Good Tips from another Weight Conscience Blogger

Well, let me fill you in on the secret to weight lose.


EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE!!!!

This is based on my own personal experience. At the beginning of this year, I made the old New Years resolution to lose weight. Now I didn’t want this to be just the old make a resolution and forget about it. Here I was, sitting at 270 pounds, a lot more than I wanted to weigh.

I did tons of research, looked at tons of diets, and listened to a lot of non-sense. And you know what I found? All of those people are full of crap. There is no magic diet, no wonderfully easy way to lose weight in a healthy manner. I say healthy, because all off these diets have one thing in common, you cut something out. It can be carbs, fats, calories, whatever and it isn't healthy. I realized one thing that was common to all of them that I found to be a truism, cut out sugary foods, like donuts, candy, and sodas (for me, sodas were the big one). So what I put together was a combination of themes that I used for my diet. Here I am now, sitting at 220 pounds. That’s after the Thanksgiving break, after I stuffed my face, and I didn’t gain a pound.

So, what is this ingenious “diet” I put together. It’s not so much a diet as a series of guidelines I call the "Old Wives Tale" Diet. Why? As I said above, it's just like we have always been told, eat less, exercise more.

Let me start with the eating portion, since it is the easiest part to discuss. First off, people are fickle. We like our tasty foods. The problem with people, especially Americans as any European who has visited this country will tell you, is that we eat entirely too much food. Our servings are insanely large. Sickeningly so. I hear this complaint from foreigners, and I look at the obesity in this country, and I can’t believe that other people haven’t figured this out as the single “biggest” cause of the problem. So, guideline 1, eat half of what is served to you. Deny that urge to finish the plate. Think of it this way, your 6-dollar McDonalds hamburger can be two meals instead of one. You then get to have McDonalds twice in a day. So take that Big Mac, and cut it in half. For me, it was doing things like ordering a single instead of a double. Over time, my appetite subsided, and I could only eat that single, then it got to only half the burger, then half the burger with no fries. YMMV.

Second, I came from a strange household where I picked up a strange eating habit of devouring my food in record time. I am not sure if it is the military lineage that my father, grandfather, and uncles have, and I picked it up there (note, the military bug skipped a generation). Or the rush to get back to the TV/PC, but I eat fast. As a result, when I ate, I was still hungry. It has been said that it takes 20 minutes for your brain to register that you are full. So guideline 2, eat slowly. If you have to chew your food 72 times (isn’t that the number they always recommend) or whatever, do it. Take 20 minutes to eat that half a burger. You might as well savor the flavor and enjoy your food while you got it.

Now, after a few months of this, came a problem. I stopped eating meals altogether. First it went down to 2 meals a day, then 1, and then every other day. I realized this was not health in the least bit. Plus, I stopped losing weight, and would either flat line or start gaining. So, after a little research, I came up with a solution. I started to supplement my meals with 2 things. First, I forced myself back into eating a breakfast. Now, I didn’t just eat any old breakfast, I turned to the Gracie Diet for help. The Gracie Diet is not a scientifically proven diet, but is a diet that has had wonderful results for the Gracie family. If you don’t know who the Gracie’s are, turn on the UFC one day; you will hear them mentioned at least once. Or just go to your local video store and rent the first few UFC’s. You will get an idea. To put it into perspective, the Gracie diet is one that this family of fighters, who have basically invented the modern sport of cage fighting and modern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, have lived by. Their eldest member, Helio, is over 90 years old and still goes strong. That’s a 90+ year old man that could whoop just about anyones butt. How’s that for healthy. It is a certain combination of fruits, vegetables, and other groups in a way that they have felt aids in digestion and gives them energy. Not so much what you eat, but how you combine them. So, this became my breakfast. I picked about 4 different recipes that I liked and are easy enough to make as my breakfast repertoire. These are as follows:

1: Apples and Bananas
Take 4-5 apples, core them, and juice them. Apples corers are about 1 buck at the grocery store, and most nowadays have a slice built in, so you can slice and core at the same time. Take 3-4 bananas put into a blender with the apple juice, mix and drink. The Gracie’s say you can mix ice cubes and crème cheese, but I don’t care for crème cheese. Do not use apple juice from a container, as it contains preservatives, and it loses vitamins. Even ones labeled “No preservatives”. We live in a wonderful country where fruit is already picked and delivered to the store for us. All you need to do is wash it. The Gracie’s handpicked theirs in Brazil (I doubt the ones living in the US pick their own anymore), so be thankful).

