By Amanda Raymond
amanda.raymond@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY – Novant Health Rowan Medical Center and the YMCA of Rowan County have partnered to offer a free weight loss program to bring in the new year.

The five-week course, called the Commit to be Fit Weight Loss and Nutrition Program, begins on Jan. 2. The classes will be taught by licensed professionals including registered dietitians, a health coach and a fitness trainer.

The classes will cover topics such as metabolism, daily food and fitness choices and mindfulness. Participants will get screenings at the beginning and end of the program to measure blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference and percentage of body fat.

Val Velte, a community wellness nurse and one of the course’s organizers, said five weeks is not a lot of time to see significant progress, but participants may be able to lose a couple of pounds or see an improvement on their waist measurements.

Participants will also develop personal fitness plans and receive a notebook to log food and activity, a pedometer, weekly recipes and a YMCA pass to any YMCA in the county.

Velte said this is the first time Novant Health and the Y has teamed up to offer this program, as far as she knows.

Velte is also a health coach, and she said she gets nutrition-related questions all the time.

“It sort of seems like we know we need to eat better, but we don’t know how,” she said.

Some may know how to exercise well, Velte said, but they may not know how to eat right.

“It kind of undermines all their efforts,” she said.

She said the classes are meant to give participants the nutrition basics, including things like correct portion sizes, how to read a nutrition label and staying away from processed foods. The participants will even have the option of going on a grocery store tour to put nutrition label reading to the test and learn about where the non-processed foods are located in most grocery stores.

The last class will be a cooking demonstration.

Aaron Crowe, aquatics director at the J. Fred Corriher Jr. YMCA, said Novant has resources and the educational background to help the participants and the Y has the facility and fitness experts.

“We’re excited about it,” Crowe said.

Velte said Novant often evaluates the county to determine what the biggest health issues are, and obesity is one of those health issues that is not only an issue for the county but for the nation.

Velte and Crowe hope the participants will be able to take the skills learned in the course and incorporate them into their lives. Other Y locations have already asked about offering the courses at their locations and Velte said they do plan to rotate the program through the other locations during different times of the year.

The program is open to anyone. YMCA membership is not required to register.

To register for the course, call the J. Fred Corriher Jr. YMCA at 704-857-7011. Space is limited to 15.

Contact reporter Amanda Raymond at 704-797-4222.