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Brooklyn Loses 82,655 Thousand Pounds During Lighten Up Brooklyn

41 tons were dropped during Brooklyn’s 8-week weight loss campaign

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz announced on Friday the final results of Lighten Up Brooklyn, the 8-week challenge to get Brooklynites to lose weight by eating sensibly and exercising more. Here are some of the program’s impressive results:

7457 people weighed in initially for Lighten Up Brooklyn.

5921 people stayed with the Lighten Up Brooklyn program until the final weigh-in.

Those 5921 participants lost 82,655 POUNDS or 41 TONS of weight.

That comes out to an average of almost 14 pounds per person during the 8-week campaign.

Sheepshead Bay was the neighborhood weight loss champion and appeared on Friday with Marty on NBC’s Today show. The Sheepshead Bay weigh-in stations cumulatively lost 26,385 POUNDS - the most weight on average of any neighborhood throughout the borough. The 2387 PEOPLE lost on average 11.5 POUNDS during the program. Brooklyn’s top weigh-in station was the Weight Watchers - Kings Highway/Sheepshead Bay location.

"By far the majority of the people who lost weight in Lighten Up Brooklyn joined organized weight loss programs like Weight Watchers, which worked with us on the campaign, or through local churches and hospitals," said Markowitz. "The reason why these groups were so successful was because they provided the support, encouragement and organization that is so vital to losing weight. I wanted to get communities from across the borough to work together on an issue that is a serious problem for so many of us – the battle of the bulge. These results prove once again that Brooklynites can accomplish just about anything when we put our minds to it. I congratulate all the lighter people out in Sheepshead Bay and all across Brooklyn. Every single person who participated in Lighten Up Brooklyn is definitely a winner!"

Anthony Drayton, 39, of Canarsie was Brooklyn’s male weight loss champion. He dropped 24 POUNDS.

There was a tie for Brooklyn’s female weight loss champion. Lorraine Salas, 44, of East New York and Una Alcine, 55, of Crown Heights both lost 25 POUNDS. The male and female weight loss champion was each awarded a 4-day, 3-night trip for two to the Islands of the Bahamas compliments of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism. A drawing was held and Lorraine Salas was declared the female weight loss winner.

The top weight loss champion from each weigh-in station was awarded a free night at the New York Marriott Brooklyn.

The Borough President lost 11 pounds during the program – he started at 194 pounds and weighed in at 183 at the end of Lighten Up Brooklyn. Two dedicated people made sure Marty ate right and exercised properly. Dr. Howard Shapiro, founder and director of Howard Shapiro Medical Associates and author of Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss, was Marty’s weight loss specialist. Cheryl Whitaker, an aerobic fitness center coordinator and personal trainer provided by the YWCA, helped whip Marty into shape.

Marty also won a bet he had with Mitch Modell. He lost more weight during the program than Modell. Marty announced that Modell will give all Lighten Up Brooklyn participants a 15% on all non-sale items during the month of July at any Modell’s in Brooklyn. Just go into any Brooklyn Modell’s and present your Lighten Up Brooklyn health card for your discount.

The New York City Department of Health will be studying all of the data collected during Lighten Up Brooklyn to try and understand why the program was effective and what can be done to improve it for next year.

Joining Marty on stage at the event were program partners Suzanne Anderson, Public Relations Manager, Eastern Region, from Weight Watchers, Dominick Mascara of Health Plus and Sam Ibrahim of the New York Marriot Brooklyn.