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Great Holiday Weigh Battles Seasonal Bulge

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Nov 27, 2009 5:15 pm US/Mountain

Great Holiday Weigh Battles Seasonal Bulge

Written for the Web by CBS4 Special Projects Producer Libby Smith

Reporting
Brooke Wagner

DENVER (CBS4) ―

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LiveWell Colorado's worksite wellness resources

Statistics indicate that Americans gain 5 to 7 pounds during the holidays. LiveWell West Denver is hosting the Great Holiday Weigh to help battle the seasonal bulge.

Carlene Hughes is a 14-year employee at Denver Health. She does purchasing. She says she loves the work, but hates the inactivity of sitting at a desk all day.

"That is the drawback. It's very sedentary," Hughes told CBS4.

Sharon Young has worked for Denver Health 18-years. She's looking forward to the holidays.

"It's my favorite time of year."

But she doesn't like all the extra food and temptations.

"People seem to bring stuff in more during the holiday season, so you've go all this stuff around here to eat and it really is challenging," Young told CBS4.

"I gain weight over the holidays if I'm not really careful, and I constantly think about how I can combat that," Hughes said.

Young and Hughes believe there is strength in numbers so they're teaming up with four other co-workers to combat the extra pounds. Their team is taking part in the Great Holiday Weigh, a weight maintenance program sponsored by LiveWell West Denver. The goal is to not gain any weight from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day. 200 Denver Health employees and West Denver residents are participating in the program. They'll do regular weigh-ins and encourage each other to step up the exercise and avoid the unnecessary calories.

"Holidays are a really stressful time for a lot of people and we know that health often takes a back seat. The average American gains 5 to 7 pounds over the holiday season," said Eileen Duin, program coordinator.

Young and Hughes participated in the program last year. Their team actually lost some weight and they're hoping they can repeat that again. Both feel that working as a team has big benefits.

"It will make me be aware of what I'm putting in my mouth," Young said.

"I think just the commitment to not gaining is really helpful because we weigh ourselves. We have a scale in the bathroom so we do weigh ourselves," Hughes added.

Additional Resources:

The Great Holiday Weigh is a LiveWell West Denver program LiveWell West Denver is part of LiveWell Colorado, a statewide initiative aimed at reducing overweight and obesity rates.

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