Get paid to lose weight

PHILADELPHIA - September 17, 2013 (WPVI) -- A new survey is revealing a lot of oversized waistlines in the 5-county Philadelphia region.

Some reports say the obesity epidemic is leveling off nationally, but there are no local signs of that yet.

A phone survey that's done every year with 10,000 families shows nearly 63% of adults in Southeastern Pennsylvania are either overweight or obese.

As for kids, nearly 1 in 5 kids are obese, that is higher than the national average.

Diet is a problem; it's not easy but everyone should try to eat 5 to 7 servings of fruits and vegetables every day.

Half of the people surveyed don't even eat 3 servings a day.

4 out of 10 kids drink a sugary soft drink at least once a day.

Of course, all this can all lead to other problems.

37% of Philadelphia residents have high blood pressure and16% have diabetes, which can put you at risk for heart disease and stroke.

But it has been proven if you make small changes, one or two things like becoming more active or cutting down on fast food, you will see results.

And speaking of making healthy changes, how would you like to get paid to lose weight?

One local woman did just that.

Kourtney Heichel joined the six-month "Healthy Wage" weight loss challenge this winter.

She bet $150 that she could lose 10% of her body weight.

If she failed, she would lose the money, but if she succeeded, the company would double her money!

Kourtney is now down 14 pounds, and her wallet is $300 heavier.

"It was just little changes that over a long period of time paid off," Kourtney said. Those changes included eating healthier foods and sticking to an exercise plan.

She says the wager helped.

And she's not alone, as studies show betting on weight loss increases the odds for success.

That is just one way to lose weight, but there are tons of programs and books to help.

ONLINE:

http://www.healthywage.com/

http://www.stickk.com/

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lifestyle, weight loss, healthcheck

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