Want to join a statewide team weight loss and get fit competition?
Editor’s note: Each Saturday in December, the Sun Journal has introduced you to popular group fitness programs in the Lewiston and Auburn area. As we head into the new year, Lighten ME! invites you to continue group fitness programs in your own communities.

Since 2004, Mainers have been teaming up to shape up with a statewide team weight-loss and get fit competition called Lighten ME!

Teams of between two and 10 adults from the workplace, family or neighborhood settings around Maine are signing up to compete in a weight loss and/or increased activity competition offered by the Maine Games. For a single registration fee of $15 per person, all teams can participate in the weight loss, or the increased activity competitions, or both.

Lighten ME! has helped just over 3,000 Mainers in the past three years lose more than 21,000 pounds and has encouraged them to log over 750,000 miles of exercise. In 2006, on average, participants lost a little more than 7 pounds and added an extra 2 miles of exercise to their daily routine, although many people lost a lot more and became far more active. Reports of participants even competing in road races following their Lighten ME! experience were not uncommon in 2006.

Lighten ME! is a part of Lighten Up America, which is offered by the National Congress of State Games, and hundreds of thousands of participants in similar programs all over America are taking part in 2007 to get a handle on their health.

Lighten ME! doesn’t mandate any particular diet or exercise plan, however participants receive weekly newsletters with accredited information about nutrition, exercise and motivation to get on track and become more healthy and develop healthy lifestyles.

The team motivation provided by the competition is what makes Lighten ME! and other Lighten Up programs around the country so successful. Teamwork goes a long way to supporting the participants who share common goals and experiences with Lighten ME!

It’s not unusual for participants to lose 30, 40, and even 50 pounds or more through Lighten ME! because the competitive nature of many people helps them stay focused and moving toward their goal of better health.

Companies and corporations throughout Maine love Lighten ME! because it can have a positive effect on their health care costs. Employees who are healthier tend to miss less time, cost less in medical expenses, and are more productive. Many companies and corporations register multiple teams and they compete against the other teams to create an even greater incentive.

The top three teams in each category – weight loss and increased activity – will be invited to the Maine Games Opening Ceremonies, at Colby College, in Waterville, on June 22 to be presented with Maine Games gold, silver and bronze medals.

To learn more about Lighten ME!, log on to www.lightenme.org. The program runs from Jan. 22 to May 2 (102 days). Teams can register online and each participate will be assigned a personal Web page where they can log exercise and weight loss success, communicate with their teammates, and also keep tabs on the other teams behind or ahead of their own progress. Exercise calculators and pedometer conversion functions take a lot of the guesswork out of the equation as well.

In 2006, the small Maine town of Fort Kent, population of about 4,000 registered 27 Lighten ME! teams. Many more are expected to compete for gold, silver and bronze again in 2007. How many will register locally? Hard to say, but those that do will have a great time and can be in much better shape by May.

Jeff Scully is executive director of Maine Games. He can be reached at [email protected]