We finished another Biggest Loser Monday night. We started with 32 people, and 14 people made the final weigh-in for a 43.75% completion ratio. There were 3-4 others still participating that couldn’t make it, so we probably finished up around 50%.
Our final workout was a 5K (3.1 mi) out at the football field track. We’re often able to participate in official 5K events, but since there weren’t any going on nearby, I decided to have them do their own 5K.
It’s definitely more interesting doing an official event, instead of doing 12 and ¼ laps around a track, because you actually get to go somewhere. It’s also more exciting when you have a whole bunch of people doing it, so people tend to push themselves more. Still, it’s good to go out there and see how long it takes, even if you have to do it on a track or a treadmill.
In the next Biggest Loser “16”, there will be a couple opportunities to do an “official” 5K. One will be a straight 5K over at Sarah Bush, and the other will be a 5K plus mud and 10 obstacles in Terre Haute for those who dare!
In the end, it’s about challenging yourself. Some people use the events to ensure they’ll train, which keeps them active and healthy. Others do them because they want a new challenge.
That’s the same reason people do Biggest Loser. While some need to lose a lot of weight, others just want to get in shape, but with a little push, and accountability. Over the last 12 weeks, this group worked out harder than ever, right from the start, and it’s going to be the same thing with the next group, starting next week!
This week’s Biggest Loser was Leslie Shanks, who lost 2.1% of her body weight and 3.4 lbs. Beverly Weger placed second, losing 1.9% and 3.2 lbs. Laken Pennington was third, losing 1.5% and 2.0 lbs. Sandra Soberg was fourth, losing 1.4% and 1.6 lbs, and Brad Adams placed fifth, losing 1.0% and 2.2 lbs.
Our overall Biggest Loser was Laken Pennington, who lost 23.0% of her body weight and 31.2 lbs! Second place overall went to Amy Church, who lost 17.1% and 20.0 lbs. Here’s a complete list of the top ten finishers:
1. Laken Pennington: 23.0%, 31.2 lbs
2. Amy Church: 17.1%, 20.0 lbs
3. Beverly Weger: 15.2%, 24.6 lbs
4. Leslie Shanks: 13.1%, 20.6 lbs
5. Sandra Soberg: 11.6%, 13.0 lbs
6. Jennifer Abernathy: 11.2%, 19.4 lbs
7. Jodi Theirl: 11.0%, 16.0 lbs
8. Greg Stuck: 10.8%, 19.6 lbs
9. Angie Adams: 8.8%, 11.8 lbs
10. Brad Adams: 8.3%, 17.4 lbs
If you want a push this summer, and want to participate in the next Biggest Loser “16”, you need to let me know as soon as possible. The first weigh-in and workout will be this Monday, April 2nd at 6pm, so let’s get started!
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tomdolanfitness !
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
BIGGEST LOSER "15" -- WEEK ELEVEN
Well, the group just finished week eleven which leaves one week to go. It looks like several people have broken out of the midterm slump and weight-loss plateau’s which were going around.
At times like those, you just have to buckle down, redouble your efforts, and stay with it. If you quit, you never get what you want. So it really comes down to, is staying power. And that really comes down to commitment.
If you’re really committed to something, you can withstand all the different things that are pulling on you, trying to get you off track. This means you have to have reasons to keep going. Here’s where having certain, specific goals can help.
If you have a goal that really means something to you, you’re more likely to get there. One thing that almost all of the remaining Biggest Losers have in common is a goal. If I ask them how much they wanted to lose during the 12 weeks, they can tell me right away.
The other thing that really helps is if you have a need to do it. This is a felt-need that is so deep, that sometimes, you can’t even explain it. It just is. I think it’s when you really get in tune with you who are, and who you’re supposed to be.
It could be as simple as finally getting fed up with how things have been for you. Once you turn that corner, it gets easier to do whatever it takes to keep going.
Finally, once you start feeling better, you do it so you can keep feeling that way. Here’s where the real power is. You know what it’s like the other way, and you don’t ever want to go back. And by then, you might even like working out, and watching what you eat!
