From heart disease to heartbreak, applicants for the “New Year, New You Weight-Loss Challenge” told touching tales of the toll weight takes on local lives.

Eight people will be chosen to begin their weight-loss journeys on Feb. 3. Over 40 applications were received.

“These are people who have to courage to put themselves out there in the community,” said Richmond County Daily Journal Publisher Rick Bacon. “It takes a lot to do that, and we’ve had a great response.”

The Daily Journal is partnering with FirstHealth to sponsor the contest, and will follow the contestants in a special series of articles.

Patti Friedman, operations director for FirstHealth Richmond Center for Health and Fitness, said she was really surprised at the number of entries received.

“We’ve got a lot of great applications here, and we’ll be going through them over the next week. I was amazed at the number of people who called, came by, faxed and mailed in those entry forms.”

Entrants ranged from people seeking to break the cycle of obesity in their families to those who were the only ones in their families struggling with weight. They listed many sources of motivation, from desiring to be better examples for their children to reclaiming their own self-esteem.