Fittest Loser

I have been Santa for the last three years. Maybe 2012 will be the year to retire.

From Mike:  For the past 3 years, I have been dressing up as Santa Claus for Christmas. My wife and I have an annual Pre-Christmas Christmas party and Santa Claus always showed up to eat the snacks and help drink the beer.

 This past Christmas was the best for Santa yet. With many of my friends and family members now having kids, I actually played Santa for people that thought I was really him. I went out and rented the suit for a weekend (I contemplating making an investment and buying my own nice one, glad I didn’t).

From Karen:  Its been 30 days of this Fittest Loser journey and we are still going strong! I am very proud of all the “losers” for all the hard work everyone is doing. Keep it up. Who would have thought we can all do what we are doing. I had an Ah-Ha moment at Push yesterday. I CAN do this and be stong at doing it! I have given myself totally to the Push process and can see some results. The scale doesn’t always show the hard work that is being done, but its not all about the “number”. This life changing process is so much more than a number on the scale! Thanks everyone at Push for all your help and support and suggestions. Tony… “Special K” thanks you for helping her PROVE to herself she CAN do it….

From Karen:  Any “Losers” want to join me for yoga class? Sunday mornings 930 to 1030? Looking for a buddy or two…Tony has told me its a great idea! Let me know !!!!

From Mike: I was walking down the hall this morning and I was stopped by a student. He said, “Hey were you in the newspaper?’ I said, yeah man, that’s me. He said “Good work man, good work.’ It was great to receive that kind of support from a fellow big guy, let alone a complete stranger.

My employer sends out an electronic newsletter called ‘news you can use’. It highlights all the stories from the local newspapers concerning higher education, school programs and other relevant information. The stories about the Fittest Loser competition are highlighted in this newsletter each week. This has brought many new people into my support group.

From Karen: Well…27 days ago the meaning of TGIF was Thank God Its Friday..and with that meant a weekend off, probably some pizza, time with friends and just a great weekend.  Now, the meaning of TGIF has totally changed….Friday is a day of thought, a day of diet, a day of fitness, a day of “last chance workout”  before the dreaded Saturday morning visit with Brunella (the scale, we named her) and BOOT CAMP.  So for all not in a situation like I am, just continue your TGIF life and enjoy..but for now….no more TGIF for Me!!!!

From Mike:  Ask my friends and they will verify this. In the years up to starting this contest, I was the go-to guy for all things new. I must admit that those 3 little letters do their trick to my food pallet. I am the embodiment of marketing firms from Pepsi to McDonalds. When the new Angus Third Pounder came out, I had it. Kentucky Grilled Chicken, I ate it. My beloved Baconator, devoured it. A Beefy, Crunchy Burrito, hey it said new, why not? The loaded Double Whopper(had a baked potato on it), I longed for it.

From Matt: In the last several weeks, I have made a lot of changes to my diet, to my sleeping habits, and to the way that I think about food. It is as much mental as it is phyical.

The amount of support that I have received from my wife, family and friends as been overwhelming. For more than 20 years, I have been joining my buddies that I have known for over 30 years or more on an annual golf trip. This year, it was last week to sunny Arizona. I passed on the trip this year in order to take advantage of this incredible opportunity with The Fittest Loser. If I was going to miss this trip, I wanted to make sure I had a great week of working out and eating right.

From Karen:  Everyday I am filling my body with protein, a huge variety of them, I just sit back and wonder how can I live this this the rest of the life? I KNOW its the way to live, the way to be healthy, but at the same time how can this be “real life” for anyone? I wish I was seeing quicker results because I know I am working harder at this than anything I have ever done in my life and want to see greater pound loss!

From Tom:  I’ve been eating regularly since I was a little kid—maybe even since I was an infant, although I don’t remember. It turns out, though, that I’ve had no idea what I have been doing.

Before starting the Fittest Loser Contest, I thought that the focus would be on building muscle and losing fat by increasing exercise and decreasing the quantity and frequency of stuffing my face. Not quite. I’m actually eating more, and more often. We also are learning lots about right and wrong eating.