Oklahoma City -- It's been nearly four months since Mayor Mick Cornett announced the "This City is Going on a Diet" initiative. He challenged metro residents to lose a collective one million pounds. More than 17,000 people have answered the call and the mayor gave a progress report Thursday. KSBI-TV's Kealey McIntire has more.
Jim Craig started the challenge at 291 pounds.
"Today I was below 230," says Craig.
He has shed 62 pounds and he says the mayor's initiative has helped him in ways he never would have imagined.
"I sweat less, I don't get injured as much, I don't get sick as much," says Craig.
Craig is just one of thousands who is seeing his waistline shrink. Chandra Davenport has lost 21 pounds through eating healthier and walking. Katherine Jackson signed up for the challenge because she wants to be a healthy grandmother.
Tim Taft, who has lost 34 pounds, says, "I started biking in January and then after I lost a little bit of the weight I stated running."
Taft will be running in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.
More than 17,000 users have lost nearly 56,000 pounds. The website teaches you about diet and exercise, but Mayor Cornett says most importantly, it has made it okay to talk about Oklahoma's obesity problem.
"That's what this initiative has been about. It's about accountability, it's about a community that has high standards in so many other areas, why doesn't it have higher standards for itself," says Cornett.
Oklahoma City has continually made the list of the fattest cities. Mayor Cornett hopes to change that one person at a time. As Craig says, it's a change that must be made for life.
"This is not a process that ends at one step or at one weight or at one waste size, this is a process that ends when life ends," says Craig.
Craig says if you are just starting out you should immediately start walking and start eating less.
Cornett says the website is not going anywhere. He encourages thousands more to sign up at www.thiscityisgoingonadiet.com.
