Biggest Loser Update

Many of you have asked for an update on our "Biggest Loser - Couples Style" competition, and you are about to get it, although there will be no before and after pictures posted. This week's weigh-in was the halfway point in the competition. 6 weeks down, 6 weeks to go.......

For the past 4 weeks, Lesley and I had been maintaining first place, but with Lesley out of town and eating out for work, and me home alone and eating out for laziness, we had a bad week. Because this competition is so cutthroat, you can't have a bad week, and Adrienne and Steve passed us up and have taken possession of 1st place. So as it stands right now, Steve & Adge are in 1st, Lesley and I are in a very close 2nd (by 0.4 pounds), and Brad & Mandy are in 3rd. As a group we've lost a total of 75 pounds and it's pretty much 25 pounds per couple. The last couple weeks have been a little difficult for all of us as our bodies have shed some of the easy pounds and it is now becoming tougher to drop weight. Here's a little snippet of how each couple is attacking the challenge:

Adrienne & Steve
They are attacking their weight almost entirely through food to this point. By merely changing what they eat, and how much they eat (portion control) they have taken over first place and have been the most consistent team. Steve even passed on a fried Snickers bar at work last week. Word from Adrienne is that they plan to add more exercise in order to firm up as they continue. Adge & Steve are expected to continue to consistently drop weight each week as the contest progresses.

Trevor & Lesley
We have been using the shotgun approach, changing from one thing to another in order to not get stagnant. We roughly followed Weight Watchers for a few weeks, drank some Slim Fast shakes for breakfast and/or lunch for a few weeks, and have focused on lean proteins and lots of fruits and vegetables. On the exercise side, we've done the traditional things such as running, biking, basketball, weightlifting, etc. as well as the non-traditional, such as Gold's Gym exercise classes and yoga. For those of you who have ever seen one of those classes, you know that the ratio is usually about 97-100% female, so you can imagine what it takes to get me into one of those. More on this in a later post. We've tried to mix it up so that nothing gets too stale and we can keep going, but we've found that the diet is the most important. Even if we work out like crazy, if we eat like crap, we don't lose a lot. Look for us to center our chi, finish strong, and make a run at the title.

Brad & Mandy
Brad & Mandy have been attacking the weight on 2 fronts as well. From the sounds of it, Mandy is pretty much in charge of the food, and Brad is in charge of his exercise. Brad does cardio 5 days a week at 5 a.m. and adds weight lifting 3-4 times a week as well. Both Brad & Mandy have been individual Biggest Losers of the Week at one point or another in the first 6 weeks, and just need to add a little more consistency. With Brad's regimen and Mandy's cuisine, they are poised for a comeback in the second half of the competition. There's still a lot to be lost, both in poundage and percentage-wise. None of us should count them out.

So far this competition has been the best of times and the worst of times. It feels great to have lost 17 pounds, but it stinks to have to eat so much salad and retrain my body to not eat so much. It feels great to walk out of yoga feeling so limber and fresh, but it stinks to feel so gay and awkward standing by buff dudes that are working out while I try to hide the tights under my shorts and wait for aerobics to finish so I can into the exercise room for yoga. But in the end, I'm sure all of this is for the best..............well, except maybe the tights.