Week 4 Recap

The Largest Loser program is officially halfway over now, and all teams still remain dedicated to their weight loss efforts with numbers to back it up. This week, the green team cleared victory with a 1.4% total weight loss. The blue team and orange team tied for second with a 0.8% weight loss. The red team trailed right behind with a 0.7% weight loss, and the yellow team followed behind with 0.4% total weight loss.

While there were no fitness competitions this Sunday, teams still reported to work out, weigh in, and attend their weekly lecture. ACE Certified Health Coach Pam Hutchinson spoke about portion distortion, and made participants aware that in our culture, "you eat with your eyes". Pam provided guidance and tools that would help teams overcome the portion challenges when planning their meals. A small group of repeat participants worked with Clinical Psychologist, Cheryl Gelernter, PhD., to delve into eating behaviors to better manage their personal weight loss.

With the teams now several weeks into the Largest Loser program, some contestants have been faced with challenges such as illness/injury that could potentially curb their weight loss efforts. The green team lost trainer Casey Canada, as he has to return home. Still, each team collectively managed to yield positive (rather, negative) results. Great job to all teams!

Green Team

Even as we battled flu and the loss of a trainer (good luck, Casey!) we managed to take the top spot in % of all teams this week, with 1.4 % loss of body fat.

Robert continues to be a force and we all held in there with losses on the scale.

Workout accomplishment this week:
Completion of Tabata homework, fitting in workouts no matter how small, in the face of life's adversities.

Goals for the week: eat more greens, stay active, eat mindfully. 

Blue Team

The blue team continues to work hard to drop those pounds. Thank you to Pam for teaching us about portion distribution.  We as team blue have hopefully learned to not eat with our eyes.  Team blue had some great weight loss numbers which allowed for us to tie with the orange team (our cousins), coming in second place in team weight loss this week.  

Orange Team

This week we faced some challenges. Team members continue to deal with injuries, sick children, family functions that make food choice difficult and busy work schedules. Life happens and we need to remember to account for that in our lifestyle changes. 

We had an awesome workout Tuesday night with the Blue Team- 30 people, 13 stations and lots of sweat! Thursday night we ended our training by running a mile. Congrats to Amy who took two minutes off of her time!

The Orange Team also wanted to thank Lisa for her Saturday morning workouts. Boy can we feel those tabatas. Vince has also been offering a water workout Sunday mornings for those who have mobility issues. Another great opportunity to burn calories and lots of fun too. 

Yellow Team

Wednesday, March 26^th – the workout was the best organized and most challenging of the first month.  The circuit/stations that were laid out looked “oh so easy”.  They were not.  About three minutes into the first round of stations the exercises took on the feeling of “boot camp”.  With drill sergeant J. Johnny Johnny and Major Tully leading the way, it was a perfect mix of energy bursts and rest periods.  We were also graced with a guest appearance from Hall of Fame trainer D. Forsilius.  The wiley veteran kept the pressure up with words of encouragement while ensuring we endured maximum pain and fatigue from the “wave rope” station.  We hope she returns.  Everyone was fully exhausted from the workout and we knew it was time to end the circuit training when one Loser chose to not stand up but roll on the floor from one station to the next.  Even the Golden Girls were tested towards by end of the circuit training but none of the team dropped out!!

Our inspirational leader, Austin, returned in a week and half to resume his mastery of the plank position. 

Our Sunday, March 30th weigh-in showed the group losing the least amount of weight (percentage-wise) of the teams but percentages may be deceiving.  The middle weeks of the program present their own set of challenges.  We are not yet in great physical shape and are probably still in the process of "breaking down" muscle tissue in some areas of the body.  Other parts of the body may be getting stronger and those muscles weigh more than the fat it replaced so great weight loss will not be realized each week.  Our commitment to the program and doing the right thing is still strong and week by week we should be able to exercise harder and for longer periods.  When physical limitations affect strenuous exercise, dieting and adherence to the nutritional guidelines we have received will keep us on the right path.

Week 3 Recap

The Largest Loser contestants continue to hold strong into week three, with total weight loss posted from last week on all five teams! This week, the blue team lost the most, down 1.2%. Not so far behind was the red team at a 1.1% loss, green team at 1.0%, yellow team at 0.84%, and orange team at 0.5%. Congratulations to everyone on an impressive weigh in yesterday!

Following their morning workout and weigh in, all contestants had their nutritional lecture with green team trainer and ACE Certified Health Coach, Pam Hutchinson, on exercise efficiency and food journaling. Teams learned about optimal workout levels and calorie intake, and they learned what to look for/avoid on labels while grocery shopping. The lecture ended with an activity to create an appropriate day's meal plan. (Remember the fiber!) Needless to say, each team left with a wealth of good information and will apply their new knowledge to the upcoming week.

