King County Weight Watchers at Work® is a weight management program that encourages healthy eating, increased physical activity, and healthy weight management behaviors.

The program is part of the Health Reform Initiative efforts to encourage employees to eat smart and move more.

The goal of the King County Weight Watchers at Work® program is to provide onsite weight management to King County employees as part of the county’s overall strategy to control increasing employee health care costs by helping employees build and improve healthy life habits.

To make participation easier for King County employees, one-hour weekly meetings are held at King County worksites. Each meeting is facilitated by a Weight Watchers-trained leader.

Losing Weight the Healthy Way

There are many ways to lose weight, but it is not always easy to keep the weight off. The key to successful weight loss is making changes in your eating and physical activity habits that you can keep up for the rest of your life.

Eat Smart

A weight-loss “diet” that limits your portions to a very small size or that excludes certain foods may be hard to stick to. Instead, develop a healthy eating plan that takes into account your likes and dislikes, and includes a variety of foods that give you enough calories and nutrients for good health.

Make sure your healthy eating plan is one that:

• Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products.
  
• Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, bean, eggs and nuts.
  
• Is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars.

Move More

Regular physical activity may help you lose weight and keep weight off. It may also improve your energy level and mood, and lower your risk for developing diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.

Any amount of physical activity is better than none. Experts recommend doing at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most or all days of the week for good health. To lose weight or maintain a weight loss, you may need to do more than 30 minutes of physical activity a day, as well as follow your healthy eating plan.

You can get your daily 30 minutes or more all at once, or break it up into shorter sessions of 20, 15, or even 10 minutes.

Even Modest Weight Loss Can Mean Big Benefits

Studies indicate that even modest weight loss, such as 5 to 10 percent of your total body weight, is likely to produce health benefits, such as improvements in blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood sugars.

In addition to improving your health, maintaining a weight loss is likely to improve your life in other ways. A study of participants in the National Weight Control Registry found that individuals who maintained a significant weight loss reported improvements in their physical health, energy levels, physical mobility, general mood, and self-confidence.