AUBURN – For employers hoping to encourage healthy habits among their employees, that “no pain, no gain” mantra from the 1980s is old news.

There are lots of painless, free or low-cost ways to help employees quit smoking, start moving and eat healthy, according to a panel of presenters at Thursday morning’s monthly Chamber of Commerce breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn.

“Wellness programs are definitely doable, no matter what your size company,” said Jennifer Willey of Canteen Services, which offers food services to clients around the state. She and Gail Charpentier of Acorn Products and Dawna Hannan of Oxford Networks shared their experiences with Healthy Androscoggin, the community program that encourages healthy workplaces.

Some of their successes:

• Walking programs. At Acorn Products, interest started when workers formed a team to participate in the American Heart Association Heart Walk. They set a goal of raising $1,500, and instead, raised $3,600. More than half of the company’s 32 employees now participate in a walking program that rewards the person who goes the longest distance with a free gym membership or exercise equipment for the home.

“You need employee buy-in,” said Charpentier. “Having 17 employees participate in that program means it’s been very successful in my eyes.”

• Healthy eating. Oxford Networks replaced fried foods, pizza and doughnuts at company meetings with healthier options. They installed bottled water on every floor. A “Biggest Loser” style competition drew more than 30 participants who collectively lost 207 pounds.

At Canteen Services, a five-week program called “Produce Power” taught employees how to measure and incorporate more fruits and vegetables into their diets – something most people think they do, but actually don’t.

“It was a wake-up call for a lot of people,” Willey said.

• Stop smoking. Oxford Networks eliminated smoking from all its property a few years ago, but recently extended that policy to prohibit smoking in company vehicles. The policy now includes smokeless tobacco as well.

“I thought we’d get more push-back than we did,” said Hannan. “But we still see a handful of employees walking up the street to smoke offsite.”

So now the company is offering a work-based smoking cessation program that’s drawn interest from at least six employees.

• Incentives. Oxford Network offers a 10 percent reduction in medical premiums to employees if they agree to participate in confidential wellness screening. Only two of Oxford Network’s 112 employees have declined the screening, said Hannan.

Willey has a client in South Portland who swapped junk food for healthy snacks in its vending machine. Some of the healthier options have stickers on them that can be redeemed at human resources for a small prize.

Acorn provides high-quality pedometers to its employees, a modest investment of $16.95 that in turn encourages physical activity. They also pay half the cost of a gym membership for employees and deduct the contribution automatically from their paychecks – a $2.55 per week that 10 employees have taken advantage of.

“We’re pretty proud of that,” said Charpentier.

Healthy Androscoggin distributes annual awards to workplaces that make health a priority among their staffs. According to a January chamber survey, about 60 percent of member companies have no wellness programs or have had them for less than one year.

That leaves a lot of room for improvement, said Jim Handy, who is chairman of the Healthy Androscoggin board. More than 9,500 employees have benefited from programs initiated with Healthy Androscoggin’s help.

“The employees and the employers see the benefits,” he said. “There’s less stress, more productivity. And you see people reach personal goals.

“We can help any company get started,” he said, noting that the assistance is free. “There are so many resources.”