Green team trainer and ACE Certified Health Coach Pam Hutchinson, leading this week's lecture!

Blue Team

The blue team rounded out the week taking the lead in overall percentage of weight loss this week. We had some great losses this week.  The workouts are beginning to increase as we notice more workout homework and added weights to our workouts.  Great job blue as we continue to drop those pounds and hopefully see our bodies become more muscular.  Go Team Blue!!!! Let's work out hard and eat the right food.  Thanks to Pam for educating us on ways to successfully grocery shop.  

Red Team

Red Team had a successful week on the scale coming in at #2!! We are nursing our injuries, icing up but getting right back on our game!! We are excited for the next weigh in!! Go RED!!!!!! 

Green Team

The Greenies were decidedly 'green' this week, but despite battling rounds of stomach flu, the Green Team represented at weigh in today with our heads held high! All team members were down on weight and up in spirit, losing over 1% body weight as a team whole, without 3 team members!
 
We are all becoming more aware of how to feed our bodies with quality foods and struggle to find the balance in getting enough quality foods while getting to that 10,000 step mark daily.
 
While the boys are more consistent on the scale, the gals are gaining (losing!) on them, and we're all working together to support the challenges that come with this new healthier lifestyle.
 
Biggest food challenge remains keeping the balance on the 40-30-30 splits. 
 
Biggest accomplishment was hitting that 10,000 step mark consistently and realizing how much that actually IS!!
 
This week we're rocking the workouts, and shopping with our meal plans in mind. 

Yellow Team/Shadow Team

Week 3 saw the Shadows being led by the Golden Girls - Alinda, Barbara, Katherine, Ruth, Mary, and honorary Golden Girl: our leader, Terri!  We all expected to start hitting the wall with less weight being lost, still hurting from the workouts, and dreaming about all that high calorie good stuff that got us into the Largest Loser competition.  But, we still lost weight and feel we have turned the corner with renewed vigor and determination to reach the goal(s) we have set for ourselves. 

The March 23, 2014 lecture was much needed and shed light on a diet plan that focused on the 40/30/30 reduced carb approach.  Highlighting certain foods that provide different properties that need to be incorporated into our diets was very informative.  Our menu developed by the group left everyone with their mouth watering!

Get well wishes go out to Austin who injured himself at a group workout with one of the competitive teams.  

Orange Team/Warrior Team

This week shed some light on making better and best food choices. You really have to read food labels and understand what you need to balance your diet each day. In spite of some injuries on the Orange Team in the past couple of weeks, all members still lost weight. Like Jess said, you have to keep positive and log your food. Yesterday, the Orange Team met with Cheryl during our lecture. One consistent theme, is that many of us struggling with our weight have difficulty putting our needs first. It is as if taking care of our own health is "optional" and we put work and the needs of our loved ones before our own. One of our team members quoted Rodney Dangerfield, "Remember to take care of number one, but don't step in number two." All kidding aside, we all need to put our health and wellness first. Without our health we won't be able to help others. Keep up the great work, Warriors!

Week 2 Recap

The Largest Loser competition is in full swing and onto the third week! The second week proved itself positive as weigh-ins yielded weight loss results, and Wheeler's Market-Cafe introduced its "Light and Local Fare" menu -- specially designed for the Largest Loser program!

This week, the green team took the win for total weight loss and blue team won the balance fitness competition on Sunday morning. Check out some of the training that these teams endured, as well as the progress of all other teams. Congrats to the green team, blue team and to everyone on their continued efforts to a more healthy lifestyle!

The blue team won this week's balance fitness competition!

The Blue Team:

Congratulations Team Blue on a job well done during the first competition.  All of those planks, wall sits, and running have been good practice for preparing us to successfully take home a win.  Shouts go out to  all of the team members.  Individual recognitions go to:

• Colby, Kathy, Shelly, Jasmine and Joe for rocking out on the Wall Sit
• Joe, Lenny, and Shelly for planking it out and holding on to the plank no matter how bad their arms shook
• Danean, Melissa, Shelly, Kathy, and Lenny for balancing as if they were gymnasts walking across the balance beam

In the end, each and every team member was amazing in helping us to complete the competition.  

Team Blue…Winning as a Team!!!!

The Orange Team:

This week was busy! As part of our fitness homework, the Orange Team was encouraged to get into the pool, and many of us did. Tuesday and Thursday's workouts kept us moving with the Bosu, TRX, stairs, treadmills and more! There was also a workshop at Wheelers Cafe that gave us tricks to spice up our food and tips about what to look for when eating out. The Orange Team is keeping up with their homework and journals and got great results on the scale today. Be sure to add your fitness homework to your routine this week- lots of core work. Great lecture today by Amy Plano, RD. Congratulations to the Blue Team for winning today's competition and to all that participated. This program is not only about losing the weight, but it is also about being physically fit. This is one more way to measure success, and we are on our way there!  