2: Bananas and Milk
Take 3-4 bananas, put into a blender, put in milk (I eyeball this, leaving the bananas whole and put enough milk to where ¾ of the bananas are covered), blend and drink. This one is my favorite since it is the quickest, easiest to clean up, and has the best taste.

3: Grape juice
Take ½ pound – 1 pound of sweet grapes. Blend; run through a strainer, and drink. This is probably the hardest one to drink. Grapes taste great individually, but they are hard to swallow like this. One of the things behind the Gracie diet though is we are too stuck on what tastes good, and need to get over it in favor of what’s healthier for us.

4: Fresh Orange Juice
Take about 4-5 oranges, juice them, strain to remove the pulp and drink. This is another one of my favorites. But I have found freshly squeezed orange juice does not taste the same as the kind you buy in the store, leading me to believe there is a lot of additives in the store bought one.

One thing to note, I eat each one of these with a multi-vitamin, every day. There are other recipes, such as carrot juice, that are good also. But, since I do most of my “on the move” eating in the afternoon and evening, this breakfast fits in perfectly. When my fiancée was away, this diet was great because I could eat two meals in this fashion, and saved a nice big dinner for her and me. Other diets say eat this type of food, or that, but as I have found, we just eat anything for dinner in smaller portions and it works out fine.

Now, as Ii mentioned before, the secret isn’t the dietary part. The secret is, as our mothers have ALWAYS told us, is exercise, exercise, exercise. My mother is smarter than the whole league of scientists, dietitians, and all these other witch doctors because this is where I have ALWAYS seen the most consistent weight lose in just about anyone I know who does it. As my mother always told me, “Get off your ass and exercise”. Diet alone will never be enough. You may see some initial loses, but you will plateau and not lose a pound more if you don’t exercise.

So what is exercise? This is another one of those guideline things. For me, exercise was any number of things:

1: At least 3 times a week
2: 20 Minutes of hard-core cardio
3: Something fun

Fun differs between people. For me, it is Kenpo Karate and Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu, coupled with bike riding, running with my Ipod, and jump roping. For my fiancée, it is dancing, tennis, and soccer. Being Latin American, she lives and breaths soccer, being that I am from the United States, I couldn’t care less. But fun is fun from certain perspectives. Point is, go out and do something you love. The most important thing is to keep yourself entertained. I use my Ipod, or I take someone with me when I workout. I love the martial arts since it’s a group activity and it helps keep me motivated.

My regiment usually consists of:
1: 10-15 minutes of stretching. Take 10-15 seconds per muscle group. Always warm up each muscle before you stretch by shaking it, or some light workout.

2: Simple stuff: 3 sets of sit ups with a medicine ball, 3 sets of push ups, and 5 minutes of Jump roping.

3: 45 mins – hour of Kenpo. I do all the forms, sets, and techniques in the Kenpo system. Although of late I haven’t been attending class so much, this still keeps the techniques and stuff fresh. Sometimes I perform on a bag when available.

3: 20 Mins of running: This I typically do on an elliptical machine to save wear and tear on the knees. I do a particular series where I run real hard for a minute straight, job for 2 mins, and repeat, up until 13 mins, where I jog for the remaining time.

4: (optional) Bag work: Here, I will do punching and kicking drills on a standup bag, or will work on ground and pound drills on a bag on the floor. I used to have a partner for this, now I don’t.

5: Extracurricular Activities: As mentioned above, I do Kenpo and Jui-Jitsu in the evenings. This is separate from my daytime workout. I also try to golf on the weekend, or ride my bicycle. The bike trip I take is a 20 mile ride to my former place of employment since it is on a nice, isolated stretch of road, and since this is Texas, our version of winter is about 60 degrees, so its always in season.

Exercise is the key ingredient here. In all the times that I have slipped off the dietary part of my weight loss program, the exercise has kept me from ballooning up. The fact of the matter is we are people, and people have things that come up. Parties, weddings, funerals, birthdays, holidays, special events of all sorts. Just because your trying to lose weight, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy these events. I tried turning down things like cake at parties, but that just gets you funny looks. So a slice every now and then isn’t the end of the world. I didn’t die from massive coronary shock or balloon up from slipping every now and then, I just had to keep consistent with my exercise and get back on track. In this day and age, you can Tivo your favorite shows, or better yet, get them on your Ipod and watch them while your on the treadmill, that way you don’t feel the “imaginary” obligation to be at home for your favorite show. When I still worked in an office, I took my lunch hour to work out at the company gym, and ate soups for lunch. Point is, they key here is the burning of energy, that’s how you’re going to lose weight.

