According to The Telegraph, on average, the most common New Year’s Resolutions are to exercise more, to lose weight and to eat healthier. For Alabama residents, there is an easy and fun way to stick to those commitments while being held accountable and competing for a substantial prize.
Scale Back Alabama is the state’s largest weight-loss and exercise program. This program encourages participants to pair up and pursue healthy living in order to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks.
“The program was designed to address the state’s challenge with obesity,” said Kathe Briggs, a state committee member and a coordinator for weigh-ins at East Alabama Medical Center.
Alabama has an obesity rate of 35.7 percent and is third in the nation in terms of adult obesity, according to Pam Starks, a Scale Back Alabama state committee member.
This year Scale Back Alabama has almost 500 volunteer coordinators, according to Starks. The program is entering its 12th year, and over the years this program has seen 1.35 million pounds lost, according to the City of Auburn.
Each year local businesses and industries are encouraged to promote this program in their respective communities, and Lee County has participated since the program’s inception in 2007.
“Lee County has been involved since the beginning, offering public and private weigh-in/out sites,” said Alison Hall, a representative of the program who works to help spread the campaign through social media and the program’s local partners.
“This year we have eight public sites, including three offered by Auburn Parks and Recreation: Dean Road Recreation Center, Frank Brown Recreation Center and the Harris Senior Center.”
Hall said that she would personally love to see Lee County break 5,000 pounds lost as a county for the 2018 campaign year.
According to the Scale Back Alabama website, weigh-in week was Jan. 22-28, and the weight-out week is April 2-8. There are several weigh-in/out sites located throughout Lee County.
Registration is free and offered to anyone 18 years old and older who work or live in Alabama.
Participants register in teams of two and as of the end of January, 13,362 participants have registered, Sparks said. Teams who lose at least 10 pounds over the 10-week period are eligible for a state-wide drawing during weigh-out week.
The prizes are as follows: $1,000 per member of the first three teams drawn, $500 per member of the next three teams drawn and $250 per member of the last three teams drawn. In addition, 40 participants will be drawn to receive $100.
For more information about Scale Back Alabama’s campaign, go to https://scalebackalabama.com/. For more information on Lee County’s involvement, visit https://auburnalabama.org/parks/.
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