Team Lean Offers Cash Prizes for Weight Loss

Do you feel like you are draped in grandma's gravy after the holidays? Does Aunt Fran's fruitcake have you feeling like you gained some major weight? An Upstate YMCA hopes money will be a motivator to help melt off the pounds.

Kelly Talley knows her weak spots. She says, "I eat French fries, and Mexican food, and cheeseburgers and past and bread." With an average gain of four pounds a year since she got married six years ago, she has a plan of attack to lose about 20 pounds. "I’m going to come to the gym and work out and not talk to people all of the time,” says Talley.

She and three friends signed up for the Team Lean competition with the Spartanburg YMCA It’s a ten week program that offers cash prizes. If you sign up this week, it's $60. For each weekly weigh in you miss, you pay $5, and for each pound you gain, you pay a buck. Teams are made up of four people, and the money collected goes toward a prize for the team which loses the highest percentage of weight and an individual winner.

Team “Glamorous” expects to take home that team prize through teamwork. Team leader Marlene Lyles says, "Oh we gonna. We gonna win." Greater Spartanburg YMCA Membership Director Melissa Carson hopes finances are in incentive with the program. Carson says, "We’ve done programs like this in the past, that have been free for people to participate in, and they start off very excited, couple of weeks into it they kind of taper off and they lose all their oomph in it. We have a feeling since they are investing time and money into it that they will really put for a good effort." Lyles says money matters. "Oh, that is a big incentive!” she laughs.

Launa Blackburn wants to lose weight to live longer. "When a doctor says you if you continue on this path, you are probably going to be become diabetic,” she says something just clicks. While she competes with her team the “Sleek Sisters” against the “Cellu-laters” or “Waist Management, Blackburn says they are all on the -same- team, while fist bumping Team “Glamorous” members.

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From Spartanburg YMCA:

LOSE WEIGHT . . . . WIN MONEY!

Team Lean is a 10 week weight loss competition that is sponsored by the YMCA of Greater Spartanburg. Teams of 4 people or individuals compete to lose the highest percentage of weight during the competition. CASH PRIZES will be given to the top 20% of teams and the overall male and female at the end of 10 weeks.

* Cost is $50 per person if registered by January 7. (Registration continues through January 14 with a $10.00 late fee.)
* Each participant must weigh-in every Thursday during the competition.
* For every pound gained, participants must pay $1.00
* For every weigh-in missed, participants must pay $5.00
* All weights are held confidential. (Not even shared with team members.)
* Participants may choose their own diet and exercise program.

Pick up your TEAM LEAN handbook with complete rules TODAY!

KICK OFF INFORMATION: Kick Off will be held on Monday, January 11, 2010 from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm & 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm. This event will include blood pressure check, body fat analysis, flexibility and weight check. Event will be held at both YMCA locations.

Spartanburg YMCA Team Lean program: http://www.spartanburgymca.org/index.cfm?PageID=56&ParentPageID=6&NavID=1&EventID=2&PageText=off&ReferringPage=1

Team Lean History: http://www.mh-m.org/Content/Default/6/73/58/community/team-lean/team-lean-history.html