By By MaryClaire Foster
A few weeks ago I wrote about New Year’s resolutions, and no doubt many of you have already given up or are miserable trying to stick with them. Well, for those of you who have chosen weight loss as your goal for the year we decided to bring to you a couple of different ways to help out as you continue your weight loss or get you motivated again if you have already given up.
The amount of time and effort losing weight requires are two reasons many people don’t stick to it. As busy as we all are, it’s easier to grab fast food than spend time cooking and preparing meals. For this reason, we tried to bring you some recipes this week that are simple, but healthy and tasty too.
The other thing that holds most people back from losing weight is the mental challenge. Many of us eat for reasons other than hunger such as boredom or stress. I myself am a big time emotional eater. I’ll admit my first couple of months in Atmore and being on my own added more than a couple of pounds on me. This is why it is so helpful to have a support system to help you attain your weight loss goal.
One recent reality TV show hit, “The Biggest Loser” chronicles the weight loss of two teams of people. Not only does this show provide support groups through team members to the contestants, but it holds them accountable at weigh-ins each week.
This is the other big part of weight loss, being held accountable. Like I mentioned with my New Year’s resolutions, if I’m the only one I owe it to, it’s probably not going to be enough to motivate me.
So what can you do in Atmore to get support and be held accountable?
Simple, participate in Scale Back Alabama.
Scale Back Alabama is the statewide weight-loss competition challenging residents to lose a collective 500,000 pounds. Roger Shultz, who was a finalist on last year’s “The Biggest Loser Couple’s Show” is the coach of the competition.
The competition starts this week and lasts for 10 more. The one catch is you do have to find a team of three other people to compete with you, but otherwise it’s free. There are two local weigh-ins still available this week, the first being tomorrow from 8 a.m. until noon at Atmore Community Hospital and the second at the Escambia County Health Department from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Friday. The contact person at ACH is
Mary Jane Schrock who can be reached at 368-6329 or mschrock@bhcpns.org. The contact at the Health Department is Avis Whitworth who can be reached at 251-578-1952 or awhitworth@adph.state.al.us. If you’re lacking a team they might have some teams that aren’t quite filled out yet.
For more information visit the program’s Web site at www.scalebackalabama.com.
MaryClaire Foster is news editor for the Atmore Advance. She can be reached at 368-2123 or via email at lifestyles@atmoreadvance.com