In 2010, the Scale Back Alabama campaign motivated 30,000 people to lose 146,451 pounds.
As four-member teams register for 2011, expectations are high.
"Eat right; move more," said Kathe Briggs, director of health promotion and disease management at the East Alabama Medical Center, about how Alabama should tackle its weight problems.
Briggs, a member of the task force that helped develop the Scale Back Alabama campaign, said she believes this simple order is a great start.
Scale Back Alabama is a 10-week contest designed to promote weight loss and exercise and create healthy lifestyle changes in Alabama.
The program is entering its fifth year, and Abby Dorminey, public relations specialist for the Alabama Hospital Association, said she expects similar results for 2011.
"It's really rewarding to see how (participants) are improving their lives," Dorminey said, "They're setting goals and achieving them."
According to Dorminey, 18,163 of the 30,000 participants completed the program, meaning they lost 10 pounds in the allotted 10-week time line.
"Ten pounds in 10 weeks is very realistic," Briggs said.
While 10 pounds may not seem like a lot of weight loss, any improvement is considered a victory in the fight against Alabama's weight problems, Briggs said.
"Exercise is medicine, and it needs to be looked at that way," Briggs said.
Not only does exercise translate into weight loss, but it has proven to create psychological benefits and reduce blood pressure as well.
This year, Scale Back Alabama is offering greater incentives for participants.
Teams in which all four participants lose at least 10 pounds are entered into a drawing with a chance to win $4,000.
Yuki Kariya, an intern at HealthPlus Fitness Center in Opelika, was handling sign-ups for Scale Back Alabama last weekend.
"We had 20 or 25 teams sign up today and probably 80 or more this week," Kariya said.
A $100 prize is awarded for the most creative team name.
"We had some really funny ones like Mission Slim Possible," Kariya said. "Some others were Baby's Got Back, The Tootsie Rolls and Big Butt Busters."
A team captain is chosen to help maintain a level of accountability among members, and a healthy sense of competition is promoted to encourage weight loss.
Members who do not lose 10 pounds, but participate in the final weigh-in are entered in a separate drawing for rewards.
"Any weight loss is still an achievement," Dorminey said. "We would still like to know."
Dorminey said the campaign goes "beyond the pounds" and aims to promote changes in habits and lifestyle to maintain the weight loss.
"Forty percent increase their daily water intake, 80 percent increase their consumption of dairy and about 50 percent reported an increase in exercise," Dorminey said.
Briggs said the campaign combats an entire culture's poor health habits.
"It's going to be hard-- we're attempting to make culture changes and imbed health choices in everyday life," Briggs said.
The southeast is part of the "red states," areas where there is a high level of obesity and health issues surrounding weight.
"Driving down the street, it's much harder to find a place you can make a good food choice rather than a bad one," Briggs said.
Planners of Scale Back Alabama expect at least as many participants as last year, meaning the number of Alabamians choosing to eat right and move more is 30,000 and growing.
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