Hospitals to host weigh-ins

Both Andalusia Regional Hospital and Mizell Memorial Hospital’s Wellness Center will serve as weigh-in sites for this year’s Scale Back Alabama, a statewide weight-loss program designed to encourage Alabamians to get healthy and to have fun while doing it.

The program encourages Alabamians to form teams of two. Participants weigh in at the beginning of the program, and weigh out 10 weeks later. There is more than $15,000 in prize money available as incentives.

To be eligible for team prizes, each team member must lose at least 10 pounds during the 10-week contest, as recorded by a coordinator at an official Scale Back Alabama weigh-in site.

Winning teams are determined by a random drawing from all eligible teams.

The first three teams drawn win $1,000 per team member, or a total of $2,000 for the entire team. The second three teams drawn win $500 per team member, or a total of $1,000 for the entire team. The final three teams drawn win $250 per team member, or a total of $500 for the entire team.

All individuals who lose at least 10 pounds, as recorded by a coordinator at an official Scale Back Alabama weigh-in site, are eligible for an individual prize, regardless of their team’s achievement. From the pool of eligible contestants, 40 individuals drawn win one of 40 achievement prizes of $100 per person.

More details about the contest will be announced Jan. 6. Participants must weigh in at an official site the week of Jan. 19-25, 2015.

• Participants may weigh in at ARH from 7:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the hospital’s human resources lobby on Tues. and Wed., Jan. 20 and 21.

• Weigh-in times at Mizell were not immediately available. Contact the Wellness Center at 334-493-1730 for information.

Weigh-in locations and times also will be available on the state website, http://scalebackalabama.com, beginning Tuesday.

Since the first Scale Back competition in 2007, Alabamians have lost more than one million pounds.