Two local women who participated successfully in Scale Back Alabama were among the Individual Weigh-In Winners for 2018 who received $100 prizes.

Approximately 18,380 Alabamians participated in the 9-week competition that resulted in a total statewide weight loss of 60,689 pounds.

Prize winners Ursula Crosby of Opp and Samantha Bradley of Andalusia both stress the importance of eating sensibly, exercising, and drinking water to lose weight.

Crosby, a coordinator at Shaw Industries, says she got involved in the free statewide weight-loss program around five years ago, mainly for her health.

“I got started in Scale Back because I knew I needed to lose weight. My knees and back bothered me,” she said.

“I also heard about it when Shaw was a weigh-in location, and I’ve been involved since then.”

Crosby has been a part of Scale Back for five years, but never actually got seriously involved until the first of this year, when she cut out bread, meat and sugar from her diet. As a result, she’s lost approximately 18 pounds this year.

“It was just depressing to look in the mirror and see rolls. So I prayed about it, stayed focused and kept it on my mind,” she said.

“I still have weight I want to lose, I’m hoping to get down to 200 or 180 pounds by this year.”

Crosby credits her weight loss to her diet, good exercise and water.

“I mainly eat fruits and vegetables and I exercise as much as I can. I drink a lot of water as well,” she said.

Winning only makes Crosby more motivated.

“It makes me feel like losing all that weight was worth it, even if I was trying to lose weight for my health,” she said.

“I feel great and I’m motivated to lose more for next year’s weigh-in.”

Bradley, a secretary at Andalusia Junior High School, said that her motivation to lose weight was actually her work.

“Every year we do a health screening for work and I always got referred to a doctor because of my BMI,” she said.

“I just really got tired of being referred to a doctor.”

Bradley said that January is when she made up her mind.

“I just decided then that I’m not going to just say ‘I’m going on a diet’, I’m just going to eat healthier.”

So far, she’s lost 12 pounds but her goal is 60 by the end of the year.

“Winning this really motivated me to try harder,” Bradley said.

For people who are hoping to lose weight, Bradley offers some advice.

“Don’t call it a diet, that’s just going to make it harder. Just eat healthier, cut back on what you eat and drink water.”

For more information on Scale Back Alabama and how to get involved, go to https://scalebackalabama.com/.