Whole Foods Employee Discounts-Fatties beware

Not sure how I feel about this. Somehow, I get the feeling it might just boil down to CEO Mackey getting his name in the paper again. The link is here.
Bill

[Robin Garr]

Not sure how I feel about this. Somehow, I get the feeling it might just boil down to CEO Mackey getting his name in the paper again. The link is here.
Bill

Separate and distinct from the central issue, the NY Daily News really bites.

Not sure how I feel about this. Somehow, I get the feeling it might just boil down to CEO Mackey getting his name in the paper again. The link is here.
Bill

Separate and distinct from the central issue, the NY Daily News really bites.

Actually, BITES is being kind.

I second Robin, we used the Daily news to wrap fish!

[Robin Garr]

I second Robin, we used the Daily news to wrap fish!

But to do that, you had to BUY it! <shudder>

When we lived in Queens in the '90s, we took both the NY Times and Newsday. We were newspaper junkies, although the Gannett CJ is helping me get over that.

Back in the day, I used to have a hard time choosing between The Times and the Herald-Tribune, and usually read both.

Not sure how I feel about this. Somehow, I get the feeling it might just boil down to CEO Mackey getting his name in the paper again. The link is here.
Bill

I think its a great idea. They are not punishing the overweight, just rewarding the healthy. All employees still get a 20% discount.

The company I work for gives a 10% insurance discount for non smokers and it encouraged a few people to quit. I'm sure if they offered a discount for BMI a few people would shed some pounds.

They just need to refine their system a bit. For example, no penalty for being overweight, but if you are overweight, you get incentives for shedding some pounds. With reasonable time increments (re-check every three months or something). And it seems like BMI is only one factor in their "formula."

But somehow make rewards based on improvement. Failure to improve would then start costing you percentage points.

The discounts they give are extremely generous anyway. Their employees can buy things on sale, and then add the 20% discount. Boosting it to 30% means they'll probably be buying a lot of things at under cost, especially if they utilize a sale or buy a case(which is 10% off I believe).

Disclaimer: I used to be 3% body fat in my good old marathoning days, but I'm working on a belly now finally in my "older" years....pretty sure I'd meet their top level of health without doing anything. Is that fair? My grampa taught me "life is not fair." There you have it....(but really, regular exercise and a healthy diet goes a long way - what is wrong with rewarding the people who already do it?)

Just judging on BMI is crazy. Yes, it can be a good indication..but not always. I have a very thin uncle who likes to hike and is active, but has some of the worst cholesterol on earth. And what about people that are body builders that might have incredibly low amounts of body fat, but weigh a lot?
I agree with Nimbus, they should give their employees rewards that work on their health.
My company gave us all $50 our monthly premiums for our insurance if we went and had a full bloodwork done. Then they gave us low rates on a gym membership. But unfortunately, they only negotiated with one gym chain, and there isn't one in our city. I wish they had partnered with Weight Watchers instead!

Just judging on BMI is crazy. Yes, it can be a good indication..but not always. I have a very thin uncle who likes to hike and is active, but has some of the worst cholesterol on earth. And what about people that are body builders that might have incredibly low amounts of body fat, but weigh a lot?
I agree with Nimbus, they should give their employees rewards that work on their health.
My company gave us all $50 our monthly premiums for our insurance if we went and had a full bloodwork done. Then they gave us low rates on a gym membership. But unfortunately, they only negotiated with one gym chain, and there isn't one in our city. I wish they had partnered with Weight Watchers instead!

The pricey grocery chain will give 30% discounts to those who don't smoke and have low blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass index (BMI) rates, says CEO John Mackey.

You are in pretty good "self controlled" health if you meet all the criteria.

The BMI index would not work with body builders, but I never see them at Whole Foods.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/he ... z0dwAoGucU