Biggest Loser teams winning big by losing ton

Over 450 Biggest Loser program participants in Washington County have lost 2,212 pounds in just the first half of the 12‑week challenge that started in January. Teenagers through 70 year olds are participating in 73 teams from all over the county, going to weekly weigh‑ins, supporting each other with "potluck challenges" of recipe make-overs, walking around tracks and on trails, and looking in other ways at what it means to be a healthy member of a family and the larger community.
"Everywhere you go people are talking about it," says the program's initiator, Angela Fochesato, the chair of the Washington County: One Community (WC:OC) Wellness Committee. The Biggest Loser program is a part of the county's We Can! initiative, a nationally‑based effort that builds health from pre‑natal to eight years. Washington County became the first county in the state to implement a county‑wide weight loss competition.
Fochesato first thought of using the popular NBC television show, Biggest Loser, as the model for a wellness program, after community forums in 2009 pinpointed the epidemic of childhood obesity as a high priority county issue. Statistics gathered by WC:OC show that in 2009 about 28% of the county's high school youths were overweight. Of even greater concern was the lack of healthy eating habits of school‑age children. The county has high rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and other serious health issues. "Children are a part of the family unity and part of a community unit," says WC:OC Executive Director Eleody Libby. Parents and the community's adults are role models for children. "It's one big circle," she says of the trickle‑down effect from adult to child.
The program start‑up has been embraced to such a degree that Fochesato was contacted by the NBC show. "They commented that we were the most organized and well presented they've seen around the country." Fochesato happily notes, "The county‑wide challenge has gone statewide and international‑wide, with teams from St. Stephen to Saint John, and from York to Aroostook." Fochesato is participating in the program, but even so she says, "It's been an eye‑opener for me -- how it's a struggle for some who can't get out, who can't go to something like Weight Watchers." She pauses and adds compassionately, "The emotional part, their embarrassment."
Fochesato notes that, statistically, 68% of Washington County adults are overweight or obese. For many, she says, it's not so much about the weight as it is about changing lifetime habits.
Marianne Moore, owner of Curves in Calais, is the team leader for three teams that use her facility. "It takes three weeks to learn a habit," she says. By the end of the 12 weeks, she hopes that participants will have firmly learned the skills to stay healthy. "We want to set people up for success. You don't want them to be disappointed. If they are successful, they will be motivated to continue." Her teams range in age from 35 to 65. In nine weeks they have lost a total of 124.5 pounds.
At the Venus & Apollo Fitness Center in Calais, owner Ron Hatton has been leading two teams that range in age from 40 to 60. They've lost 240 pounds so far. With his teams, he says, "A lot of people are pretty serious about getting their health back, whether it's high blood pressure or diabetes." Like many efforts that involve lifelong changes, the teams are entering a new phase. "The initial weight has been lost, so the struggle begins to be harder" without that tangible result every week. Success, he explains, is based on the combination of nutrition and exercise, something that his colleague Moore emphasizes as well. Hatton says, "We coach on nutrition, but other than that, it's all about exercise. It's not hard, and it can be fun."
After the challenge is over, participants and others who want to try the program will not be without help. Fochesato explains that the second annual Biggest Loser event will be held in early 2012.
As an employee of Down East Community Hospital (DECH), she is excited about a program she is developing with WC:OC, the University of Nebraska and DECH. The weight management program will start as a pilot within DECH for employees and support groups. Once "the wrinkles" have been worked out, the second phase will be to develop wellness programs for local businesses. The third phase will be to open up the program to county residents.
Libby says, "There are some really good workplace wellness programs, for instance Machias Savings Bank and DECH already have them. But they are bigger organizations." Small businesses, she explains, don't always have the time to create a wellness program. "We will be able to get the word out that we're here to help." WC:OC will be able to assist a small business set up programs that might range from stretching and balance exercises to a "full‑blown" walking program or a drug‑free work site program. "All this fits into changing the environment," Libby says. "If you are a parent and you know a little bit more about good choices, your children will, too."
WC:OC is a Healthy Maine Partnership program funded through the tobacco settlement Fund for a Healthy Maine, which was established by the Maine Legislature in 1999 to dedicate all of the settlement funds to health programs.