It’s that time of year again when Alabama residents Scale Back.

For the seventh consecutive year, the Alabama Department of Public Health is encouraging Alabamians to shape up by participating in Scale Back Alabama.

The concept is a great way to encourage folks to get healthy,” said Angela Green, Pioneer Electric Cooperative site coordinator. “To take part, you have to work with a team, that means weighing in together and holding each other. The state Health Department sends out emails with tips to get you started and weekly emails with information. They also give you other resources and links to free programs.”

Scale Back Alabama is a 10-week weight-loss competition that will begin the week of Jan. 21-27 and end the week of April 7-13. Participants will compete in teams of four, and for every team that completes the 10-week contest with each team member losing at least 10 pounds, the team will be included in a drawing for one of three grand prizes. The first team drawn will win $1,000 each, while the second team drawn will win $500 per team member, and the third team drawn will win $250 per team member.

All individuals who lose at least 10 pounds will be included in a drawing for one of 50 achievement prizes of $100 per person, regardless of their team’s achievement. These drawings will take place on April 30.

The initial weigh-ins will be held on Jan. 21 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Down with the Pounds, Jan. 22 from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Pioneer Electric Cooperative and Jan. 24 from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Pioneer Electric and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Down with the Pounds.

“Weigh-ins are crazy and hilarious,” Green said. “People are really self-conscious, even with their teammates. Your weight is confidential, no one else but the person weighing you in and yourself will know your weight. While you have to weigh-in with your team, we can weigh you in the privacy of my office. We do have scales that will accommodate folks who weigh over 400 pounds here on site and we’ve certainly had to use it. We were excited to hear from folks who were in that weight range say they were encouraged to get up and get serious about their health. As a company, it made all of the effort worthwhile to hear that type of response. We then enter the information into the official Scale Back database to register the teams. The forms are kept under lock in key. But in reality, it’s a painless process and fun.”

Statewide last year, approximately 7,500 four-member teams competed and lost 148,963 pounds.

In Butler County, 22 teams combined to lose 440 pounds with Scale Back Alabama.

For more information about Scale Back Alabama and other weigh-in sights across our service area visit: www.scalebackalabama.com.