2 Get Fit Programs

Now there is a weight loss program in Whitley County as well as in Kosciusko County. Each promotes weight loss, good food choices and physical fitness. January, the month of resolutions, is a great time to get started on one of these programs.
In Columbia City, the “Whitley Weighs In Challenge 2009” has a Friday, January 8 deadline. The annual program offers a grand prize of $1,000 to the team with the highest percentage of weight loss.
Each month the team weighs in at the Whitley County Family YMCA or Parkview Whitley Hospital. The Y and the hospital provide motivational programs.
Team photos and weight loss percentages appear each month in the Post & Mail newspaper’s Whitley Weighs In pages.
Costs are $5 per person or $20 per team. Make checks payable to The Post & Mail with Whitley Weighs In in the memo line.
Forms listing the team members may be mailed or taken to the newspaper, the hospital or the Y: The Post & Mail, 927 West Connexion Way, Columbia City IN 46725; Parkview Whitley Hospital, 353 North Oak St., Columbia City IN 46725 or Whitley County Family YMCA, 950 East Van Buren St., Columbia City IN 46725.

Shape Up Kosciusko
Kosciusko County’s program is new this year. Shape Up Kosciusko is sponsored by Purdue Extension.
This six-week program is designed to help Kosciusko County residents establish healthy exercise and nutrition habits.
The program starts with a kick-off event where participants are weighed, receive blood pressure checks and general information about how to track physical activity and nutrition intake.
Each week participants are asked to record and report to the Extension office how many steps or equivalent activities they engaged in. At the end of the program prizes will be awarded based on the most steps taken as well as the greatest per week increase in steps taken over the six week period.
There are four educational sessions about nutrition and exercise to help you get information and reinforce and improve your habits.
Send list of people interested and T-shirt size to Purdue Extension - Kosciusko County, 100 W Center St., Room 121, Warsaw IN 46580.
Costs are $10 per person by Tuesday, January 13. Participants may join individually or with family members.
The kick-off event is January 27 at 6:30 p.m., where free blood pressure and weight checks will be conducted by Kosciusko Community Hospital staff.
All participants receive fitness bags full of supportive materials.
Sessions are in the Shrine Building on the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds, Smith Street, Warsaw.
Did you know?
More than 61 percent of Hoosiers are overweight or obese?
In 2005 Indiana ranked as the eighth most overweight and obese state in the nation
Unfortunately, 29-percent of Indiana’s high school students already are either overweight or obese.
On the Bright Side
Daily physical activity helps to ower blood pressure and cholesterol, helps prevent or retard osteoporosis, and helps reduce obesity, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and symptoms of arthritis.
Significant health benefits can be obtained by including a moderate amount of physical activity – 30 minutes of brisk walking or raking leaves, 15 minutes of running, 45 minutes of playing volleyball.
Thirty to 60 minutes of activity broken into smaller segments of 10 or 15 minutes throughout the day has significant health benefits.
Moderate daily physical activity can reduce substantially the risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers such as colon cancer.