TEXAS TRAINERS

MATTHEW ENIS

H.E. Butt Grocery Co. is giving San Antonio-area families a chance to throw their hats in the ring and compete for a wellness makeover.

The company's first-ever “H-E-B goodness! Challenge” begins in March, when three local families will be selected from a pool of applicants who have submitted brief essays on the Texas grocer's website or dropped off entry forms at a store's pharmacy counter.

Winners will be guided through a three-month course in healthy eating and exercise habits with the help of several H-E-B experts, as well as contest partners at local health care provider Baptist Health System's HealthLink health and fitness center.

“We take a great interest in the health and well-being of our customers, and this is one more way in which we hope to inspire them to meet their goals for a healthy future,” said Dya Campos, director of public affairs for H-E-B.

HealthLink will provide winners with a three-month membership at one of its area fitness centers, along with regular physicals, health screenings and medical advice at its clinics.

Meanwhile, H-E-B will give the winners $100 per week in gift cards to “buy healthy” during the same three months, as well as nutritional counseling and an activity program designed by the company's pharmacists. H-E-B nutritionists will also provide cooking lessons throughout the challenge, while the company's director of healthy living will offer dietary supplement advice.

In a reality-show twist that will help San Antonio residents learn how to leverage all of these resources to meet their own health goals, the winners' experiences will be chronicled by the San Antonio Express-News, as well as in the retailer's “H-E-B goodness!” health and wellness magazine, and on H-E-B's and Baptist Health System's websites.

“We look forward to seeing the progress they make as they take on the challenge,” said Campos.