For the past several months, faces have been changing around the office – and I’m not talking about new additions to the team (Welcome, Monica!). Our office staff has been getting healthy by eating clean and hitting the gym. While it started with a friendly competition between Jada and Liz, the office health kick has expanded to include more and more staff, and the crew is expanding weekly.

Thanks to apps, the team is able to track each other ’s progress and hold each other accountable daily. Their progress and tenacity has motivated others around the office to get healthy, whether taking the stairs, or joining a gym. It’s amazing the progress we can make when we have our friends and coworkers to keep us going.

Jada, Liz, and Alma recently hiked Mission Peak in the East Bay. See what Jada has to say below:

“We made it to the top of Mission Peak! Motivation and encouragement is key. 16 weeks of getting fit and eating healthy going on strong! Our journey wasn’t easy. We go to the gym every day, take the stairs at work and take short walks around the block during our breaks and lunches. Through all the sweat and late nights at the gym, we managed to push through and uplift each other to continue. We are each other’s cheerleaders. We also keep tabs on each other with our apple watches to check our activity levels daily. We have more energy and are able to do the things we enjoy! We inspired others to join our journey. Never give up! Teamwork makes the dream work!!!!!!!!”

According to a study published by the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, having a supportive environment for exercise creates a peak and maintainable adherence for exercise programs. In addition, MIT scientists analyzed the daily exercise patterns, geographical locations, and social networks of more than 1 million people over the course of five years and found that exercise is socially contagious. The study also found sharing your work out results – whether on an app or calling a friend to let them know how you did – encourages people to work even harder. Our Cal Pac Ortho team has the right idea!

So as we ring in the New Year and if you are looking for motivation, remember: TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK!