Week 7 Recap

The holidays are over, and the Largest Loser contestants are back to the program in full swing. Despite food-intensive holiday celebrations, coupled with no weigh-in accountability last week , each team can proudly say that they continued to lose weight. For Week 7, the blue team topped the weight loss percentage at 1.2%, followed by the green team at 1.1%, the yellow/shadow team was down this week 0.7%, the red team down 0.58% and orange/warrior team down 0.57%. Congratulations on self-monitoring, despite not having official workouts and lectures last weekend. You were given some "real world" experience in making sound choices.

This week, the Losers came back to an adrenaline-infused Sunday as they prepared for their very own "Tough Mudder" challenge! First, they had their nutritional lecture with ACE Certified Health Coach Pam Hutchinson. New Loser contestants and returning Loser contestants discussed personal challenges and how to overcome them. One new contestant mentioned that setting high expectations at the beginning of the  program added stress in achieving her goals. Social situations and breaks in routine are also setups for added challenges. Pam provided some great suggestions, such as reading the book "I Deserve This Chocolate" and remembering three things: refocus, recommit, and reconnect.

After the lecture, all teams except for the non-competing Shadow Team  met outside for the  long-awaited, Tough Mudder style challenge. Each team had to successfully  hurdle obstacles on a hill, roll tree stumps, push small tires individually and then carry a massive tire collectively. The mighty blue team prevailed, completing their mission in a lightning-quick ten minutes!

Great job to everybody who gave it their all in this season's final fitness competition!

Green Team 

After two weeks of holiday and gym closings, the Green Machine still managed a close second in the rankings.

While we all struggled to eat clean, through the Passover and Easter menus, we all still managed to lose, or stay steady.

For many of us, this holiday brought a new way of thinking through traditional meals: exchanging some items healthier choices or simply making smaller portions of the favorites.

We were each very successful in overcoming the challenges brought by two weeks of no structure.

Biggest challenges involved chocolate and passover wine...

For the upcoming week, we will keep moving forward, with the final goal in sight. We'll log our food, get our 10,000 steps in and stay the course.

Eat clean, be lean, GO GREEN!! 

Yellow Team

Shadow Team - Week of April 20th.

A sense of realism took the spotlight the night of April 23rd as several of us realized that the goals we set in early March were not going to be realized.   A group discussion provided support for each other and reinforced that these two months were just the beginning of a journey toward better health, both physically and mentally.  Implementing even half of what we have been introduced to from the trainers and lectures will not only provide us with more energy but better overall health. 

With age everything becomes more difficult, especially losing weight.  Infirmities inhibit certain movement and it's incumbent upon us to find ways around those limitations.  The payoff is a longer healthier life! 

The evening was punctuated with the following quote:  "I wish I could love it, but I hate every minute"!

Orange Team

Our final week and a bit of a rough weigh in for our team. As we discussed on Sunday, the holidays, stress and a break in our routine caused some of us have a lapse. However, we are following Pam's three Rs and we are back on track. 
A big shout out to our most consistent "losers"- Dawn and Erica. They have each lost about 30 pounds and look amazing! 
As part of our final blog, we would like to thank everyone who makes this program possible, Susan, all of the trainers and all of our guest speakers. The past ten weeks prepared us for the journey we are about to continue on our own, either to continue losing or maintaining a healthy weight. We appreciate all that you do! Thank you to all involved at the JCC Fitness Center. Good luck to everyone in this final week.

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!