Competition challenges KMC members to lose weight, get healthy

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Amanda Dick
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  Editor's note: This is part one of a three-part series on the Biggest Loser Competition and the Kaiserslautern Military Community members who are working to achieve a better lifestyle while losing weight.

The fourth-annual Biggest Loser Challenge kicked off here with the first round of weigh-ins and fitness assessments Jan. 11.

"The biggest loser is a competition for individuals motivated to lose weight themselves, who have the motivation not only from within but also from their peers, families and work colleagues," said Edward Wilson, 86th Services Squadron fitness specialist. "It is a challenge. The trainers involved and the health classes offered through the supporting units on base are there to help and support these individuals in bettering their lifestyle and health."

Six participants were selected this year to work out with a Cooper Institute certified professional trainer.

According to Mr. Wilson, the services each contestant is receiving in this competition for free would cost thousands of dollars off base.

"In comparison to what we offer them here for free, if you were to pay for the services we are offering them, it's more than an $8,000 value per month," he said. "So, we're giving them $24,000 worth of services for three months during this competition for free."

Competitors meet for physical training sessions with their trainers at least three times a week and are weighed-in and taped once a week. On top of the training, each person is also given a personal diet plan from a Ramstein Health and Wellness Center dietician.

For one participant, her workout consists of 35 minutes of strength and 40 minutes of cardio.

"Each day, we focus on upper body, lower body or chest," said Naomi Voss, military spouse, step-mother of two girls and mother of two young boys, ages 22 months and 3 months.

So far, Mrs. Voss said she's lost a total of 6 ½ pounds with the Biggest Loser. Her short-term goal is to drop a size by summer, and her long-term goal is to get back into a size 10. No matter how much weight she loses, she said health is her driving force.

"I want to be healthy for my family," she said. "I also need my confidence back, and I just can't get back to being me until I feel good about the way I look again."

And this was exactly what Mrs. Voss tried to convey in the essay she submitted to be a participant.

"I want to be full of energy when I get up in the mornings and be able to get up and down off the ground with my boys with ease," she wrote in her essay. "The thing I don't want to be is the mom whose kids are embarrassed to be seen with. I don't want my kids to get teased because of me. I want them to be proud of me."

And that is what the trainers for the Biggest Loser are trying to help her and the other participants achieve, but in a safe manner.

"Our main goal is the safety in losing weight, so it doesn't come back, and they don't regress after the competition," Mr. Wilson said, adding that the competition was meant to help participants reach their goals through "better lifestyle habits, diet and physical activities" and not by adding supplements to their diets to increase weight loss.

Along the way, participants have several incentives. According to Mr. Wilson, several sponsors, both on and off base, have donated prizes to the competition. Prizes will be given for weekly achievements, and the contestant who loses the most weight and inches at the end of the competition will receive exercise equipment.

The competition will last through the end of March.