By Hugh Fisher

Kannapolis Citizen

As she waited to check in at the Weight Watchers meeting at the Cannon Village Visitor's Center, Lynda Cobb talked about the reasons why she and several other locals wanted to bring the popular health program back to Kannapolis after a two-year absence.

"Better health, of course," Cobb said, "but with everything that's happening with the North Carolina Research Campus, we wanted to get in on the ground floor."

She was referring to David Murdock's focus on improving health, the driving force behind the research facility that is planned to change the face of Kannapolis.

Late last year, faced with rising gas prices and busy schedules, several Kannapolis women began a push to bring regular Weight Watchers meetings back to the city.

The establishment of a Weight Watchers regional office in Concord's Afton Village two years ago ended the meetings that had been taking place at churches here.

"It was just too far away with the price of gas and our work schedules," said Melissa Wiles. "We're in retail and it made it really hard to make it to the meetings."

And since Weight Watchers — the structured group weight-loss and healthy lifestyle program founded in 1963 — relies on regular attendance at weekly meetings, missing a week can be frustrating and costly.

"We started calling (Weight Watchers) about August and seeing who we really needed to talk to," Wiles said. After convincing the company of the need for a local presence, the group began regular meetings at the Cannon Village Visitors Center on Jan. 12.

"We usually have 40 or so people, but we've had as many as 50," said Jerri Wood, one of the receptionists who helps run the meeting.

Michelle Jordan leads the weekly meetings. She was a receptionist at the meetings formerly held at Lane Street Church of God and Kimball Memorial Lutheran Church.

Each week, she presents a message on healthy lifestyles and leads discussion among the local men and women who have gathered to share personal triumphs and talk about their concerns.

Last Thursday night, the focus was making good lifestyle choices.

"My grandfather said, 'Life is like a cafeteria. At the end, you've got to pay,' " Jordan said.

She described the personal revelation that led her to join Weight Watchers in 1971, where she lost 25 pounds and learned to love the group's supportive atmosphere.

Others described their personal triumphs and talked about how they'd struggled to maintain healthy lifestyles.

Physical appearance wasn't the sole focus of any one person's Weight Watchers experience, and Jerri Wood said that weight loss is not the only reason people join the group.

"Some people come because they have high blood pressure. They get their blood pressure down, they get their cholesterol down. Doctors recommend this program," she said.

Lynda Cobb says diabetes and high blood pressure run in her family. A healthy diet can help prevent those complications.

"It's a tried and true method," Cobb said. "This is my fourth week and I've lost 20 pounds."

Bobbie and Junior Hampton decided to attend the group together, along with members of their church, to improve the quality of their lives.

"I did it because I heard a lot about it, and I figured that with a group (weight loss) would be a lot easier," Bobbie Hampton said.

"Number one, I'm diabetic, and number two, I know I'm overweight," said Junior Hampton. "This is a pretty good support group. Everybody has different ideas and different recipes for what to eat, different from that greasy fast food."

Meetings take place every Thursday night at the Cannon Village Visitors Center. Weigh-in for returning members is at 6:30 p.m. and the presentation starts at 7.

For more information, call the Visitors Center at 704-938-3200 or visit www.weightwatchers.com.

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Contact Hugh Fisher at 704-932-3336 or hfisher@kannapoliscitizen.com.