Saturday is a day of reckoning, the first in a series for about 140 Leflore County residents who have committed to losing weight in Leflore County's first ever Scale Down for Your Health program.
It has been a month since participants registered their starting weights, a month for them to reshape their lifestyles with exercise and dietary changes. Now, they'll weigh in again to see if their efforts are paying off.
For some, the task hasn't been easy. Audis Lee Goss of Schlater lost 21 pounds in preparation for leg surgery before the program began. The 18 more the doctor suggested she shed hasn't gone away quite so easily.
"I'm not doing that well, but I am working on it," Goss, 71, said. "It's hard after you lose so much. You get to a standstill."
At the weigh-in Saturday, Goss might learn how to break out of that holding pattern. Advanced Rehabilitation and Fitness Center is hosting event this month, and physical therapy specialists will be on hand to fit each participant to an individual fitness and dietary program.
The services are being offered because the center recognizes that obesity is causing health problems in the community, said John Walker, an owner of Advanced Rehab and Fitness.
"We want to have an impact in avoiding the health problems associated with weight gain," he said.
State Rep. May Whittington, D-Schlater, whose House bill creating a state Obesity Commission led to the local effort, is anxious to see what kind of progress has been made.
"I want to see, after the first month, how many people come back, what their reaction is, what kind of support they need," Whittington said. "Basically, what we're trying to do is to get everybody helping each other and encouraging each other to lose weight."
She and the rest of the Leflore County Obesity Committee, which organized the Scale Down initiative, have distributed scales to various locations across the county where people can monitor their weight. Their goal is to lose as much weight as healthily possible by April.
Goss says she's getting used to the lifestyle. Having the structure of the program has made it easier to get motivated, she said. She has stuck to a routine of walking a mile at least three times a week and watching what she eats.
"I'm cutting down on all the breads, starchy foods and sweets and just eating broiled vegetables and meats," she said.
