JOLIET Joliet didnt lose a ton, but it lost a lot.
The Joliet Weight Loss Challenge ended last week with participants shedding a collective 1,463 pounds.
Thats a lot of pounds. But its not a ton, or 2,000 pounds.
The Joliet Park District, which has organized the program at the start of the year for four years, targets a ton of weight loss, which has led to the effort being dubbed Lose a Ton.
Over the last four years we lost over 8,000 pounds, which amounts to a ton a year, said Gina Rodriguez, fitness superintendent for the park district.
In 2016, the collective weight loss reached 2,416 pounds, the most for the program so far.
Maybe people just have less to give.
If they gave us 12 pounds last year, they cant give us 12 pounds every year, Rodriguez said.
There still were some big losers, which means they were winners.
The Joliet Park District awards prizes each year to the male and female participants who lose the highest percentages of their body weight.
Biggest losers this year were Maureen Pulaski of Shorewood at 15.32 percent and Bart Zimmer of Joliet at 14.3 percent.
The goal of the program is to increase fitness awareness.
Participants weigh in at the start of the program, which was Jan. 16, and with the advice of park district nutritionists and trainers if they want it, seek to lose pounds by the end of the program, which was Thursday night.
This year, 620 people weighed in. Only 277 weighed out. But the numbers weighing out are always much lower than those who start the program.
If we got over 600 people to step on a scale, thats great, Rodriguez said. Thats what were trying to do create awareness.
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Joliet Weight Loss Challenge participants don't lose a ton, but they do lose a lot - The Herald-News
