In the North Carolina WISEWOMAN Project, nearly three-fourths of all participants are either overweight or obese. Through control of weight, cardiovascular disease risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and type 2 diabetes can be reduced along with their associated mortality. While there is some evidence of successful weight loss programs in the scientific literature, there are limited data on strategies to improve the weight loss outcomes of African Americans and other lower income populations and how to maintain weight loss over the long term with strategies that are feasible for health care agencies that service primarily lower income populations. We have designed a program to test intervention strategies to improve the weight loss outcomes of the WISEWOMAN population. Specifically, the purpose of the North Carolina WISEWOMAN Weight Control Pilot Study, "Weight-Wise" Program, is to test the effectiveness of a weight loss and weight loss maintenance intervention among WISEWOMAN participants, conducted in a community health center in Wilmington, NC. The Weight-Wise Program was launched in February 2005 and will continue through the Spring of 2007.