While thousands of people statewide have lost nearly a half million pounds of weight and adapted healthier lifestyles through Lighten Up Iowa, that popular program is changing its name — and its message. Troy Vincent is executive director of the program’s new incarnation, called Live Healthy Iowa.
Vincent says they’re taking a wider approach to getting healthy and staying healthy, saying: "Lighten Up Iowa had the connotation of just a weight loss and physical activity program, where it’s become more than that. It’s become more about full mind, body, spirit, and really encompassing that holistic approach to health, rather than just weight loss and activities."
The Lighten Up Iowa program was launched in 2002 and involved about 14-hundred people statewide. Vincent says this year’s edition of the program lured 38-thousand Iowans to lose weight and start healthy exercise programs. Overall, 128-thousand people took part in Lighten Up Iowa and lost 491-thousand pounds.
Vincent says it was a "fantastic" response, and next week, a ceremony is planned with the governor at the capitol that will reward various communities, state employees and businesses that really took the Lighten Up Iowa program to the next level. He says the Iowa program was the first of its kind and the state’s sharing its success with other states and even other nations.
Vincent says under the Live Healthy America banner, the Iowa program is in use now in cities like Dallas, Minneapolis/St. Paul and even the nation of Bermuda. He says, "Various cities throughout the country are coming on board, seeing what we’re doing in Iowa, seeing what we’re doing with the businesses, communities, chambers of commerce, and they’re saying this works, this model works, let’s do it here." For more information, visit the new Live Healthy Iowa website .