Well Fit

At my company we have a good program for health and wellness. Our health insurance is "performance" based. There are four discounts versus full price that are possible for both the employee and their spouse. Those discounts are: body mass index (BMI), cholesterol, blood pressure, and smoking. As a result of this performance based system we are evaluated every year. The evaluation is always in February when everyone is at their fattest and laziest. I have my screening next Wednesday and they always draw blood. It is always a good time. I hate needles, well I don't really hate needles, I hate being stuck with them. I don't care if someone else is getting stuck. I even gave shots to animals on the farm when I was younger.Getting stuck with a needle is just not good.

To illustrate this point I have a story. During the diagnosis for cancer I was giving some blood samples at a local hospital. The Chief was with me in the room where I was giving blood. I told the nurse that I have a tendency to pass out when I get stuck with needles. The nurse says that is not a problem and has me sit on top of the exam table covered with paper. She asked the Chief to sit in the chair next to the door. Next she puts the tourniquet on my arm, cleans off an area with an alcohol swab and proceeds to stick me. The stick did not hurt as bad as a bee sting, she did a very good job. She gets the first vial full and changes to the next one. The next thing I remember is being picked up off the floor.

The Chief told me that the nurse taking the blood from me had a complete come apart when I passed out. Complete with yelling for help and nearly pulling some of her hair out... I guess the next time someone tells her they pass out when they get poked with a needle, she will believe them.

Anyway, back to the health screening. My company does a good job of making it as painless as possible even though the screening is in February. There are a number of contests and fitness classes that are available to any employee and in some cases spouses. The current contest is not really a contest, the person with the highest total does not get anything special. It is a mile club, the more miles you travel by foot, walking and running, the more prizes you get. The contest lasts for six months. The milestones are 100, 250, 500, 750, and 1000 miles.

The prizes are:
100 miles - Company Logo water bottle
250 miles - Company Logo microfiber sweat towel
500 miles - Company Logo soft sided lunch box
750 miles - Gym bag - I didn't see a logo but I might have missed it.
1000 miles - $50 gift card to a local athletic apparel store

The gym bag is very nice. It has a shoe compartment to keep shoes separate from the rest of the clothing. It also has a smaller compartment for wet clothing and another smaller one for misc. stuff.

There is a progress board that has the milestones and a caricature of each contest participant in the area. Every month, everyone turns in their mileage total. Someone then moves the caricatures past the milestones and in order of mileage logged.

There is also a large label that says "Mile Fit for Life." The individual letters are taped up and some of them fall down from time to time. One afternoon I walk by the "score" wall and see this:

I am really upset that I did not think of it. Although, a couple people asked me if I did it...

The contest finished last week. I made it past 1000 miles. My total was 1049 miles including both walking and running. There was a lot of walking around London and Tokyo during business travels.

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