I don’t weight lift, at least not reguarly. For one, weight lifting grows muscle, and I am trying to get smaller. You can get toned, and work certain problem areas (backside, stomach). Consult someone who knows to find the best exercise to work those problem areas. If you’re a man, you have what I refer to as the hero complex. Brad Pitt said it best in Fight Club, so I don’t need to repeat it. You have the body that was given to you, so improve it, don’t try to have someone elses body. Which brings me to point two, most people do not weight lift correctly. I see a lot of guys at the gyms lifting ridiculous weights, which almost always casuses me to laugh. First off, most guys do the quick jerk weight lifting, which is neither health, nor beneficial. This builds what I call “paper muscles”. Proper weight lifting comes from slow, even movements with resitence on the give as well as the take. You can get a lot more from lower weight this way than from the grunt and shove method. Case in point, there was a guy Dave who worked out this way. He was a model that we knew. One day we went to go pick up a TV from his house so we could fix it. Here are two guys, me and my buddy, who did this every day. Dave helped the two of us, and the comedy ensued. The guy couldn’t carry his own weight, despite his “big model muscles”. He cried like a little girl, had to stop every few feet. It was almost like we were better off without his help. A few weeks later I saw him working out at the gym. Here he is lifting weights, using the quick jerk method for bench pressing, and using the swinging assists for arm curls. He was more focused on the numbers on the side of the weights than actually building any sort of strength or muscular endurance. Just because you lift it in the gym, doesn’t mean it will do you any good in reality. So if you lift, lift with a goal in mind. Tone, muscular endurance, and strength are not necessarily mutually inclusive. I have met butchers and auto mechanics with more “strength” than these phony muscle men, so don’t believe the hype. The reason being, these guys work against a resistence consistently, every day, using the same muscles. That’s why auto mechanics have the handshake of death.

So to summarize:
1. Eat less, exercise more
2. Eat smaller portions. Work your way down until you’re at a portion you can eat and be full. This way you eat what you like.
3. Eat slower
4. Exercise at least 3 times a week, for at least 20 minutes (I recommend an hour). Find something you like (Basketball, racquetball, soccer, tennis, martial arts, bike riding, running) and get out there and do it.
5. Have a goal in mind, and keep it reasonable. For me, it was 230 pounds by the end of the year. I have exceeded that goal. Next year, I will shoot for 200 by the end of the year.
6. It takes time, so be patient. You may not see results immediately, or you may see rapid results that taper off over time. In the first few months, I lost 30 pounds rapidly. I’ve fought real hard to lose that additional 20 pounds to where I am at today. And that given all the slip ups.In all of this, I don't have any "scientific" evidence, any expert claims, or any other such nonsense. I have the 50 pound that I have lost, the the surprise of my doctor that my once high numbers in blood tests have dropped to exceptionally normal thresholds. I'm not here to convince you to send me money for the secret to weight lose, nor will you see me with annoying spam or pop-up messages with my ultimate secret. It is just like our parents always told us, go out and exercise, and drop that dang donut. It's a hard road to follow, so be sure you are willing to make the comitment.

Excerpt taken from: http://digiassn.blogspot.com

Karlye's Best Practices

1. Calories in, calories out. Find a good site/program that helps you keep track of how many calories you eat and how many calories you burn. I highly recommend www.dotfit.com
2. Be active. You don’t have to run a marathon to be active. If you’re not used to working out, start out slow. As you continue working out, you will be able to do more and more.
3. Personal training works wonders. Trainers are expensive, but they are worth every penny. If you can make it work, get one ASAP. Bally Total Fitness also offers small group sessions (2-8 people; 10 sessions for $250 per person). If you can get a few people in your office to commit with you, it is much cheaper than personal training and you get the same results.
4. Watch your fat. Watching your fat intake is just as important as watching your calorie intake. If you have a hard time staying away from fatty foods, I recommend trying Alli. It forces you to think about what you put into your body. www.myalli.com
5. Watch your sodium. Eating too much sodium can affect your weight by 3lbs the next day.
6. Watch your portion sizes. Try eating on a smaller plate. If you are still hungry, eat more veggies or drink a glass of water.
7. Drink plenty of water. Our bodies need water and any other beverage comes with calories, sugar, and etc.
8. Stay away from fruit juices. Instead of drinking a glass of orange juice, eat an orange. Juice is full of sugar and is high in calories. The actual fruit provides not only juice, but fiber and many, many nutrients.
9. Berries are the best fruit. Eating fruit is better than eating candy, but eating berries is better than eating other fruits. You can still eat other fruits, but try to eat them earlier in the day and watch your portion sizes.
10. Snack, snack, snack. Snacking on healthy things in between meals will keep you satisfied and keep you from eating too much at meal time.

