How it's going at the Biggest Loser Resort

This is the beginning of my 5th week of 6 at the resort. The picture you see at the left was actually taken after the 1st week.  If the trainer that I'm standing with looks familiar, it's because he was one of the contestants on the Biggest Loser -- season 12.  His name is Ramon Medeiros.  I had just finished a ARC trainer workout;  it is like an elliptical but is so great for weary joints!  Phil scoped out some at the local 24 Hour Fitness, so I am happy, happy, happy!  Ramon is frequently asked questions by people who want to know what happens on the Biggest Loser show…and how the contestants lose so much weight each week.  He says, while we (folks at the resort) work out 6 hours a day -- they would work out 12 hours a day.  They cook their own meals, have only two sessions a week with a trainer, and potential contestants go through a battery of psych tests designed to make sure that they could endure the "game". One thing that they did have an abundance of was an entourage of health professionals making sure they were ok.  They really had some personal accountability to get the results that they got.  I had respect for the contestants before, but now I'm even more impressed with their hard work.  

This resort stuff is hard enough, but we have wonderful meals prepared that we don't even have to worry about. It makes eating right so easy. All I have to do is wash my 3-4 sets of workout clothes each day and get myself to the classes and the meals on time!

Here's a picture of me and Renee -- another person celebrating turning 60 by wanting to get healthier.  This was taken just last week.   She and I progressed from Van 2 (one step up from the bottom) to Van 6 (one step away from the top) for the hikes.  We both felt pretty good about that.   She went home to Hawaii -- tough life she has!

At the 4 week mark, I lost 15.5 lbs of fat, gained 4.5 lbs of lean muscle for a net loss of 11 lbs; about 3 lbs per week. It is not as much as I had hoped to lose, but then again I had unrealistic expectations based on what I saw on the show. My body has changed dramatically though. I feel like I've stepped back in time ten years. I feel so much stronger and I have the confidence that I can continue to build my strength and trim my body based on what I've learned here. I won't be exercising as much as I do here, so one take away is that I won't see the scale move very quickly. I will likely only weigh myself once / month and if I have only lost a few pounds -- I will be a happy camper.