Hundreds expected to take the Plunge

ERIN MATHEWS
Hundreds of Salinans may soon feel like a real weight has been lifted from their shoulders — and their thighs and hips and stomachs. More than 850 people are signed up so far to participate in Pound Plunge, a free, community-wide, 12-week program designed to help participants lose weight the healthy way through regular exercise and nutritious food choices.

“We’re doing the whole thing — nutrition, exercise and having fun,” said Ellen Hogeland, fitness director for the Salina Family YMCA and one of the event organizers. “If we can get a lot of people in Salina motivated, then that’s the key.”

The program, which was patterned after a similar event in Hays, kicks off from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Bicentennial Center, where new four-person teams will still be able to register. Salina Regional Health Center nurses have volunteered to take blood pressure readings, and participants will have the option of having blood work done at half price to determine cholesterol, lipid and glucose levels.

At 9:45 a.m., Salina Mayor John Vanier will address the crowd. At 10 a.m., Jez Luckett, a Garden City man who lost 150 pounds while a contestant on the reality TV show “The Biggest Loser,” will give a motivational message.

Participants, who must be 18 or older and not pregnant, can sign up until Sept. 20 to compete as part of a team. Team members should plan to visit the YMCA each week between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays or during YMCA hours Wednesdays to weigh in and track their progress. Weight information will be kept confidential.

Read more about Pound Plunge in Friday’s Salina Journal.

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Resolutions ready? Take the plunge

12/29/2007By KALEY LYON

Hays Daily News

It’s back!

As 2008 draws near, The Center for Health Improvement is preparing for a repeat of what turned out to be its most popular event yet, Pound Plunge.

The program, which encourages locals to eat healthy and exercise right, shocked staff members and the entire community when about 1,500 people signed on last year to drop the pounds.

While it’s too soon for exact numbers, the second annual event is expected to be another big one, said Stephanie Schaffer, fitness manager.

“They keep coming in every day,” Schaffer said of this year’s registrations. “I’m expecting a lot more.”

The 12-week weight loss program will begin on Jan. 10 and end April 3. Each team must consist of four members, and the deadline to register is Jan. 6.

The beginning of the year is a good time to have such an event — New Year’s resolutions often help keep participants motivated, she said.

“New Year’s is a time when a lot of people in our country set goals,” Schaffer said. “The big thing is to lose weight and to exercise. It’s just a perfect time of the year to implement a team like this.”

Overall, the routine will be about the same as last year. Participants will receive a weekly nutrition or exercise tip to help them drop pounds and keep them off, she said.

The teams also will weigh in each week to track their progress, and at the end of the program, the team with the highest percentage of weight lost will receive a prize.

Unlike last year, when only the first place team received a financial award and free membership to the center, the top three teams will be rewarded.

Also unlike last year, team members will have the opportunity to weigh in on new digital scales, and individuals’ blood pressures will be recorded at the beginning and end of the program to gauge improvement, Schaffer said.

The program isn’t limited to the center — it strives to include the larger community and encourages participants and other local entities to get involved, she said.

“It’s just about getting people moving,” Schaffer said. “It’s just to teach people about fitness and exercise and nutrition, and they love it.”

Schaffer said she expects many of last year’s participants to try it again, and there also are many new team members already signed up.

“I think we’ll have people who did it last year who had great success. They’ll come back,” she said. “I think you’ll have people who did it last year and maybe have found out they need to do it a different way this year. And then you’re going to have the people who are going to come back, and this motivated them to lose weight and keep weight off.”

Deanna Staab, Hays, is one such individual. She participated in last year’s health challenge and has continued losing weight ever since.

At November’s Pound Plunge reunion, Staab took first place for having lost, and kept off, the highest percentage of body weight since the challenge began in early 2007.

Staab lost 13 pounds during pound plunge, and by continuing to eat and exercise healthy since then, has lost an additional 24 pounds.

“I really enjoy it,” she said. “I feel better and started exercising regularly, so that was the key — just to lose a little at a time.”

Staab’s team dubbed themselves the “hot tamales,” and the team support is what kept her going, she said. Her goal for Pound Plunge 2, which she has already signed up for, is to lose an additional 10 pounds, she said.

“I’m just happy about it,” Staab said. “It’s a good deal and everybody should sign up. It just gives you an idea of where you’re at and what you should be doing.”

Reporter Kaley Lyon can be reached at (785) 628-1081 Ext. 138, or by e-mail at klyon@dailynews.net.

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For those who are local to Kansas City Kansas and Kansas City Missouri and have a YMCA membership there are plenty of branches to hook up with to participate in this.

Read the following article from KMBC 9 news to find out what it is about and where you can go to participate.

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Getting fit while having fun is the primary goal of the YMCA’s Family Fitness Challenge. But some families are noticing even more benefits.In addition to quality time and nutrition tips, YMCA leaders said they like to provide what they call “nutrition of the soul.”"Caring. If we can get our kids to be more caring, they won’t run over each other in line and will care about their fellow man. Honesty. We all realize the world would be a better place if everyone was honest. Responsibility. We’re all responsible for our actions as individuals. In the Family Fitness Challenge, everyone is responsible to make our lives better,” YMCA chaplain Artrell Harris said.

KMBC’s Kelly Eckerman reported that members of the Erickson family recognize the influence of Family Fitness classes and the increase in family time.”I sense leadership in them that I didn’t see before. It’s a by-product of all this and it’s a wonderful thing to see,” said Melanie Erickson.”Time is love and it’s a core value. When you put time into a situation, you will only find fruits of that effort,” Harris said.To find a Family Fitness Challenge class for your family

8th Street Family YMCA (Kansas City, Kan.)
Wednesdays from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Blue Springs Family YMCA
Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 11:20 a.m.

Bonner Springs Family YMCA
Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Clay-Platte Family YMCA
Mondays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Cleaver Family YMCA
Mondays from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Independence Family YMCA
Mondays from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Lee’s Summit Family YMCA
Mondays from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Linwood YMCA
Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Olathe Family YMCA
Saturdays from 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.

Paul Henson Family YMCA (Prairie Village, Kan.)
Sundays from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Platte County Community Center North operated by the YMCA (Platte City)
Tuesdays from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Platte County Community Center South operated by the YMCA (Parkville)
Tuesdays from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Providence YMCA/Ball Family YMCA (Kansas City, Kan.)
Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Red Bridge Family YMCA
Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Richard C. Green Sr. Family YMCA (Raytown)
Mondays from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

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When I copied and pasted this over I got a bunch of code interspersed in with it due to freakin advertisements within the article so I had to piece it together the best I could. You get the gist of it though.

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