And the Winner is......

Drum roll please:

1. Karlye Smith 10.2%
2. Luz Stearns 5.66%
3. Rigina Pietrowski 2.703%
4. *Derry Greene 2.027%
5. Quovia Peyton 1.972%
6. Sara Hall 1.173%
7. Tom Feltrin .861%
8. Barbara Washington 0.641%
9. Stefanie Curtis 0.45%
10. Kathy Loftus 0.334%
11. Stephen Gadziola 0%
12. Vernell Hutson 0%
13. Constance Davis 0%


Congratulations to all those that successfully lost some weight in the past 10 weeks!
*Underwent major surgery...

Season 2, Week 9

1. Karlye Smith 8.24%
2. Luz Stearns 4.4%
3. Barbara Washington 3.21%
4. Rigina Pietrowski 2.1%
5. Tom Feltrin 1.55%
6. Quovia Peyton 1.41%
7. Stefanie Curtis 1.35%
8. Sara Hall 0.88%
9. Kathy Loftus 0.33%
10. Stephen Gadziola -1.28%
11. Vernell Hutson -1.94%
12. Derry Greene -0.45%
13. Constance Davis -1.52%

Season 2, Week 8 Rankings

1. Karlye Smith 8.24%
2. Luz Stearns 4.4%
3. Barbara Washington 3.21%
4. Rigina Pietrowski 2.1%
5. Tom Feltrin 1.55%
6. Quovia Peyton 1.41%
7. Stefanie Curtis 1.35%
8. Sara Hall 0.88%
9. Kathy Loftus 0.33%
10. Stephen Gadziola 0%
11. Vernell Hutson 0%
12. Derry Greene 0%
13. Constance Davis 0%

Two more weeks folks! It's not too late to start working out and eating right. The goal now is to weigh less than you started :)

No. 1 Supplement for Weight Loss

Okay, gather around. I’m going to tell you a secret that everyone’s dying to know: the best supplement for weight loss. It’s not sexy, it’s not expensive and it’s not exotic — but it works like a charm. It’s plain, old-fashioned fiber. More than a dozen clinical studies have used dietary fiber supplements for weight loss, most with positive outcomes. (A fulllisting can be found in Dr. Michael Murray’s “Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine,” 2nd edition.) When you take fiber supplements with water before meals, the water soluble fiber binds to water in the stomach, making you feel full, and therefore less likely to over eat. It also suppresses hunger. In addition, fiber supplements have been shown to enhance blood-sugar control and insulin effects and even to reduce the number of calories (adding up to about three to 18 pounds per year!)that the body absorbs. And a study in theNew England Journal of Medicine found that a diet with 50 grams of fiber per day lowered insulin levels in the blood. (Remember, insulin is known as “the fat storage hormone” for good reason.)And it’s not just supplements that do the trick. “People who consume more dietary fiber from foods tend to be less overweight, according to several well controlled studies,” registered dietitian Karen Collins told MSN. “The consistent body of evidence on fiber links higher consumption with less weight gain.” Inone Harvard University study, subjectswho consumed the most fiber gained less weight over the course of ten years of follow-up than those who consumed the least. So, here’s the problem: Americans get a paltry amount of fiber in our diets. Estimates place daily intake at four to 11 grams a day, whereas every health organization I know of, from the American Cancer Society to the National Institutes of Health, recommend between 25 and 38 grams. Our caveman ancestors got much more — probably around 50 to 60 grams a day. You can — and should — add fiber to your diet by eating as many fibrous vegetables and fruits as you can. Beans are the best source at 11 to 17 grams per cup! But there’s some bad news when it comes to the grain foods and cereals we’ve been taught are a great source of fiber: They’re mostly fiber lightweights. Most commercial breads have one to two grams tops, and cereals aren’t much better. There are exceptions like All-Bran and Fiber One, both of which have around 10 grams per serving, but be sure to check your labels. You can do much better with beans, which, by the way, area big component of the diets of those living in “The Blue Zones” — areas around the globe where people routinely live in vibrant health to the age of 100. Controlling your food intake is a heck of a lot easier when you’re not hungry all the time. And fiber will help stave off hunger (and cravings) better than almost anything, whether it be in food or supplement form. Or both! For more info on nutrition, nutritional supplements (including high quality fiber supplements), weight loss, anti-aging andgeneral health, visit Jonny’s site.

