Schell Brothers offers 11,000 reasons to get fit

For the last three years I’ve had the privilege to partner up with Schell Brothers companies to offer a corporate fitness challenge designed to give employees the opportunity to get in better shape.

Each year the contest gets bigger, better and more interesting, and this year will certainly not disappoint. Although many companies around the Unites States have offered weight-loss contests, few are as generous and well thought out as this one.

The biggest difference is that the person who loses the most weight in this contest gets nothing! That's right, he or she gets squat. Unless the winner continues to work hard and keep it off.

However, the person who loses the most weight will be eligible to receive $500 a month for each month he or she stays within 1 percent of the finishing weight for a total of 18 months. That’s right; you didn’t read it wrong; that’s $500 a month for 18 months with a possible grand total of $9,000.

To make things more interesting, if the winner gains back more than 1 percent of his or her final check-in weight, the $500 a month will then be awarded to the second-place winner with the same guidelines. If the second-place winner also fails to stay within 1 percent of the final weight, the payments will then go to the third-place winner and so on and so on.

“The idea is to help the winner establish a new, healthier life and habits, not just go on a binge diet for three months,” said Chris Schell, president of Schell Brothers companies.

This system will encourage everyone to try to stay in shape because even though a participant didn’t initially win, if the people above slip, he or she could end up in line to receive the $500 payments. Sound interesting? Hold on, it gets better.

In addition to the weight-loss contest there will also be the Schell Brothers Prettiest Man Award and the Princess Pride Award.

The Schell Brothers Prettiest Man Award is truly hilarious. The winner of this contest will be judged by the women who work at Schell Brothers as well as the Women’s Council of Realtors. The finals will be held at a venue that is yet to be announced but will showcase the male contestants walking the catwalk in outfits also chosen by the women. At the end of the night, the winner will receive $1,000. The Princess Pride Award will be a contest for the fittest women, who will be chosen by three randomly selected men who will determine which female finished in the best shape. The winner of this contest will also receive $1,000 and will be immortalized by having her name added to the Princess Pride trophy. This contest will be an annual event.

In addition to all of the above, Schell Brothers employees were also given the option of enrolling in my 12-week Body Transformation program to help them get in the best shape possible while competing for the prize money. So far, 15 participants have signed up and have already begun their journey toward better health. To add even more incentive, the company has agreed to pay for half of the program for employees who lose 7 percent of their starting body weight and 100 percent of my fees for employees who lose 12 percent or more. To date, I’ve trained 37 Schell Brothers employees through goal-oriented fitness contests, and I firmly believe that the secret to happier, healthier, more productive employees is giving them the knowledge and power to change their lives while offering incentives to those who are willing to work hard to achieve their goals.

How could anyone afford to miss this opportunity? Stay tuned for more details, as I will periodically feature contest results in future columns.