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<\/a>Photo by: MikeBaird on Flickr.com<\/p><\/div>\n
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AARP<\/strong> today launched its second annual \u201cFat-to-Fit Summer Weight Loss Challenge<\/strong>,\u201d an online program challenging people to make positive, permanent lifestyle changes to improve their health. AARP\u2019s Fat-to-Fit challenge will be hosted on AARP\u2019s website (www.aarp.org\/fat2fit<\/a>). Fitness expert and author Carole Carson, a Nevada City, California, resident who lost more than 60 pounds at age 60, will lead Fat-to-Fit online community members through the summer-long program.<\/p>\n Studies show that people are more likely to stick to exercise plans when they have support, and the Fat-to-Fit program will focus on personal interaction with both Carson and other participants through the Fat-to-Fit online community, which already boasts more than 4,200 members from last year\u2019s challenge. Here participants will be able to access free diet and fitness tips, Carson\u2019s columns and blogs, videos, recipes and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m living proof that you\u2019re never too old to get fit,\u201d said Carson. \u201cUnlike diets and other weight loss programs, Fat-to-Fit is intended to help people make permanent, positive lifestyle changes\u2014not just drop 10 pounds and then return to their old bad habits. Our hope is to help people break the diet-relapse cycle for good.\u201d<\/p>\n Beginning today, visitors to AARP.org will be invited to join the Fat-to-Fit Summer Weight Loss Challenge. Participants record their weight and activity and strive to lose pounds. Every time a user updates his or her weight, the Fat-to-Fit site shows how much weight he or she has lost since joining and how many pounds the Fat-to-Fit community has lost collectively. Participation in the Fat-to-Fit online community is key to the contest. Participants are urged to post frequent updates and to exchange ideas, encouragement, recipes and moral support.<\/p>\n The challenge will run through September 6, 2010. Throughout the challenge, Carson will select weekly prize winners, and when the challenge ends, she will select the top five overall winners. Winners will be selected on three criteria: serving as a role model for the entire community, facing and overcoming challenges, and demonstrating the principles of the Fat-to-Fit program. The first-place winner will receive a one-year Gold\u2019s Gym membership, with six months of personal training, and also receive a trip to Orlando, Florida, where the winner will participate in a health session alongside Carson at AARP\u2019s Orlando@50+ National Event and Expo, September 30\u2013October 2, 2010. Official rules and details are available at www.aarp.org\/fat2fit<\/a>.
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