The Yellow Team:

Sunday, March the 9th lecture proved prophetic as several members used the "7 questions technique" to talk themselves out of that sixth and seventh chicken wing sample at the Wheeler's Café buffet on Wednesday, March 12th.  The discussion at Wheeler's Cafe was excellent, and the food samples were better than the lecture.  All in attendance want to thank Pam Hutchinson for those prodding questions that were asked of the lecturer, a staff member at the Café. 

The Wednesday night, March 12th, workout showed increased intensity and fervor as no one wanted to be a slacker in front of our new trainee trainer Courtney! Weight loss at the March 16th weigh-in was such that the Shadow team stepped out of the shadow and posted the largest weight loss (percentage wise) of all the teams. What a riot!!! Too bad we are not eligible for the JCC bucks that are handed out!

The Red Team:

Week 2 down, onto week 3 and we are motivated more & more each day!! Although our weigh-in was not as high as week 1, we are happy with our success.

The team is learning how to recalculate and design food plans to better serve our fitness/weight loss needs. We enjoyed being a part of the competition and look forward to the next challenge!!!!
Congrats to the Shadow Team!!! :-)

Some of the Red Team are joining in on the Savin Rock Half Marathon 2014 on March 22 -- in case anyone wants to join in on the fun!

The Green Team:

Green team bonding by the Wheelers Light & Local menu.

Congratulations to all teams on great teamwork and sportsmanship during the first competition.

• Most weight lost: Robert 
• Biggest food accomplishment: Logging into the journals..both good and bad, but taking ownership of the 'bad' and making positive changes!
• Biggest Food challenge: Reducing salt, peer family pressure during a traditionally high salt/celebratory week of corned beef , cabbage and green beer!
• Biggest workout accomplishment: Most of us consistently wore our pedometers and aimed to reach over 10,000 steps. 
• Team vow & mantra for week: Log the food, make healthy choices and log 10,000 steps daily

Week 1 Recap

This week added an extra challenge for all Largest Loser competitors. Not only did they transition their every day eating and exercise habits, but they also lost an hour of sleep on Sunday, March 9th with daylight savings time. However, this did not stop our troopers from reporting at 8am to workout, weighing in, and attending their lecture on nutritional behavior.

"Nobody said it would be easy but somebody said it would be worth it." Wise words from the blue team!

 All teams worked hard this week, with numbers to back up their efforts. There was a total of over 300 lbs lost, with the red team leading the percentage of weight lost with 3.0%! The orange team (also known as the warrior team) followed with a total percentage of 2.7% weight lost, and the blue team took third place with 2.6% total weight lost.

Victory goes to the red team with a total of 3.0% weight lost this week!

Each team had something to say about their successes and challenges this week.

The red team placed first in total weight loss at 3.0%!! They give credit to their spirited trainers and to each other. This is what they had to say about  their week:

Team Red had an awesome week. Everyone on the team worked his or her butt off. Each and every member of this team motivates and encourages each other to keep going and never give up. We had a fantastic weigh-in on Sunday and we are looking forward to the next. Each workout gets better and better, we are finding our own ways to get through each session. We have the best trainers and each of them brings something very unique to our workouts. The Red Team has great camaraderie and are excited for each new workout. Vince and Lisa give the best feedback, advice, andrecommendations for each person to help get through some of the tougher exercises. All in all we are ready to win and we are totally psyched to lose weight and gain control of our lives once again!!!! Great job RED!!! Let’s ROCK!!!!

The second place orange/warrior team has an exciting and unique vantage point, as all members have done the Largest Loser program in the past. Here is what they had to say about starting the program again this season:

Warriors Week 1: This week was a time to reconnect and recommit. Tuesday's assessments proved we have some strong people on our team holding planks and wall sits for more than 4 minutes. Thursday was quite a surprise! After ten minutes of running, we met Pam in the Gaylord room to "get real". Pam and Jess helped us get rid of excuses and face some of the reasons why we eat. This journey for the Warriors is going to be quite different from past experiences. The focus is not on our one hour training sessions, but on the other 23 hours in the day and the choices we make. As one team member pointed out today during the lecture, "We can't have it both ways". This is not a ten week weight loss program, this is about making changes that will last a life time. The Warriors did great on the scale this week. Can't wait to see what Jess has planned for us this week!

