THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
Even though it was renamed, shortened and held at a different time of year, the second edition of the Biggest Winner attracted an impressive number of participants.

Edna Woodward - the winner of a recent weight-loss contest in Fort Smith - says she stays active, as evidenced by her Nordic walking in 2011. - NNSL file photo

The weight-loss initiative, held from Feb. 3 to March 5, inspired 93 people to join up in the hopes of shedding some pounds.

The group lost a combined 390.4 pounds in the five weeks of the contest, which matched up well against the 545.6 pounds lost last year by 116 participants over eight weeks.

"The amount of weight loss wasn't as much, but I feel that better eating habits and physical activity habits were created this year," said Jared Tam, a community dietician with public health at the Fort Smith Health and Social Services Authority.

The title of Biggest Winner was bestowed to Edna Woodward, who lost 17.5 pounds.

Woodward said she was really surprised to win.

"I think it worked for me because it was a contest and I really wanted to win those two tickets to Yellowknife because I go there all the time," she said with a laugh, referring to the top prize donated by Northwestern Air.

"That helped me a lot."

The second-place finisher was Beckie Linaker, while third place was claimed by Dwade Hawley.

Woodward believes that being in a contest helps people lose weight.

"Sharing everything with the other people was a great help, because you know if you lost two or three pounds you could talk to somebody about it," she said. "So that was great. Everybody encouraged each other."

At 77, Woodward was the oldest participant in the contest.

"But I exercise a lot and I swim daily," she noted. "So that really helped me, too."

Woodward praised Tam's efforts in teaching people how to cook properly and eat properly.

Tam said he experimented with making improvements to the contest this year. That included more programs, such as educational sessions, weekly exercise activities, support group sessions, a grocery store tour, strength and conditioning classes and swimming classes.

This year, the contest was more about making lifestyle changes, as opposed to simply losing weight, Tam explained.

"Because I noticed last year that, after the competition, there was no follow-up. A lot of people told me that after the competition they just went back to their regular routines, their regular lifestyles," he said.

As well, this year participants are invited to take part in once-a-month support group meetings now that the contest is over.

Tam and another community dietician, Roberta Dowling, ran the Biggest Winner Contest in conjunction with the Fort Smith Rec Centre.

Contestants were weighed weekly during the competition so they could see their progress, and their weight loss was calculated as a percentage of body weight.

The contest, which was for ages 19 and older, was held earlier than last year and was more condensed.

"We just wanted to give it five weeks because we have a lot of other programs that we want to get done within a year," Tam said.

Last year's contest, which proved to be very popular, ran from April to June.

"One of the reasons why we brought it back was because people wanted the program," he noted. "People pretty much demanded the program come back."

The last big change Tam pointed to was a decision to change the contest's name. Last year, it was dubbed the Biggest Loser Contest.

"When you think of it, the Biggest Loser didn't have a good ring to it. I want to make this competition as positive as I could."