Bridget Jones (yes, that’s her real name) was skeptical when her employer announced a new, no-cost wellness benefit designed to help employees lose weight.
The 51-year-old flight attendant didn’t believe these kinds of programs ever actually worked, but she decided to give it a try. Jones had gained weight and was finding herself moody and unhappy due to a hectic work schedule and poor eating habits.
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“I was experiencing extreme emotions,” Jones said. “I had stopped enjoying things that I love, activities like jogging, going out with friends, and hanging out with family. I started having more body aches and I probably could have been diagnosed as mildly depressed.”
Her airline partnered with wellness platform Wondr Health (formerly Naturally Slim), which promised weight loss without exercise or extreme dieting. Jones’ reaction? Skepticism and a few eye rolls.
“Flight attendants are always running around 24 hours a day, seven days a week. [I thought] do they not know what we do, when they offered this program,” Jones says. “I was grabbing food on the go and [my thinking was], who loses weight by eating what you want?"
Begrudgingly, Jones committed to the 10 week program, setting what she thought was an unrealistic goal: a 30-pound weight loss. But while Jones was committed to proving her employer wrong, she successfully hit her goal and rewired her attitudes around food and eating.
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“Some of the foundation is really understanding when you eat and how we use food as comfort instead of fuel,” Jones says. “We had to follow video modules that broke down common sense things like not eating until you’re hungry and understanding how your mental state plays a role too.”
People often turn to food during times of stress and uncertainty, says Dana Labat, a clinical psychologist and Wondr Health instructor. Comfort eating can provide immediate stress relief but won’t address the fundamental issue. These habits cause prolonged negative consequences without intervention.
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“We live in a stressful world and it is only natural to look for ways to seek comfort in stressful times. Food is most often an easily available option for short-term relief,” Labat says. “Unfortunately, eating as a form of emotional coping provides just that — a short-term benefit. Afterwards, we don’t feel any better, physically or emotionally, because our underlying needs aren't met. That’s why it’s so important to have stress management skills to access in the moment.”
Wondr Health provides employees with digital resources to learn these stress management and coping skills. Employees are paired with coaches who understand the underlying causes of weight gain and obesity and work to help clients connect the dots to their mental health. In addition to a personalized diet plan, employees learn habit building to help them maintain their positive results.
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For Jones, her health coach helped to guide her on her personal journey to understand her body, her eating habits and ultimately improve her mental health, which not only had a positive impact on her personal life, but her work-life as well.
“I'm much more energized now, because I understand my body’s needs,” Jones says. “As an employer, if you're looking at your employees as assets, then you want them to be at work mentally, physically, and emotionally healthy. This [benefit] does all of those things.”
