A Town Slims Down

The formula for losing weight is easy: Eat healthier, exercise more. Easier said than done — especially in this economy. It is often cheaper and more convenient for overworked Americans to feed the family with a bucket of fried chicken or a few 99-cent burgers than it is to buy fresh produce.

That's why it's refreshing to see the mayor of Oklahoma City giving the city's residents realistic weight loss options. Mayor Mick Cornett launched "This City Is Going On A Diet" to challenge his town — ranked eigth fattest in the nation by Men's Fitness — to lose a collective 1 million pounds. No one said it would be easy, but luckily, the mayor has help.

Cornett, touting the benefits of the program on The Ellen Degeneres Show, above,  partnered with Taco Bell to announce that the Mexican Food chain's Fresco options would be the challenge's official menu. That's nine items with less than 9 grams of fat — all at fast-food prices. Other local restaurants have also added healthy options as part of the challenge. That's not to say the mayor is shunning home-cooking. The program's web site has plenty of healthy recipes and tips including links to how to eat right on a budget, which says that frozen fruits and veggies can offer the same nutritional content as fresh at a fraction of the cost. The mayor is also adding 300 miles of sidewalk space to encourage his city's residents to walk — no gym membership needed — and he's also building more school gyms.

The program was launched last December 2007. Already, the 28,950 participants in the program have lost a total of 400,381 pounds. The mayor himself lost 40 of those. Still think losing weight is too hard? We'd say OKC is showing us you can cut out the fat from waistlines — and wallets.