Column: Shorelines

I know. I know. You are reading this after enjoying a long holiday season of good food. Maybe there are leftovers in the fridge, and maybe even another party to attend (it's that time for football bowl games).

Here I come to spoil the food coma by addressing the subject of weight loss, specifically the Smith Mountain Lake YMCA's weight-loss challenge that starts Jan. 11 and runs for 10 weeks.

"You know how popular the 'Biggest Loser' is on TV?" asked Melissa Heft, director of the Smith Mountain Lake YMCA. "It is not that this is the type of clientele we are trying to attracted, it's that we're looking for members that are self-motivated and trying to challenge themselves."

The SML Y challenge was the idea of Brett Keister, owner of VitaZen. A member of the Y since it opened, Keister took his idea to Heft, who fell in love with it.

"I just wanted to come up with something that was easy for anyone to do," she said. "I wanted it to be something that is self-structured so that any Y member could do it and you didn't have to join specific classes."

Keister also came up with the acronym for the challenge. SMLY stands for "Sculpting a More Lean You." As the owner of VitaZen, a store offering vitamins, minerals, herbs, sports nutrition, and homeopathic remedies for people and pets, the weight-loss challenge fits into his business' mission of helping people achieve wellness. For the YMCA, the challenge fits into its mission of helping families discover physical activities and a healthy lifestyle while having fun.

The cost to join the challenge is $20. Participants get a T-shirt; a $10 gift card to VitaZen; a free issue of "Remedies" magazine containing weight-loss tips and support materials such as program instructions; a tracking chart; and guidance from the Y staff.

"I'll be involved in taking their measurements and determining their body fat, but these people are going to have to be self-motivated," said Heft. "They will need to take our exercise classes and use our equipment to accrue points for their total."

There is a separate challenge for males and females. Members will weigh in at the Y at the beginning of the program and have their body fat measurements taken by Y staff. From that point on, participants will earn points that will be assigned for different activities and achievements.

Each pound of weight lost is worth 10 points. One point is earned for each hour of cardio activity. Another point is earned for each day of weight training. The big point grabber is losing body fat. For each one percent of fat lost, a participant will get 40 points.

The two male and female winners will receive watches from Haywood Jewelers and a year's supply of vitamins from VitaZen. Second-place finishers will receive six months of free vitamins from VitaZen, and third-place finishers, three months' supply.

The challenge is open to SML Y members. There is no fee to join Jan. 1-15. The regular fee for an individual to join is $75 or $100 for families.

Heft said she sees this as the first of many weight-loss challenges. Heft and Keister projected 15 participants for the first challenge, but they had almost that many signed up by mid-December. So, Keister unofficially has reset the goal to 40 participants.

"For myself, I hope the challenge helps me lose 20 pounds," said Keister. "I'd like to see other people make positive changes. Losing five pounds, sticking to a program, feeling better when you wake up in the morning, helps people get on a better track in life. Typically, through exercise you feel better about yourself, and the rest of your life also improves, in every facet."

The SML YMCA is located in LakeWatch Plantation at 293 First Watch Drive, Moneta. 721-9622. www.franklincountyymca.org