Twelve teams of Chilton County residents and coworkers successfully completed Scale Back Alabama last week.

Each team member returned to the Chilton County Health Department to officially weigh out during the final week of the 10-week program, and nearly everyone reached their goal, Nutritionist Amy Cleckler said.

In order to be eligible for statewide cash prizes, each team member had to lose at least 10 pounds.

“Pretty much all of them lost their 10 pounds plus,” Cleckler said. “We only had about two people who didn’t.”

One team member lost 30 pounds, which was recorded as the most weight lost this year by a Chilton County participant. Cleckler preferred not to announce the individual’s name.

The two teams of health department employees lost a combined 48 pounds, Cleckler reported.

“Participation was down slightly this year,” she said partially attributing that fact to the low number of local weigh-in sites.

The health department was the only Scale Back Alabama weigh-in site in Chilton County. Nineteen teams initially signed up to participate this year.

The program focuses on eating plenty of fruits and vegetables and low-carbohydrate foods, and exercising for at least 30 minutes per day.

Teams whose members all lost at least 10 pounds are eligible to win $1,000, $500 or $250 per team member. Individuals who lost 10 pounds are eligible for one of 50 $50 prizes.

Teams who are drawn for a prize cannot also win individual prizes.

The winners will be announced via a Web cast on April 28 on scalebackalabama.com. For more information, visit the website.

“We are already excited about next year,” Cleckler said.

Billingsley High School just across the Autauga County line also served as a weigh-in site. There, 11 teams weighed out and 44 people participated. Most were school employees but many from the community joined in as well.

Only one team, called Spouse Power, had all its members to lose 10 pounds. These were Barry and Monica Ousley and Bob and Angel Glass. Both wives work at BHS.

Bob Glass dropped the most weight at 27 pounds.

“I think all in all it was a fairly successful program,” said school nurse Wendy Glasscock. “I think everyone learned some healthy habits, and a lot of people are saying that they want to continue working on it until the end of the school year.”