Rolling Rimples is a four-month weight loss program sponsored by the Fayette County Health Department and United Way for local businesses in the community. This is the 20th session of this program and the health department has announced its winners.
Once a month, two nurses, Jeannie Bihl and Karmel Payton, go to the businesses and weigh each participant. Each person receives a healthy recipe, a letter of health education, tips on losing weight and encouragement. They also receive a piece of fruit which is generously donated by Kroger.
This session was the largest number of participants ever. Plus they did a tremendous job of losing weight. The goal of this program is to live a healthier lifestyle and not just be on diets. Fad diets do not work because once a person goes off the diet, they pick up their old habits and gain their weight back. This is an ongoing process in life. We encourage people to eat whole foods, less processed food if at all possible, portion control, drink more water and of course to move more. One important part of this program is having someone else weigh you – that is accountability! That certainly makes you aware of what you are eating.
We had a total of 15 businesses, 35 teams, and 156 individuals. Each team consists of four or five people. At the end of the program the winners are announced. The first place individual receives a $100 gift card, second place individual gets a $50 gift card, third place receives $25 gift card and each person on the first place team receives a $50 gift card.
This time our first place individual was Valerie Robinette from Basement Dwellers losing 37 pounds. The second place individual was Laryn Taylor from Head Start losing 35 pounds, and third place was Gary Butts from the YMCA losing 31.8 pounds. The first place team went to the Basement Dwellers losing a total of 88 pounds. The team consisted of Valerie Robinette, Mike Meadows, Dan Vaughn, Kurt Merritt and Kara Bruney.
Congratulations to the winners and all participants! Thank you to all for participating and we had lots of losers this session!
During the summer we asked the participants if they want to count their steps since we will not be weighing them. It is on the honors system, but with nice weather we are encouraging everyone to keep moving. Those who choose to participate will send me their steps and we will see who the winner is in mid-August.
If any businesses in Fayette County are interested in forming a team of four or five people and joining the next session, which starts Aug. 30 and runs through Dec. 13, please call Jeannie Bihl, R.N. at the Fayette County Health Department at 740-335-5910. You may have as many teams as you desire at your workplace. Remember “Health is your first wealth.”
