Community health challenge continues to inspire residents

DIEPPE, N.B. – A Dieppe woman who spent years trying to manage her weight has been inspired through a community challenge.

Ann-Marie LeBlanc says she found her inspiration to get healthy from a challenge issued by Riverview’s Betty Bevans.

“I thought, ‘I remember Betty, I know her story and it inspired me.'”

Global News first introduced you to Betty Bevans last spring, after she decided to go public with her very private weight loss journey.

READ MORE: Riverview weight loss hero continues her journey

Now down 350 pounds, Bevans has issued a challenge to residents to record their healthy lifestyle changes through social media.

“The tri-community challenge is simply making a decision for 43 days of doing something healthy and then posting it on social media,” Bevans said.

LeBlanc says that challenge has changed her life. She spent years trying to manage her weight and type two diabetes. Last year she got a bit of a scare.

“The doctor started talking about insulin and that kind of scared me I thought this is going to change my life so I thought if this is going to change my life I am going to change it my way,” she said.

Using Bevans as a mentor, LeBlanc lost 50 pounds through walking and healthy eating.

“My health is much better, my diabetes is just about normal, blood pressure normal, cholesterol almost normal.”

The Tri-Community Health Challenge is a competition between three teams: Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview.

People post their stories of maintaining their health on social media. Each post counts for points.

“It’s made it fun, it’s made it a reason to go out and walk and have fun and sort of challenge the other cities and to win a trophy,” she said.