As you are no doubt aware the challenge was between 15 overweight guys to see who could lose the biggest % of their weight between January and April 19th.

Just a few weeks ago I was roughly in 3rd place (top 4 finishers finish “in the money”).

As of April 1, I had lost 29 pounds, down to 216lbs (for a total of 11.8% lost).

The final weigh-in was a few weekends ago and here’s how I did…

The Biggest Loser Results

I finished in 5th place at 221.5lbs for a loss of 9.6% (4th place had a loss of 9.7%)

What is funny is that I had top weigh in 2 days earlier due to the trip to New York that my wife and I had planned for the 18th and 19th.

So that Thursday morning (the 17th) I weighed myself at 7am and I was at 218.

“Not bad”, I thought… “27 pounds is pretty good and I should at least finish in the money”

Well I couldn’t weigh myself in until that evening (9pm) and I guess the absorption of water, etc… during the day, weighed me down by an additional 3.5lbs for 23.5lb total weight loss.

What is funny is that had I weighed in at 218 I would’ve taken 3rd place and have received $200 as the prize money. Had I weighed in at my lightest during the competition (215lbs) I would’ve placed 2nd.

The competition was THAT close.

Oh…the winner? He lost 13% of his weight.

I feel I still “won” so-to-speak. It motivated me to get off my butt and do cardio.

I “feel lighter” and have more energy and my joints don’t ache anymore when I go up and down stairs. I’ve continued to eat right and exercise these past two weeks…with one notable exception.

I have enjoyed the warm embrace of beer. The one thing I swore I wouldn’t touch in the competition was alcohol and to that I was true. The past few weekends I have enjoyed a few beers (especially during the NFL draft, more on that in a later post) and relaxed a bit.

My wife is happy in that she says;

“I’ve seen muscles I haven’t seen in quite some time”.

Do you need to lose 10, 20, 30lbs? Try doing this competition with friends.

 Have you lost that amount?

 I’d be interested in hearing about how you did it.

-Thai

For those of you who are curious, here’s the Cliffs Notes version of what this entails;

From Jan 9th to April 19th…

15 guys…

$100 each…

$900 to the winner with the biggest % weight loss (prizes for 2nd, 3rd and 4th).

Each month we have our periodic weigh-ins to gauge each others’ progress. This past weekend we had our last weigh-in before the Grand Finale on the 19th.

Here’s how I fared…

 2 Weeks Until Final Weigh-In

Since my last update I’ve dropped only 2 lbs (down to 216).

I might have plateaued a bit as I keep wavering between 216 and 219 on any given day. One thing I am doing that might contribute to that plateau is continuing to lift weights with my brother-in-law. This may be sabotaging my efforts to win as I might be putting muscle on as I’m losing fat.

However, I’ll gladly lose the competition if I end up in shape and my wife has a good body to look at when I get out of the shower and not have to look at a 6′3 skeleton.

What I’ve added to my workout regimen is working on the Elliptical Trainer 6 days a week.

I vary the distance and intensity of the workouts. Some days I go 3 miles and it will take me a little over 30 minutes or so to complete. Other days I’ll do 1.5-2.5 miles with an average of 1 mile per 9.5 minutes. I’m trying not to let my body get used to the routine so that it can get “lazy”. I’m building the distance I can go by 0.5 miles each day while still working at a pace under 10min/mile.

I’ll be weighing in a day or two early due to an upcoming trip to New York City on the 19th (we can do our final weigh-in early, just not after the 19th).

Wish Me Luck!

- Thai

 As promised I will update all of you on my progress during the contest.

Well at the initial weigh-in I weighed 245 lbs.

At the First periodic weigh-in I weighed 229lbs

For this past weigh-in I was at 224lbs (I was sick for 3 weeks and couldn’t workout).

This leaves me with a weight loss of 8.57%

Which is good enough for only 3rd place right now with about 5 weeks to go (April 19th is “D-Day”)

The guy in 1rst went from 168.6 lbs to 149.2 lbs (11.51%).

Second place occupant went from 242lbs to 215lbs (11.16%).

I currently have lost about 6 more lbs and currently weigh 218lbs.

I’m a bit shocked about the 1rst place guy right now. He’s only 5ft tall and could lose alot more but I’m hoping he’ll plateau and not lose too much more.

The guy in 2nd place is about my size and his wife just had a baby so I’m not sure why he’s actually losing all that weight. When does he have time to work out?

Either way, I think if I can lose about 4lbs a week for the next 5 weeks, I might have a shot to win. That would put me at 198lbs and loss of 47lbs (19.18%). The trick is to do it without starving myself.

The key thing I wanted to do was to continue lifting weights as I didn’t want to look skeletal at the end of the competition. So if I gain some muscle and sabotage myself I’m ok with that. As long as I continue to improve my body’s look and the way I feel I can gladly accept losing.

But I never quit “until the bell rings”.

Keep rooting for me and I’ll try to “Bring Home The Gold” (or insert any other tired cliche here instead)

-Thai

This isn’t a review of the hit NBC TV show “The Biggest Loser“.

Rather this is an admission that I had allowed the pounds to creep up on me over the last 3 or so years and how I’ve gotten out of that rut.

A 1/2 pizza here.

Some cookies there.

