Contest inspired by ‘Biggest Loser’ helps Mill Creek neighbors
Published 12:01 am Saturday, November 28, 2009
MILL CREEK — Thanksgiving was different for Rose Wilson this year.
Sure, she baked pie and prepared mashed potatoes and gravy “the way the kids love it,” as she does every year.
For the first time, however, Wilson, 57, passed up on the sweets and gravy she’d usually eat.
“I stuck to sweet potatoes, vegetables and turkey breast — no pie,” she said.
Her diligence seems to have paid off.
Since late October, Wilson and 11 fellow residents of the 516-unit Mill Apartment Homes in Mill Creek have been part of a six-week fitness program inspired by the NBC reality TV show “The Biggest Loser.”
Just as in the show, participants in teams face regular fitness challenges as they compete for prizes. Every Sunday at 7 p.m., they gather at the complex’s fitness room, where two certified personal trainers weigh them.
Wilson said she’s lost 15 pounds since starting the free program.
“I feel so much better and I’m doing this eating three times a day with two snacks,” Wilson said. “I just feel amazing.”
Trainers Cailean Johnson, 35, and Natalie Maneval, 33, donated their time to what they say is a cause they feel strongly about: helping people make better lifestyle choices.
The top three finishers on Dec. 6 share the $500 top prize provided by the complex’s vendors. Other prizes include $150 for tanning and $150 for haircuts from Mill Creek Town Center businesses. In addition, weekly competition prizes include stationery, gift certificates and tanning.
Participants, who range in age from 22 to 60, are encouraged to eat five times a day to keep the body’s metabolism high.
They work out at least three times a week, once with a trainer, in preparation for Sunday’s competition and weigh-in.
Competition challenges include a a 1,000-foot hill climb and a musical chairs-style event in which participants were assigned specific exercises when the music stopped.
In addition to teaching participants the right way to use weights and how to stretch, trainers advise them which foods to avoid and which to seek out.
Last Sunday, participants took an evening walk to the complex’s tennis court, where they ran from one side of the court to other filling plastic cups with seeds.
Resident Melissa Harer, 25, won the event.
“It’s been a really good experience,” Harer said. “I’m actually a cardiac nurse. I just felt I needed to practice what I preach.”
Participants have lost 133 pounds since starting, said Kehaulani Akau, the complex’s assistant manager, who organized the program with help from Johnson, a resident. Akau announced the program by posting fliers throughout the complex and participants signed agreements releasing the complex from legal liability.
Response has been positive, Akau said. She and the complex’s marketing director, Stephanie Laeger, 31, also are taking part.
“The other night, one of the residents, who always struggled with her weight, said she’s never had an apartment community care about her well-being,” Akau said. “It’s actually made her more self-confident.”
Lisa Casey, 23, said she’s watched pant sizes shrink since starting the program.
“I can see a real difference in the way my clothes fit,” she said. “People say my face looks thinner.”
Akau’s supervisors have taken notice, too.
“I think it’s fantastic,” said Machell Sherles, executive regional manager for The Mill Apartments. “We wanted something out-of-the-box that lasted more than just a few hours … and gave residents more and more reasons to choose us and stay with us.”
Janet Lind, 42, lost 12 pounds in a month with the program.
“I needed a good start and this was it,” she said. “People stop me in the hallway and tell me how different I look; it’s pretty exciting.”
Wilson said she changed her mind and opted to train the day after Thanksgiving, starting at 7:30 a.m. with a 90-minute round of sit-ups, resistance training and running on the treadmill.
“Then I went out and got a Christmas tree,” she said.
Oscar Halpert: 425-339-3429, ohalpert@heraldnet.com.
