What a weigh-in!

So today was the big day: our official 30-day weigh-in. I admit I was a little apprehensive getting ready. But my husband and I packed up the kids and headed to the gym, signed the kids into the gym’s daycare center, then started looking around for fellow contestants. We found a couple of others and all decided to do a quick work out before the weigh-in…maybe it would better our chances on the scale!

Just before 9:30 we met up with the rest of the group by the dreaded scale upstairs. One by one people jumped on the scale, and most were excited about their results! Watching my fellow “losers” were losing pound after pound, I got up the nerve and jumped on myself. After standing there for a little while, I realized that I actually had to move the little markers down for my weight. So I did it, and I loved the results. I lost 16lbs in 30 days! I was so jazzed I think I actually jumped off the scale!

We waited as everyone got their results, and I couldn’t wait to hear how my husband did. When it was his turn to step up, he did even better than I did: he lost 20lbs! A few members didn’t lose as much as they’d hoped, but everyone encouraged them to keep going and reminded them that when we’re building muscle, too, sometimes the scale doesn’t reflect accurate progress. (When I say that our group has a bond like no other, that’s what I mean: everyone banded around and encouraged anyone who felt disappointed.)

Most of the group decided to stay for our Total Body Conditioning class with Brie, a cute SRAC trainer who volunteers to torture us every Saturday morning. I think she does it for the enjoyment of watching us struggle through it (not really, she is an awesome instructor). We got through our class and as usual, took a beating in it. But we left feeling accomplished and excited to see what the new month will bring!

- Maria

WEIGH-IN RESULTS: The Biggest Little City Losers lost a full person in January!

Thirty of the Biggest Little City Losers’ remaining 33 members met this morning at the South Reno Athletic Club to step on the scale and find out how successful we had been – individually and collectively – during our first month of the challenge. With as many dedicated, motivated members as we have, we knew we’d be inspired — but we weren’t prepared to be this inspired.

With a total group weight loss of 224 pounds, the Biggest Little City Losers shed the equivalent of one average contestant between January 1 and January 30. That’s an average weight loss of 7.5 lbs and 3% body weight shed per contestant in 30 days. Wow!

January’s winner for the highest percentage of body weight lost was Shannon Kimbrel, with an 18 lb + 9% loss. Go Shannon! She worked extra hard at the gym all month and it shows. Shannon won a delish collection of healthy cookbooks from Grassroots Books, along with an extra $10 gift certificate for a few more books of her choice from the store.

Contestant Maria Jones also won a gift certificate for a free breakfast or lunch off the Healthy Obsession menu at Squeeze-In Restaurant for meeting a personal goal: losing enough weight to be able to use her Wii Fit. She was 8 lbs over the limit when she started, and lost an impressive 16 lbs in January!

Congratulations to everyone for being a part of the group and pushing to do your very best to motivate not just yourselves but everyone else in the challenge. I continue to be inspired by all of you. And thanks to our great sponsors for pitching in fun prizes to help motivate everyone to push to the top!

Member voted out, group feeling changes for the better

The Biggest Little City Losers January mid-month meeting was held tonight at South Reno Athletic Club, where we discussed changes we’re experiencing (from confidence boosts to energy levels to newfound interests in exercise), upcoming challenges, and made a decision to vote out a member of the group who hadn’t participated since we began – leaving us with a solid 34.

We’re just five days away from weigh-in. The winner this month will receive a great prize package from discount indie bookstore, Grassroots Books. Stay tuned!

Brie’s “Butt Kicker” class a success!

South Reno Athletic Club trainer, Brie, whipped 16 of our 35 members into shape yesterday morning during an hour-long intensive workout that included running, calisthenics and team relay sports in fast succession (she was generous enough to give us a two-minute break halfway through), and boy are we feeling it today. But it’s a good pain, and not nearly as bad as the soreness and wobbliness I felt a week ago after my first intense class at SRAC. Progress!

We had a great time as a group, pushing each other, cheering each other on – so much so that we’ve decided we’ll do it again this coming Saturday, and probably just about every Saturday between now and the end of the challenge in June. Thanks Brie!

Two weeks down, 23 to go

Is that some long-lost definition I see beginning to re-emerge?

You wouldn’t know by watching and listening to us when we meet at the gym that we’ve only known each other for barely a couple of weeks. Friendships are being forged, workout partners are hooking up to support each other, sub-groups for boot camps and athletic classes are taking shape around interests. This project has taken on a life of its own, and some days I feel like I get my workout in just trying to keep up. I’ll take it!

We’ve got some hardcore members who’ve grabbed the bull by the horns, to use a terrible cliche, and are still hitting the gym just about every day, pounding it out, sticking to routine, pushing through the urge to let up or take a break. But for many of us, the honeymoon of the hyper-energized first week is over, and that weighted sense of hard work and long-term commitment has kicked in.

We don’t have a Jillian Michaels hovering over us, pushing us on (or a contract that says we have to or face legal action, for that matter) and so that motivation has to come from within, and from each other. And we’re workin’ it. I’m VERY encouraged that there’s only been one day of the past 14 that I’ve walked into South Reno Athletic Club and not run into at least one or two of our 35 members there working out at the same time, and several members have walked away from the scale smiling this week. Let’s keep it up!

Check back in a few days to see how our group’s exclusive Beginner’s Total Body Workout class with hardcore SRAC trainer, Brie, goes this Saturday. Wish us luck!

Off to a great start!

Just six days into our challenge and it already feels like we’ve all known each other for months. I’ve been to the gym every day this week so far, and never fail to see someone else from our group there, and I definitely notice I stick around for a longer workout when I’ve got somebody else I know doing it. The same seems to be true for most of us in the group, and I anticipate some big successes here over the next several months.