The blue team took third place, but as you can see, it was not easy. They worked hard for their achievement! Here is what they had to say:

Team Blue rounded out their first week with awesome team workouts.  With a variety of workouts Team Blue's trainers pushed us to the max.  We dripped what I would imagine to be a "combined" 1 gallon of sweat but no matter how tired we got, no matter how much we sweat, no matter how much our legs felt like J-E-L-L-O we ended our first week working hard.   Thanks to our trainers for encouraging us to push our bodies to the max...in a safe way. Team Blue had some great successes when it comes to weight loss.  "Nobody said it would be easy but somebody said it would be worth it."  123...Go Blue!!!

The green team noted the following weekly highlights:

Most weight: Robert 17.6, Ralph, 6.2, Laura 5.0
Biggest food accomplishment: 

• Managing the calories.
• Steve dropped all diet soda.
• Robert: What the heck is that? Oh, he says cut all sugar. ALL sugar. 17 lbs of sugar! Zoiks!! Way to go buddy!! 

Biggest workout accomplishment:

• Lisa swam a mile.
• Amy and her daughter took the dog for a long walk.

Team vow & mantra for week:
Eat Right, move more

Finally, the yellow/shadow team had some thoughts as the only non-competitive team in the program. As you will notice, competing against other teams is not their aim, but they certainly competed against themselves with impressive results this week:

Shadow Team (with the leadership of Terri and Johnny) came out of the box strong with everyone posting weight loss at the March 8th weigh-in.   Assessment night was a wake-up call and the assessment strongly identified where we are not!!!!!   Austin was the assessment star with a long 'wall-sitting' and too many push-ups to count.  We were all in a state of envy.  

Our group of eight is a very supportive group largely consisting of older individuals and we are not focusing on the competitive nature of the program.   Emotions heard around the 'water-cooler' included:  inspiring, invigorating, happiness.  As we all know, HAPPINESS IS AN INSIDE JOB!

Trainer Terri Tully with Jack Moresko of the yellow/shadow team.

Largest Loser Kickoff

The 10th Annual Largest Loser competition kicked off today at the JCC of Greater New Haven. It was a chilly morning in Woodbridge with 20-something degree weather and flurries, but the weather did not stop our teams from showing up for their early morning workouts and team activities.

10th Annual Largest Loser participants endure an early morning workout.

Five teams comprise the competition this season: the blue team, green team, red team, yellow team and orange team. The orange team is the "warrior" team, made up of former Loser contestants who are looking to further their weight loss journey. The yellow team is the "shadow" team, and they will participate in Loser events non-competitively. Each team met with their respective trainer this morning and started their first of several workouts planned over the next ten weeks.

Following their morning workout, all teams gathered for an introduction to the JCC fitness and wellness team led by Susan Donovan, Director of Fitness. Staff includes a team of fitness and wellness specialists.

Trainers are:

• Red Team:  Vince Varsh (Lead Trainer), Lisa Viani (Co-Trainer)
• Blue Team: Jess Ciola (Lead Trainer), Maria Hunt (Co-Trainer)
• Green Team:  Pam Hutchinson (Lead Trainer), Casey Canada (Co-Trainer)
• Orange 'Warrior' Team: Jess Ciola (Lead Trainer)
• Yellow 'Shadow' Team: Terri Tully (Lead Trainer)
• Assistant Trainers that will help all groups are Alex Lagase and Johnny Torres

Wellness coaches are:

• Pam Hutchinson, MS Exercise Science, ACE Certified Health Coach will guide the weight management lectures
• Cheryl Gelernter, PhD, Clinical Psychologist will lecture on the 'behavioral aspects of weight loss'
• Tara Graham, Holistic Health Coach will lecture on health foods, organic choices and food additives
• Amy Krystock, RD will offer a lecture 'Ask the Dietitian'
• Bill Bradley, RD will present on Mediterranean Lifestyle and Diet and offer an Olive Oil tasting

Pam Hutchinson leads a nutritional lecture.

After introductions and a quick group photo, all teams attended a lecture led by Pam on the ABCs to healthy eating. With whole foods and mindful eating on their minds, it was a perfect transition into the first team challenge: a quiz on nutrition!

Each team discussed amongst themselves the answers to Pam's multiple-choice questions, and the team with the most correct answers was this week's winner. The green team edged out it's competition with 6/10 answers correct. The yellow, blue and red teams each answered 5/10 correctly. The orange team trailed with 0/10, but as trainer Jess noted, it was not an ultimate sentence. Jess and staff will work hard to ingrain the nutritional component of the program so that participants make wiser food selections moving forward.

The green team is this week's team challenge winner!

The beauty of the JCC's Largest Loser competition is that it is more than a program strictly about weight loss. Nutritional and psychological portions of the program are as valuable as the physical portions, and these lifestyle changes will help participants lose weight, gain health and maintain their results well beyond the 10-week program.

Be sure to tune in for our next Largest Loser recap, which will be provided by team representatives starting next Monday. Here's to health and happiness for all of our contestants in the next ten weeks and beyond!