This week’s Biggest Loser was once again Laken Pennington, who lost 2.3% of her body weight and 3.8 lbs. Laken’s lost a total of 29.2 lbs to date and had a goal of 30.0 lbs. That should be no problem for her.
Second place went to Amy Church, who lost 1.8% and 2.2 lbs. Sandra Soberg was third, losing 1.7% and 2.0 lbs. Jennifer Abernathy got fourth, losing 1.6% and 2.8 lbs, and Mandi Stuck was fifth, losing 1.4% and 1.6 lbs.
If you’re interested in participating in the next Biggest Loser “16”, you need to let me know as soon as possible The first weigh-in and workout will be on Monday, April 2nd at 6pm, so let’s get started!
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tomdolanfitness !
At times like those, you just have to buckle down, redouble your efforts, and stay with it. If you quit, you never get what you want. So it really comes down to, is staying power. And that really comes down to commitment.
If you’re really committed to something, you can withstand all the different things that are pulling on you, trying to get you off track. This means you have to have reasons to keep going. Here’s where having certain, specific goals can help.
If you have a goal that really means something to you, you’re more likely to get there. One thing that almost all of the remaining Biggest Losers have in common is a goal. If I ask them how much they wanted to lose during the 12 weeks, they can tell me right away.
The other thing that really helps is if you have a need to do it. This is a felt-need that is so deep, that sometimes, you can’t even explain it. It just is. I think it’s when you really get in tune with you who are, and who you’re supposed to be.
It could be as simple as finally getting fed up with how things have been for you. Once you turn that corner, it gets easier to do whatever it takes to keep going.
Finally, once you start feeling better, you do it so you can keep feeling that way. Here’s where the real power is. You know what it’s like the other way, and you don’t ever want to go back. And by then, you might even like working out, and watching what you eat!
This week’s Biggest Loser was once again Laken Pennington, who lost 2.3% of her body weight and 3.8 lbs. Laken’s lost a total of 29.2 lbs to date and had a goal of 30.0 lbs. That should be no problem for her.
Second place went to Amy Church, who lost 1.8% and 2.2 lbs. Sandra Soberg was third, losing 1.7% and 2.0 lbs. Jennifer Abernathy got fourth, losing 1.6% and 2.8 lbs, and Mandi Stuck was fifth, losing 1.4% and 1.6 lbs.
If you’re interested in participating in the next Biggest Loser “16”, you need to let me know as soon as possible The first weigh-in and workout will be on Monday, April 2nd at 6pm, so let’s get started!
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tomdolanfitness !
Friday, March 16, 2012
BIGGEST LOSER "15" -- WEEK TEN
Over the last few weeks, weight loss has been slowing down a bit and we haven’t been seeing such big numbers anymore. Many people are finding it harder to lose even a pound or two. This is what’s called the weight loss plateau. It almost always shows up, usually 8-10 weeks into a weight loss program.
There are several reasons why this happens. People find it hard to maintain discipline for so long, especially when weight loss starts slowing down. It gets easy to start letting things slide, and you start missing workouts, or get a little loose with your diet.
Your body can also get used to what you’re doing. Now you don’t need quite as much effort or energy to do the same things, so you’ll burn fewer calories. This slows down weight loss. That’s why I always like to keep changing the workouts so they’re always tough.
Sometimes, it’s a combination of things. You start missing workouts and you quit watching what you eat! In a week or two, you can regain a couple pounds. Left unchecked for several weeks, you can put back five or even ten pounds.
Even though you lose weight, you still have the fat cells. You’ve been burning the fat from inside the cells, and they shrink way down in size, but they’re still there waiting, just in case you’re gonna need em again. If you go back to an inactive lifestyle or eating too much, you will.
The trick to losing weight is having a daily calorie deficit—burning more calories than you consume. If you can create a 500 calorie deficit each day, you’ll lose 1 pound that week. If you can add enough activity to be down 1,000 calories, you’ll lose 2 pounds.
But it goes the other way too. If you quit exercising and keep consuming the same calories, now you can have a calorie surplus. If the surplus is 500 calories a day, in a week, you’ve just regained a pound.
