Over the past four years the Maine Games has offered Mainers a chance to team up and shape up through its annual statewide wellness competition – Lighten ME!.

Thousands of residents from Fort Kent to Kittery have chosen Lighten ME! as their wellness program because it delivers a fun, effective and productive means of becoming more active, losing unwanted pounds and developing healthy habits that last a lifetime.

Registration for the 2009 Lighten ME! competition begins on Dec. 1. If you sign up before Dec. 15, you can take 20 percent off the registration fee of $15. The competition starts on Jan. 21 and runs through April 30. Go online to www.lightenme.org to register, or for more information about the Lighten ME! program.

Teams of between two and 10 adults can work together to share healthy meals, exercise, provide motivation and set weight loss goals.

Lighten ME! is an online program that provides each member of the team with their own personal Web page where they can record their progress. When participants update their totals, their team totals are automatically updated too. The team that loses the most overall weight wins the competition.