EAST TEXAS (TYLER MORNING TELEGRAPH) - East Texans have one more day to get in on the
regional weight loss challenge Lighten Up East Texas. Friday will be the
final opportunity to enter.
"We
hope to have as many people as possible sign up for their health, and to
show how healthy East Texas can become," said Terrence Ates, healthy
living project coordinator for the North East Texas Public Health
District.
Lighten Up East Texas is a branch of the Fit
City Tyler initiative, which challenged individuals across East Texas to
lose 5 percent of their body weight in six months.
So far, more than 3,000 East Texans have registered and weighed in to join the weight-loss initiative.
Anyone
successful in losing the required weight will be entered to win an
array of prizes including a 2013 Dodge Dart from Allen Samuels' Dodge, a
$5,000 travel package from Travel Masters, $4,000 worth of Brookshire's
gift cards and other prizes, Ates said.
"It's a drawing," Ates said. "Anyone who loses 5 percent can win, and everyone has an equal chance."
To participate, residents have to weigh in at various official East Texas weighing stations.
Participants
weighing in this week still have two months to drop the required
pounds, then will join other entrants in final official weigh-ins in the
last week of April to verify pounds lost.
The list of official weigh-in locations can be found at
www.lightenupeasttexas.com.
The contest is more than halfway over, but Ates said there still is time to safely lose the qualifying weight.
"Someone
who weighs 200 pounds would have to lose 10 pounds in two months, which
is doable. That's a pound and a half each week."
The winners
will be announced May 18 at Rose Stadium, Ates said. The initiative is a
combined effort from local hospitals, the health department, city of
Tyler the Tyler Morning Telegraph and health professionals.