Let’s say you quit getting your 500 calorie workouts, and you relax your eating by another 500 calories. That’s a 1,000 calorie swing that day. Do it for a week and now you’ve gained 2 pounds! At that rate it won’t take long before you’ve regained everything you’ve lost. It’s so common it’s called “The Yo-Yo syndrome.”
I’ve seen it here. Someone will lose 100 lbs, and then put it right back on. What a shame. All that work down the drain. And often, they’ll try to lose it, but they just don’t have the heart to go through all that once again, so they finally just give up.
The key is staying on top of it. If you hit a plateau, redouble your efforts. If you pick up a few pounds, figure out what went wrong and fix it. Work harder and work longer. Start writing down your calories again. Get focused again and get back with the program. Remember, it is a life-long effort, losing the weight and keeping it off!
This week’s Biggest Loser was Greg Stuck, who lost 1.2% of his body weight and 2.2 lbs. Second place went to Beverly Weger, who lost 0.8% and 1.4 lbs. To date, she has lost 21.2 lbs.
Angie Adams placed third, losing 0.7% and 1.0 lb. Laken Pennington was fourth, losing 0.6% and a little less than a pound. There was a four-way tie for fifth place, with Jodi Theirl, Brad Adams, Amy Church, and Kit Kirby all losing 0.5% and right around a pound.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tomdolanfitness !
There are several reasons why this happens. People find it hard to maintain discipline for so long, especially when weight loss starts slowing down. It gets easy to start letting things slide, and you start missing workouts, or get a little loose with your diet.
Your body can also get used to what you’re doing. Now you don’t need quite as much effort or energy to do the same things, so you’ll burn fewer calories. This slows down weight loss. That’s why I always like to keep changing the workouts so they’re always tough.
Sometimes, it’s a combination of things. You start missing workouts and you quit watching what you eat! In a week or two, you can regain a couple pounds. Left unchecked for several weeks, you can put back five or even ten pounds.
Even though you lose weight, you still have the fat cells. You’ve been burning the fat from inside the cells, and they shrink way down in size, but they’re still there waiting, just in case you’re gonna need em again. If you go back to an inactive lifestyle or eating too much, you will.
The trick to losing weight is having a daily calorie deficit—burning more calories than you consume. If you can create a 500 calorie deficit each day, you’ll lose 1 pound that week. If you can add enough activity to be down 1,000 calories, you’ll lose 2 pounds.
But it goes the other way too. If you quit exercising and keep consuming the same calories, now you can have a calorie surplus. If the surplus is 500 calories a day, in a week, you’ve just regained a pound.
Let’s say you quit getting your 500 calorie workouts, and you relax your eating by another 500 calories. That’s a 1,000 calorie swing that day. Do it for a week and now you’ve gained 2 pounds! At that rate it won’t take long before you’ve regained everything you’ve lost. It’s so common it’s called “The Yo-Yo syndrome.”
I’ve seen it here. Someone will lose 100 lbs, and then put it right back on. What a shame. All that work down the drain. And often, they’ll try to lose it, but they just don’t have the heart to go through all that once again, so they finally just give up.
The key is staying on top of it. If you hit a plateau, redouble your efforts. If you pick up a few pounds, figure out what went wrong and fix it. Work harder and work longer. Start writing down your calories again. Get focused again and get back with the program. Remember, it is a life-long effort, losing the weight and keeping it off!
This week’s Biggest Loser was Greg Stuck, who lost 1.2% of his body weight and 2.2 lbs. Second place went to Beverly Weger, who lost 0.8% and 1.4 lbs. To date, she has lost 21.2 lbs.
Angie Adams placed third, losing 0.7% and 1.0 lb. Laken Pennington was fourth, losing 0.6% and a little less than a pound. There was a four-way tie for fifth place, with Jodi Theirl, Brad Adams, Amy Church, and Kit Kirby all losing 0.5% and right around a pound.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tomdolanfitness !