Add in very little aerobic exercise and my waistline had begun to expand like an inflatable raft. My wife would always pat my love handles and say “Just Move On Out” in a vain attempt to get it to listen to her and melt away.

Well, I think I finally found a way to help the love handles “pack their bags”.

That “way” … my friends, is money and competition.

How I Arrived Here

At 6′3 I’ve always been pretty athletic. My perfect weight was around 195-205lbs. However, as I previously mentioned, I allowed my weight to balloon up to the 230 lbs region. Now, I’m a very self-motivated person in many aspects of my life but for some reason I just couldn’t muster the motivation to really hit the gym. Oh sure, I would lift weights with my brother-in-law and occasionally do some cardio but I think overeating and not doing enough exercise were killing me.

Step 2: Where I Gain My Motivation

So there I am at 232lbs in late December 2007 and my coworker mentions ( over lunch at a Mexican restaurant) that some friends and their coworkers are going to do a version of the “Biggest Loser ” contest. The entry fee is $100 and winner takes the majority of the pot (1rst prize $900, the other $600 is split up between 2nd, 3rd and 4th place). Well, 13 guys had already signed up so another coworker and I agreed to do it. Imagine, $900 if I win, but I still lose. My wife was so happy she immediately grabbed her purse and forked over 5 crisp $20 bills. She laughs about it now that she realizes that money and competition are HUGE motivators for me.

The Rules Are Laid Down

The Rules are pretty hardcore.

• The contest would last from Jan. 8th, 2008 until April 19th, 2008.
• There would be an initial weigh-in, followed by 3 periodic weigh-ins and then the final weigh-in on April 19th.
• You had to weigh in with the same clothes each time.
• At the initial weigh-in they took a picture of you to make sure you had the same clothes at each weigh-in.
• Each contestant is on their honor to not engage in any un-healthy diets ( like starvation for example)
• The other contestants have the chance to call “BS” on the previous rule. So if you didn’t lose any weight for the first 3 periodic weigh-ins but then lost 45lbs they would call “BS” and you would lose
• No getting your money back once you start
• Winner would be determined by biggest % weight loss.

Step 3: Where I Feel Like Gulliver

The biggest advantage I have in the competition is that I’m only 1 of 3  guys  that are 6′2 and taller. The rest of the guys are 6′0 and under (most of them in the 5′8 – 5′10 range). Now this means I can usually drop more weight than the other guys but it also means I have to work hard than them too (more on that later).

Step 4: “Bulking Up” And The Initial Weigh-in 

Since I knew I could lose 15 lbs or so without too much effort I decided to actually gain weight in order to provide me with more of an advantage. So the cheesecake with the meal was always ordered ( I usually never eat dessert). After stuffing my face for 3 weeks I weighed in at 245lbs (the most of any competitior). I was 4 lbs heavier than the closest person and he is 2 inches taller than me. So…245?

Boy did I have my work cut out for me !!

Step 5: My Plan

I immediately identified that most of my carb choices would have to be rethought. Out went the potatoes, white rice, white bread and pasta and in came the vegetables and whole grain breads. I decided to not skip eating meat, but what I did was practice portion control. I basically used the old rule of thumb that you only eat something about as big as your fist. Couple that with eating something (a handful of nuts, some cheese, etc…) every 3 hours and downing water like were running out of it and I had a dietary recipe for success.

I then focused on my workouts. I increased my workouts from just Monday, Wednesday and Friday (the days I lift weights with my brother-in-law) to Monday through Saturday. I still lift on Mon/Wed.Fri but I also add in 30 minutes of cardio at the end of my workout. On Tue/Thur/Sat these days are pure cardio. Next week I am adding Yoga into the mix on Thursdays as well. For those who are skeptical, Yoga is a fantastic way to clear your mind, gain strength, build up your “core” (your midsection) and gain flexibility.

So… did my plan work so far?? Read on and see.

Step 6: The First and Second Periodic Weigh-Ins

My plan has worked perfectly. At the first periodic weigh-in I had lost 16 lbs! This was good enough for Second Place at the time because someone who initially weighed in at 178.8 lost 13 lbs for a 1% higher loss. Remember, this is where I said I’ll have to work harder than the rest to win because with 3 less lbs lost than me, the other contestant is in First Place.

At the Second weigh-in, I lost an additional 5 lbs. This added up to a total of 21lbs lost in roughly 2 months! I had planned to lose 10lbs that month but I had bronchitis which didn’t allow me to workout as hard (and cardio was a “no-go” as I could not breathe). Still with being sick for 10 days, I’m pretty pleased with an added 5lbs loss.

Where Am I Ranked Now?

The competition is still on and we’re still getting everyone weighed in this week. Once I have the figures I’ll let everyone in on where I stand after the “second leg” of the competition. My coworker tells me that from what his roommate has told him, the competition looks like it is boiling down to me and 1 other guy. He said that we seem to be pulling away from the pack while the rest of the guys are hanging out and enjoying their modest losses.

I hope I can come out on top. Its not so much about the money (although $900 would be sweet). I sincerely want to win. And I know by winning this competition, I will be setting my life on a path that will only have positive things for me if I keep concentrating on fitness.

Are you lagging behind on your fitness goals?

Summer is coming up soon. Why don’t you try doing the same thing with your friends and coworkers?

It will be fun, rewarding and best of all, you get fit! 

Not bad at all if you ask me.

-Thai