By Jane Luscombe
Staff at Waikato Hospital have been thinking big about getting small.
They've lost more than 4,000kg collectively in the past year as part of a Weight Watchers initiative, and they hope their example will inspire others.
Hospital worker Erin Dent has lost 20kg.
“I waited 'til I changed three sizes and everything was so baggy I had to pretty much get an entire new wardrobe,” she says.
She's one of 502 staff who Waikato DHB has signed up for Weight Watchers in the past 12 months. Together they've lost 4,200kg, and counting. That's the equivalent of 8,400 blocks of butter, or 58 average-sized New Zealanders.
Information services manager Grant Goodman is larger than average, which is why he's part of the scheme. He wants to lose 32kg.
“My target is 100kg,” he says, “I've committed myself.”
Nursing and midwifery director Sue Hayward says the idea is to make it as easy as possible by doing it at work.
“You've got the support of all the people you've joined up with and the constant encouragement that you get if you are walking down the corridor or you're seeing them in the workplace,” she says.
Weight Watchers says more and more workplaces are joining the scheme to help their staff lose weight.
“Currently we have nearly 70 at work meetings going on every day across the week throughout New Zealand,” says spokesperson Jenny Martin.
Waikato's achievements have earned it an award as workplace of the year.
The efforts of staff have caught the attention of hospitals around the country and eight others have now signed up to shed the kilos.
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