"I decided in the spring to get healthy in my daughter," Lewis said, whose child turns 2 years old in October. "I wanted to run around outside together with her without losing my breath."

Lewis, 26, of Munford, is going to be certainly slim xtreme gold capsule one of nearly 1,200 people who will run within the 34th annual Woodstock 5K Saturday. Some health experts say 5K events are a good way to assist motivate residents to reside healthier lifestyles -- something sorely necessary for a situation and among the highest rates of obesity in the country.
Lewis said practicing 5K runs this year has helped her lose weight and never slack off. Lewis ran her first race in May in Birmingham.
"You don't wish to go out there and look like a fool, so you have to train to push the body," Lewis said. "And when I recieve past one 5K, I immediately sign up for another to keep me going."
Lewis added that they also started eating healthier foods and formed a team to operate with her throughout the Woodstock, partially to help further motivate her. Lewis said she also offers her father's memory for even more motivation. Lewis' father ran the Woodstock for a long time before he died 10 years ago, she said.
"I now run 3 to 4 times per week," Lewis said.
Ann Angell, director of the Oxford YMCA, an exercise instructor and personal trainer, said 5K runs are a way to motivate people to get healthier.
"Yes, we do promote that the 5K is doable for just about anybody," Angell said.
All 5K races are 3.1 miles.
Angell asserted there's also many 5K races for residents to select from nowadays. Years back, there would be only 3 or 4 5Ks scheduled a year in the region, Angell said.
"Now you can find one nearly every weekend," she said.
The increase in interest in 5Ks comes at a time when Alabama is struggling with finding an answer to its high rate of obesity.
According to the Cdc and Prevention, Alabama has, at 33 percent, the fourth-highest rate of obesity when compared with all other states in the U.S. Obesity can lead to life-threatening health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes and stroke.
Mark Lentz, president of the Anniston Runners Club, said 5K events like Woodstock can help encourage residents to get fit.
"It is often necessary to have a goal in mind when you are altering your lifestyle," Lentz said. "Sometimes it's too much to just do it, but, if you have friends, if you have a festive environment, for those who have a large number of supporters, sometimes that is what you need to have significant changes."
Dr. Olivia Affuso, an affiliate scientist in the UAB Nutrition Obesity Research Center and also the Center for Exercise Medicine, agreed that events like 5K runs can spur people to healthier lifestyles.
"They're more available to people who have not were built with a long history of physical activity ... people of different shapes and sizes," Affuso said. "They visit individuals that are successful and say, 'if so and thus can do it, I can too.'"
Affuso noted, however, that it requires more than just exercise to truly lower obesity rates.
"Physical activity is ideal for health across the board ... it will help in weight loss and staving off obesity," Affuso said. "But consistently research has revealed that for people to really lose weight, they leisure 18 coffee have to change their diet and never just do more exercise."
Lewis said she encourages anyone seeking to get healthier to use a 5K event as a fitness goal and then push forward from there.
"It works and makes you feel good," Lewis said.