Thursday, September 11, 2008

BIGGEST LOSER "5" Part 2

THE TELEVISION SHOW

If you’ve watched it in the past, you’re probably all set to tune in next Tuesday night for the new season of “The Biggest Loser” on NBC. If you’re not a regular viewer of the TV show, I want to encourage you to watch the show on the 16th.

You’re going to see some amazing things. Like the courage these participants have, putting it all out there on national TV for all to see—and there will be a lot to see. These are big people.

They’ve let things go for years. Most of them are morbidly obese—overweight to the point they have life threatening consequences. Even walking will be difficult for them when they get started. But they’ll do more than walk.

When you see how hard they work, especially as big as they are, it takes away all our excuses. Sure, they’re living on a ranch and don’t have to go to work—exercise is their job. So they have lots of time on their hands. But the things they’ll do will amaze you—and themselves.

They’ll start realizing that they can do things they thought were impossible. They’ll start seeing themselves in a new and different light. It gives them hope, maybe for the first time ever.

I remember the first season, thinking that this was going to be a show that made fun of fat people, and I didn’t want any part of it. When I watched the show, though, I was really surprised.

Sure, they build up the drama, and do the TV thing, and the winner gets $250,000 which helps, but everyone’s treated with respect and dignity, just like we want to do here at home. And when you see the transformations, it’s just amazing.

That’s why I like for our people here to watch the show. It helps to see someone else going through the battle. If they can do it, maybe you can do it too.

Maybe that’s another reason the groups do so well here. Everyone’s in the same boat and we all have to paddle if we’re going to make it.

BIGGEST LOSER “5”

You won’t have to be a member at Tom’s. You can belong to the YMCA, Curves, a gym at work, or even work out at home if you have the right equipment. Some like to work out here. You just have to be able to work out somewhere.

You’ll have to be willing to work out twice a day, six days a week. That’s right—twice a day. Now it’s not as bad as you might think.

The first workout is simple. Walk a mile in the morning every day. Twenty minutes. That’s 3.0 mph on a treadmill. I’ve never met anyone in at least basic health that couldn’t do that within their first week. Most people do that the first day. If you think it might be difficult, get started walking now.

If you want to lose as much as possible, as quickly as possible, that extra easy workout in the morning makes all the difference. It gets the metabolism moving, and gives you a calorie burning edge, all day.

Later in the day, you’ll do your 2nd workout—which is a much more demanding workout. It can be at noon, after work in the afternoon or at night and will take around 45 minutes.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, you’ll be building muscle and getting stronger. This will speed your metabolism up and make you a fat burner.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, you’ll be doing cardio for your heart and lungs. It will burn lots of calories, and will help you build your endurance.

Each week, we’ll be teaching you how to do more and more things, and giving you new challenges. This helps increase the intensity, and helps you keep losing weight.

As you get stronger, you’ll be noticing that you’re also losing inches—and your clothing will start fitting loosely. It’s very common to have people drop several clothing sizes during the 12 weeks. What a problem to have!

I’ll be giving the group an initial fitness assessment that first day, and then some initial direction on how to get moving that first week. Everyone will also get materials that will help them start thinking about how to start eating right, along with some homework assignments.

SIGNUPS UNDERWAY

Signups are this week and next. The first night is Friday the 19th at 6:30 pm. You have to be signed up in advance (before 9/19), because it’s crazy on that first night.

It costs $50 to participate for 12 weeks and 13 meetings. I did the math—it works out to about $3.85 a meeting. That’s about the price of a quarter-pounder and fries, which is pretty tasty, but won’t help you get what you want. Being in the Biggest Loser “5” will.

You’ll learn everything you need to know about how to get this done. You’ll also be surrounded by a group where everyone’s trying to accomplish the same thing.

You’ll also have me motivating you—and pushing you. I’m not as good looking as Bob or Jillian, but we get the job done. Perhaps most important, you’ll be accountable, having to report in every week.

You won’t have to bear almost all, on national TV. I won’t be putting your weight in the paper, but I will be reporting results every 4 weeks. We’ll also have a picture of the weekly winners and their weight loss each week in the paper.

So there you have it. The ball is in your court. What are you going to do about it? Watch the show on TV. But don’t just watch the show. Realize that you can do this too. Right here, right now. It’s your time!

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