Alabamians lost a collective 60,689 pounds while participating in Scale Back Alabama in 2018, and it’s almost time for the annual event to kick off again.

For those who resolved to lose weight or get more fit in the New Year, it’s time to make a plan.

Scale Back Alabama is a free statewide weight-loss program designed to encourage Alabamians to get healthy and to have fun while doing it.

The kick-off for the event will be on Tues., Jan. 15, and the first weigh-in week starting two weeks later.

Participants are asked to team up with one other person. The program is free, and starting and ending weights will be kept confidential.

Participants will “weigh out” the week of April 1-7. Teams that have lost a minimum of 10 pounds, as determined by official weigh-in sites, will be eligible for cash prizes.

Winning teams are determined by a random drawing from all eligible teams.

The first three teams drawn win $1,000 per team member, or a total of $2,000 for the entire team.

The second three teams drawn win $500 per team member, or a total of $1,000 for the entire team.

The final three teams drawn win $250 per team member, or a total of $500 for the entire team.

All individuals who lose at least 10 pounds, as recorded by a coordinator at an official Scale Back Alabama weigh-in site, are eligible for an individual prize, regardless of their team’s achievement. However, individuals that are drawn for a team prize are not eligible to win the individual prizes.

From the pool of eligible participants, 40 individuals drawn win one of 40 achievement prizes of $100 per person.

The individual prize drawings are conducted following the April 16 webcast announcing team prizes and are posted on the Scale Back Alabama website approximately two hours after the conclusion of the webcast.

Last year, two individual winners were from Covington County, Samantha Bradley of “Waisted Away” from Andalusia and Ursula Crosby of “Double Deuces” from Opp.

In Covington County, Andalusia Health and the Mizell Wellness Center will participate as weigh-in sites.