Artickle taken from: http://h30405.www3.hp.com/print/pdf/KVN9YC8ZMRA7/news_large

Season 2,Week 7 Rankings

This week was a tough one for most of the contestants. Only 2 contestants lost weight and one was with hard work and the other one was by chance...

1. Karlye Smith 7.06%
2. Rigina Pietrowski 3.3%
3. Barbara Washington 3.21%
4. Tom Feltrin 2.41%
5. Luz Stearns 1.89%
6. Quovia Peyton 1.69%
7. Stefanie Curtis 1.58%
8. Kathy Loftus 0.33%
9. Sara Hall 0.29%
10. Stephen Gadziola 0%
11. Vernell Hutson 0%
12. Derry Greene 0%
13. Constance Davis 0%


THREE MORE WEEKS TO GO!

Season 2, Week 7 Rankings

The rankings for this week are as follows:

1. 8.04% - Karlye Smith
2. 3.77% - Luz Stearns
3. 3.3%- Rigina Pietrowski
4. 2.48% - Stefanie Curtis
5. 1.76% - Sara Hall
6. 1.69% - Quovia Peyton
7. 1.03% - Tom Feltrin
8. 0.33% - Kathy Loftus
9. 0% - Stephen Gadziola
10. 0% - Barbara Washington
11. 0% - Vernell Hutson
12. 0% - Derry Greene
13. 0% - Constance Davis

Don't forget, everyone - we're vying for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place! Good luck and don't forget to make healthy choices this week! We only have 3 more weeks to go, so make it good and let's try to end up LESS than we started.

All the best,
Luz Stearns

Week 4 Weight-Loss Tip

TOSS THE JUNK!

Now would be a good time to get rid of all the junk food currently in your possession. Foods high in saturated and trans fats, sodium, and sugar should be the first to be thrown out (i.e. cookies, pastries, candy, processed meats, potato chips, soda, high-sodium frozen foods, canned soups, etc.). You know them. you think you love them. They are the problem. Throw them away, and don't let anyone give you more. Don't be nice. Don't take a bite. Say: "Thanks, but I'm not eating that kind of stuff for 90 days." And by the way, congratulations! You're taking weight-loss seriously, and just remember-if you think it's junk food, it probably is.

-YES, we mean it, THROW IT AWAY!

Excerpt from P90X Nutrition Plan

Season 2, Week 4 Rankings

So far, this week seems to have been tough for alot of contestants. Some gained weight, some didn’t lose any weight, and others lost very minimal weight (i.e. ½ pound). Hopefully this next week we'll get back on our dedicated wagon and kick some weight off in our next weigh-in.

The rankings this week are as follows:
1. Karlye Smith -4.31
2. Rigina Pietrowski -3.3
3. Tom Feltrin -2.58
4. Stefanie Curtis -2.25
5. Luz Stearns -1.89
6. Sara Hall -1.47
7. Quovia Peyton -1.13
8 Michelle Cartagena* -0.35
9. Kathy Loftus -0.33
10. Barbara Washington - 0
11. Stephen Gadziola -0
12. Vernell Hutson -0
13. Derry Greene -0
14. Constance Davis* -0

*Based on the previous week’s weigh-in.

In order to beat Karlye’s percentage loss from this week, you will need to loose the following amount of pounds (FYI - 2 contestants lost 7 pounds during week 2's weigh-in):

1. Karlye -0
2. Rigina – 2
3. Tom – 5
4. Stefanie – 5
5. Luz -4
6. Sara – 5
7. Quovia – 6
8. Michelle – 10
9. Kathy – 6
10. Barbara – 7
11. Stephen – 9
12. Constance – 10
13. Vernell – 9
14. Derry – 10

Season 2, Week 3 Rankings

1. Karlye Smith -3.92
2. Luz Stearns -3.14
3. Rigina Pietrowski -3.063
4. Tom Feltrin -2.41
5. Sara Hall -2.35
6. Stefanie Curtis -1.8
7. Quovia Peyton -1.69
8. Vernell Hutson -1.29
9. Kathy Loftus -1.01
10. Derry Greene -0.45
11. Michelle Cartagena -0.35
12. Barbara Washington (+)0.03
13. Constance Davis (+)2.03
14. Stephen Gadziola (+)2.56


Good job Karlye, Luz, and Rigina!

