How is your New Year’s resolution going? Statistically, around 48% of people make a resolution to lose weight or begin exercising at the beginning of the year, but more than half have broken their resolution by March; most get discouraged due to poor planning and/or costs involved.

According to our health provider, BCBS, one of the greatest mistakes that people make when trying to lose weight is they starve themselves by missing meals. What people do not seem to understand is that to lose weight, it is not necessary to skip meals. For example, if your body does not get enough nutrition from food, you will not have the vitality to perform various physical activities. The best approach to losing weight is to eat healthy foods: foods that are wholesome, but have low calorie content. Such foods give your body the much needed nutrition without making you gain weight.

Some additional reasons people fail at their weight loss and fitness goals are due to:

• Emotional Eating: Especially in the winter months, people are gripped by intense feelings like anger, hatred, depression, stress, boredom, loneliness, etc., and this is when they rely on the assistance of food to give themselves relief.
• Inefficient Weight Loss Program: An efficient weight loss program is one which suggests a nutritious diet and exercise regimen.  However, some of these programs are expensive.
• Lack of Physical Activity: Not joining a gym or getting assistance establishing a workout plan as regular workouts are required for lasting weight loss.

To help overcome these challenges, did you know that Functional Pathway’s health care plan through BCBS of TN offers many discounted programs for items that are related to health and wellness products and services? A few ways that BCBS assists with supporting a healthy lifestyle include:

• Special membership offers for fitness centers and weight management programs.
• Coupons and deals on fitness trackers, clothing, and gear.
• Discounts on activities and recreation.
• Markdowns on alternative medicine and stress reduction.

For more information, log onto http://www.BCBST.com to look at the Blue Perks benefits offered. The goal is to help make living a healthy lifestyle more affordable and with money saving programs like BluePerks and FinessBlue, they can help both you and your wallet stay healthy.

Paula Hargis

HR Director