Now’s the time for anyone who has made a resolution to lose weight this year to gather a few friends together and get healthier by losing weight and eating better.
The second year of Lighten Up Lenoir, a weight-loss challenge through Lenoir Memorial Hospital, will be starting Jan. 21.
The free program has had a successful year with three 16-week sessions and a combined weight loss of 6,000 pounds from 1,000 participants.
“The average participant lost 5 to 7 pounds but some lost 25 pounds or more,” said Constance Hengel, Lenoir Memorial director of Community Programming and Development.
The key is to form a four-member team that will motivate one another to stay on target for each member’s weight-loss goal, Hengel said.
“We like people to join as a team because it gives support for weight loss to continue after the competition is over,” she said. “Studies support that weight loss can be significantly influenced by being around others working on weight loss, too.”
So grab up some family or church members, best friends and buddies to form your own team and visit the hospital’s website to register. Participants do not have to live in Lenoir County, but must have an email address.
Each Monday, members enter their weight on the site. Individual weights are confidential — only the total team weight is available for viewing.
The website also contains thousands of healthy recipes, exercise videos and tips and links on nutrition and other weight-loss information. Also new this year is availability to Pinterest, a content-sharing service that allows members to “pin” images, videos and other objects to their pinboard, and also includes standard social networking features, according to pinterest.com.
The Minges Wellness Center at Lenoir Memorial has a fitness center, for a minimal charge, and an outdoor walking track to help participants reach their goal.
“Being overweight contributes as a risk factor for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, knee and hip problems, to name a few,” Hengel said. “Slimming down can help you sleep better, breathe better and have more energy to do the things in life that matter.”
Prizes will be given to members of the top team and top individual in May when the session ends.
“Remember, the prizes are small for this competition,” Hengel said, “but the real winners are those that drop pesky pounds and keep them off.”
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com.
Breakout box:
The Free Press wants to help Lenoir Memorial Hospital kick off the first cycle of Lighten Up Lenoir for 2013 by sponsoring a contest for the Best Team Name. Teams that are registered only by the Jan. 21 deadline will automatically be entered in the contest and will be eligible for prizes. Readers of Kinston.com will help narrow down the list of team names to the best 10; then the winner will be decided. All teams have to do is register, but they must register by the deadline.
Breakout box:
- The next 16-week Lighten Up Lenoir session runs from Jan. 21 to May 10
- Register your four-member team or as an individual by Jan. 21 by visiting LightenUpLenoir.org or calling 252-522-7028
- For information about joining the Wellness Center, call 252-522-7014