Saturday, March 10, 2012
BIGGEST LOSER "15" -- WEEK NINE
With another week down, I wanted to keep the intensity high with another butt-kickin’ full body workout similar to the boot camp workouts I give our group class. In fact, they’ve been doing so well, it seemed right to have them do the same workout! Here’s what they did:
Round One: (5x)
• Straight Bar Deadlift-Sumo-Hi Pulls (10-15x)
• Assorted Ab Crunches on the Exercise Ball (10-15x)
Round Two: (5x)
• Straight Bar Squats w/Overhead Press (10-15x)
• More Assorted Ab Crunches on the Exercise Ball (10-15x)
Round Three: (5x)
• Straight Bar Curls (10-15x)
• Even More Assorted Ab Crunches on the Exercise Ball (10-15x)
We also talked about how snacking can make or break their weight loss goals—especially as they start moving into a weight loss plateau. For the women, if they miss a snack or two, it could easily put them under their daily minimum calories, making it hard to lose weight. Remember, most women are under-eaters.
For the guys, snacking too much could put them over their calorie goal, making it easy to store fat instead of burning it. Most guys tend to eat too much, so portion control becomes a top priority. Here are some of the favorite snacks named by the group to help keep their hunger in check between meals:
• Sliced Apples w/peanut butter
• Greek Yogurt (or regular low fat yogurt w/fruit)
• Cheese
• Trail Mix (nuts, raisins, a few M & M’s)
Several people posted some nice losses in inches, with some totaling more than 10 inches overall. The greatest loss was recorded by Laken Pennington, who’s lost an amazing 11 inches off her waist alone, and 27 inches overall! With that kind of success, it’s no surprise that she was this week’s Biggest Loser once again, losing 2.1% of her body weight and 3.0 lbs.
Second place went to Beverly Weger, who lost 1.3% and 2.2 lbs. We had a three-way tie for third place, with Kara Englum, Tom Emerick and Mandi Stuck all losing about 1.0% and 1.4 lbs, 1.7 lbs, and 1.0 lb respectively.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tomdolanfitness !
Round One: (5x)
• Straight Bar Deadlift-Sumo-Hi Pulls (10-15x)
• Assorted Ab Crunches on the Exercise Ball (10-15x)
Round Two: (5x)
• Straight Bar Squats w/Overhead Press (10-15x)
• More Assorted Ab Crunches on the Exercise Ball (10-15x)
Round Three: (5x)
• Straight Bar Curls (10-15x)
• Even More Assorted Ab Crunches on the Exercise Ball (10-15x)
We also talked about how snacking can make or break their weight loss goals—especially as they start moving into a weight loss plateau. For the women, if they miss a snack or two, it could easily put them under their daily minimum calories, making it hard to lose weight. Remember, most women are under-eaters.
For the guys, snacking too much could put them over their calorie goal, making it easy to store fat instead of burning it. Most guys tend to eat too much, so portion control becomes a top priority. Here are some of the favorite snacks named by the group to help keep their hunger in check between meals:
• Sliced Apples w/peanut butter
• Greek Yogurt (or regular low fat yogurt w/fruit)
• Cheese
• Trail Mix (nuts, raisins, a few M & M’s)
Several people posted some nice losses in inches, with some totaling more than 10 inches overall. The greatest loss was recorded by Laken Pennington, who’s lost an amazing 11 inches off her waist alone, and 27 inches overall! With that kind of success, it’s no surprise that she was this week’s Biggest Loser once again, losing 2.1% of her body weight and 3.0 lbs.
Second place went to Beverly Weger, who lost 1.3% and 2.2 lbs. We had a three-way tie for third place, with Kara Englum, Tom Emerick and Mandi Stuck all losing about 1.0% and 1.4 lbs, 1.7 lbs, and 1.0 lb respectively.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tomdolanfitness !
Thursday, March 01, 2012
BIGGEST LOSER "15" -- WEEK EIGHT
With another week down, the Biggest Losers now have two months under their belt, and hopefully, fewer inches. They took measurements on the first night, and then again after one month, so it’s time for more measurements. I’m guessing they’ll really have some good numbers to report and I’ll have more on that for you next week.
As for retention, it’s looking very good, perhaps the best ever. Typically, we end up with about half the participants. You might recall we started with 32, and then dropped to 30 due to one moving, and a schedule conflict.
