Tue, Jan 5, 2016 at 02:00 PM

Lose weight, break world record.

How’s this for a New Year’s resolution: lose weight and help break a Guinness World Record? That’s exactly what Scale Back Alabama would like to happen in its 2016 annual weight loss challenge.

Since 2016 is the 10th Anniversary of Scale Back Alabama, organizers decided to make it fun by making history with a humorous attempt to break the Guinness World Record for “Most People on One Scale.” Two hundred brave souls are invited for the massive weigh-in Jan. 8 in Montgomery. Attendees will earn a light breakfast and a long sleeved t-shirt, as well as a chance to win a $50 Visa gift cards and other door prizes. You can register for the event at www.adph.org.

Scale Back Alabama is a free statewide weight-loss program designed to encourage Alabamians to get healthy and to have fun while doing it. Since the first competition in 2007, Alabamians have lost more than one million pounds! Scale Back Alabama is designed to address the state’s challenge with obesity, which now ranks it sixth highest in the nation.

Both North and South locations of TherapyPlus in Marshall County have a coordinator to register and weigh starting Jan. 25 through the 31st. Don’t wait. Get signed up and start working toward a prize!

Here’s how the contest works. Scale Back Alabama participants must:

• Be at least 18 years of age
• Live in Alabama or work for an Alabama-based company
• Be on a team of two individuals (no more, no less)
• Register online or visit an official weigh-in site

Scale Back Alabama teams must be made up of two people. Both team members will be asked to weigh in (and weigh out) together at the same weigh-in site at the same time. If someone on your team is from another part of the state, make sure they can be with your team at those times.

Teams must begin and end the contest with the same members – no substitution is allowed. If a team member drops out for any reason, the team will be disqualified from the grand prize drawing. However, individuals who lose at least 10 pounds will be eligible for individual prizes.

Scale Back Alabama is geared toward adults and is primarily operated with the help of local employers, hospitals and health departments. Each organization appoints one person to serve as the program coordinator, and individuals compete on teams of two to win the chance at cash prizes.

Starting and ending weights will be kept confidential, and will only be shared with Scale Back Alabama staff members for the purposes of determining prize eligibility.

Here’s how the contest did last year:

2015 Numbers

• Total number of teams participating: 14,288
• Number of individuals participating: 28,576
• Number of teams on which each team member lost 10 pounds: 1,154
• Number of individuals who lost at least 10 pounds: 4,140
• Total pounds lost: 79,942

2016 Dates

• Kick-Off: January 8
• Weigh-In Week: January 25-31
• Weigh-Out Week: April 11-17
• Final Event: April 29

Team Prizes

• 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 3 teams drawn win $1,000 per team member, or a total of $2,000 for the entire team.
• The second 3 teams drawn win $500 per team member, or a total of $1,000 for the entire team.
• The final 3 teams drawn win $250 per team member, or a total of $500 for the entire team.

Individual Prizes

• 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. However, individuals that are drawn for a team prize are not eligible to win the individual prizes.
• From the pool of eligible contestants, 40 individuals drawn win one of 40 achievement prizes of $100 per person.
• The individual prize drawings are conducted following the April 29 webcast announcing team prizes and are posted on the Scale Back Alabama website approximately two hours after the conclusion of the webcast.

Scale Back Alabama is a public awareness campaign hosted by the Alabama Hospital Association and Alabama Department of Public Health, with support from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama.