge, reward the individual or team with the most points!
• Optional: Give bonus points for consistency

Ask each participant to categorize their daily lunch (or workday snack choices or supper) choices by green, yellow and red food choices.  Tracking can happen on paper or using an app such as a goal/habit tracking app such as Strides.
Work in teams to add up the total number of green, yellow and red food choices each week for the real food challenge.

2. Water Cooler Happy Hour Challenge

Not all happy hours start at 5pm! Dehydration is one of the most underestimated factors affecting workplace performance. Even mild dehydration can subtly—but significantly—impact the way we think and function. Research shows that losing as little as 1% of your body’s water can decrease cognitive abilities, making it harder to stay sharp throughout the day. Key effects of mild dehydration include:

• Reduced cognitive abilities – tasks that require focus, memory, or problem-solving become more difficult.
• Lower concentration – it’s easier to get distracted or lose track of details.
• Slower mental processing – decision-making and reaction times can be negatively affected.

Staying properly hydrated isn’t just about quenching thirst—it’s about keeping your mind performing at its best every day.

Keeping well hydrated when participating in sports such as running, hiking, gym workouts can help you perform at your best. And proper hydration can help you perform at your best at work. Water is the best choice for staying hydrated, but other fluids such as milk, juice or tea can help get you there. How much water do you actually need? As a general guideline, adult males need about 3 litres (12 cups) of fluid per day and adult women need about 2.2 litres (9 cups) of fluid per day.

A hydration challenge can motivate your employees to boost their water intake so they feel better, look better and improve their concentration and energy.

Challenge:

Drink more water (and skip the pop).

How:

1. Give participants a branded happy hour water bottle they can take to their desk and replenish at your water station.

2. Create an attractive and flavourful water station with colourful and enticing fruits they can use to flavour their water:

• Orange wedges
• Raspberries and blueberries
• Watermelon cubes and mini key limes cut in half
• Splash of unsweetened juice
• Thinly sliced cucumber and fresh mint leaves

3. Set a water schedule. Remind employees to refill their water bottles at 9am, 12noon and 3pm.

4. Track water intake. There are free apps that remind everyone to take a sip, and that track how much water they are drinking.

• My Water Balance
• Drink Water Reminder
• Aqualert
• Water Time

Or, go old-school and have employees fill out and post a hydration challenge worksheet.

3. Give A Snack / Get A Snack Challenge

I think it’s totally okay to enjoy all kinds of foods in moderation. As the Chocolate Loving Nutritionist, I love chocolate myself, but I try to balance treats with other foods, so I feel good throughout the day.

Many organizations would really appreciate donated snacks as a special treat for their clients. Treats like chocolate or sweet snacks can absolutely fit into a balanced diet—it’s all about enjoying them occasionally rather than every day.

Challenge your employees to “fill the box” in 30 days with healthy treats they aren’t eating to donate to an organization… and for each treat they donate, reward them with a healthy treat!

There are companies that supply healthy workplace snacks, or stock up on health treats like:

• Raw veggies and dip
• Hard cooked eggs
• Yogurt containers or parfaits
• Mini bags of nuts
• Whole grain crackers and hummus individual servings
• Cheese packages

Mix it up with a weekly smoothie bar, fruit bowl, or veggie and dip platter to keep the message up front and the motivation strong.

When the challenge is over, invite a team of colleagues to deliver the snack donation, and report back with photos the entire office can enjoy.

Mindful Eating

There are many other fun nutrition challenges you can launch at work that encourage employees to eat better:

A healthiest homemade granola bar or energy ball competition
Pack a healthy lunch for your colleague challenge
Healthy breakfast challenge

A workplace nutrition challenge is a good opportunity to encourage healthy, mindful eating habits that can be learned and reinforced at the office then followed at home. To be successful your program shouldn’t be extreme, but should encourage practical, easy to implement lifestyle changes that make participants feel better about themselves.

What nutrition and wellness challenges have been successful in your workplace? We’d like to know! Leave me a note in the comments below or contact us with your company nutrition challenges and questions.

Ready to bring fresh, engaging nutrition support to your workplace?

Since 2000, we’ve specialized in workplace nutrition and wellness. We offer customized seminars, webinars, healthy eating challenges, and onsite or virtual nutrition counseling led by our expert corporate health dietitians.

Book a free consultation call to start planning a solution that fits your team’s needs.

Check out our Workplace Wellness Scorecard to find out how your workplace rates with nutrition.

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