This week we had 22 people make the weigh-in and workout. So eight missed the weigh-in, and of those, I know at least three are still going strong. That means we might be down to 25 out of 32, which is still up over 75% participation!
The weekly workout was another barn-burner, and the same one I gave the 5:30 group. Now these people chew up and spit out tough workouts, so it’s quite an accomplishment for our Biggest Losers to be doing that hard a workout after only two months! Here’s what they did:
10 Dumbbell (DB) Deadlift-Curl-Presses, 15 Mountain-Climbers, and 20 Sit-ups, 10x.
This type of workout starts easily enough, but by the time you get halfway, you know you’re in trouble. In fact, you might wonder if you’ve got what it takes to finish. But by the time you get to round seven or eight, you’ll realize you only have a couple rounds left, so you just buckle down and press on. The trick is to just focus on one round at a time.
For accomplished athletes, the goal is to do the workout for time—as quickly as possible. Of course, if you’re just getting started, it would be much wiser to pace yourself until you know you can make it through.
Make sure you’ve eaten something before the workout. You’ll need some carbs to carry you through. Otherwise, you’ll burn through all the glycogen (carbs + water) in your muscles and all your free-fatty acids in the blood, and you’ll be left without any immediate energy to go on.
At that point, you’re burning fat for fuel, but you can’t produce it quickly enough to meet the demands of the workout (if you’re pushing hard). When that happens, you’re caught between energy systems, so you bonk out.
That’s when you start feeling sick to your stomach, light-headed and possibly even dizzy. If that happens, you need to take a little break and get something in you, like half a bottle of Gatorade. You’ll feel better within a few minutes. You’ll also probably never start a workout like that again without fueling up first!
This week’s winner was Angie Adams, who lost 2.3% of her body weight and 3.2 lbs. Second place went to Nancy Vono, who lost 1.8% and 3.4 lbs. Jodi Theirl was third, losing 1.7% and 2.6 lbs.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tomdolanfitness !
As for retention, it’s looking very good, perhaps the best ever. Typically, we end up with about half the participants. You might recall we started with 32, and then dropped to 30 due to one moving, and a schedule conflict.
This week we had 22 people make the weigh-in and workout. So eight missed the weigh-in, and of those, I know at least three are still going strong. That means we might be down to 25 out of 32, which is still up over 75% participation!
The weekly workout was another barn-burner, and the same one I gave the 5:30 group. Now these people chew up and spit out tough workouts, so it’s quite an accomplishment for our Biggest Losers to be doing that hard a workout after only two months! Here’s what they did:
10 Dumbbell (DB) Deadlift-Curl-Presses, 15 Mountain-Climbers, and 20 Sit-ups, 10x.
This type of workout starts easily enough, but by the time you get halfway, you know you’re in trouble. In fact, you might wonder if you’ve got what it takes to finish. But by the time you get to round seven or eight, you’ll realize you only have a couple rounds left, so you just buckle down and press on. The trick is to just focus on one round at a time.
For accomplished athletes, the goal is to do the workout for time—as quickly as possible. Of course, if you’re just getting started, it would be much wiser to pace yourself until you know you can make it through.
Make sure you’ve eaten something before the workout. You’ll need some carbs to carry you through. Otherwise, you’ll burn through all the glycogen (carbs + water) in your muscles and all your free-fatty acids in the blood, and you’ll be left without any immediate energy to go on.
At that point, you’re burning fat for fuel, but you can’t produce it quickly enough to meet the demands of the workout (if you’re pushing hard). When that happens, you’re caught between energy systems, so you bonk out.
That’s when you start feeling sick to your stomach, light-headed and possibly even dizzy. If that happens, you need to take a little break and get something in you, like half a bottle of Gatorade. You’ll feel better within a few minutes. You’ll also probably never start a workout like that again without fueling up first!
This week’s winner was Angie Adams, who lost 2.3% of her body weight and 3.2 lbs. Second place went to Nancy Vono, who lost 1.8% and 3.4 lbs. Jodi Theirl was third, losing 1.7% and 2.6 lbs.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tomdolanfitness !
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