Big Loser Challenge Tip: You must drink 6 8-oz glasses of water. Nursing moms should have 8.

Don't forget to watch The Biggest Loser Challenge tv show tonight; it's very motivating!

Season 2, Week 2: Percentage Updates

The ranking for week 2 is as follows:

1. Karlye Smith -2.75%
2. Tom Feltrin -2.41%
3. Sara Hall -2.05%
4. Vernell Hutson -1.29%
5. Stefanie Curtis -1.13%
6. Luz Stearns -0.63%
7. Rigina Pietrowski -0.60%
8. Quovia Peyton -0.56%
9. Kathy Loftus -0.33%
10. Michelle Cartagena* 0%
11. Stephen Godziola* 0%
12. Derry Greene (+)0.23%
13. Barbara Washington (+).96%
14. Constance Davis (+)2.54%


Good job Karlye, Tom, and Sara!

*Contestants that were not able to weigh-in this week, are assumed to have stayed at the same weight from the previous week.

Calling all participants (weigh-in time)

Ladies and Gentlemen –

We’re in the 2nd week of the Big Loser Challenge and I hope you all made healthy decisions over the past 7 days. Please be sure you come today for your weigh-in so that we can tally up the percentages and see our progress so far.

We have 14 people committed to this challenge and that means that we all have a LOT of competition. Since we want to keep you motivated, we’re giving a 2nd, and 3rd place prize. The 3rd place winner will have a consolatory prize of $20 – the entrance fee. The 2nd place prize will win $50 and the 1st place will take home $210.

I look forward to seeing you all today!

Big Loser Challenge Tip: Be sure to have 5 servings* of fruits and vegetables every day! *Typically a serving of fruit and vegetable is ½ cup, except for leafy greens which are 1 cup. 5 servings a day are recommended; nursing moms should have 8; those over 350 lbs should have 9.

Season 2, Week 1 Big Loser Challenge

And our participants are:


Constance Davis (Public Affairs)
Rigina Pietrowski (Public Affairs)
Barbara Washington (Audits)
Vernell Hutson (Audits)
Tom Feltrin (Audits)
Luz Stearns (Audits)
Derry Greene (Public Affairs)
Sara Hall (Exec Sec)
Quovia Peyton (Exec Sec)
Karlye Smith (Exec Sec)
Kathy Loftus (Exec Sec)
Stefanie Curtis (Exec Sec)
Michelle Cartagena (Exec Sec)
Stephen Gadziola (Ombudsman)

Good luck to you all and may the Biggest Loser win!

Season 2 Big Loser Challenge Begins

Our Biggest Loser Challenge is a modified version of the Biggest Loser Challenge most of us watch on TV. One of the major differences is that there are no "teams". You are responsible for identifying the healthy changes needed in your life and it's your job to make it happen. We'll have a blog (bigloserchallenge.blogspot.com) as our major resource to post stories of our journey, share weight lose tips, upload before/after pictures, and most importantly - to keep track of our percentage weight loss.

Start Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2010
End Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Place for weigh in: E11-312N
Day for weigh ins: Tuesday morning preferably before 10am
Calculation method: total percentage lost

Weigh-in rule: You can weigh in anytime on Tuesday as long as there is 1 witness. Set hours are preferences in order to keep the constant workflow productive in our real jobs. If you are not here on Tuesday please contact Luz Stearns or Barbara Washington to coordinate the weigh-in.

§ We will not post actual weights, just % lost.
§ On the last day of the challenge, the person with the highest percentage weight lost wins.
§ On the last day of the weigh-in, we'll announce who has the biggest percentage lost

§ Anyone interested can just accept the outlook invitation and show up and weigh-in.


If you have any questions or concerns throughout the challenge, just post a blog and let us know.

Congratulations to our 1st Biggest Loser

After much work, time, and effort I'm pleased to announce the winner of the 1st round of the Biggest Loser Challenge: Constance Davis! We're all so pleased with your accomplishment and you give us inspiration to keep our weight goals. Your winnings are being held by Vernell Hutson and she'll hand over the $120 CASH! Woo-hoo.

Constance, do you have anything to share with us? Tell us your secret on success and please share some tips. We all want a re-match.

Best regards,
The Big Loser Challenge Crew