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More than 100 pounds lost by 14 students/staff in contest inspired by Biggest Loser

Janel Shoun-Smith | 

Summer Fitness Classes
for $1 for faculty/staff

The campus recreation department is offering group fitness classes this summer. Classes are free for Lipscomb students, $1 for faculty and staff and $3 for the community.

The schedule of classes – including TurboKick, Spinning, sculpting and Zumba – is available by clicking here.

The schedule for classes will change each month during the summer.  An unlimited fitness class pass is available for faculty/staff for $10 per month, and for $20 for the community.

All classes take place at the Student Activities Center (SAC) and classes can be purchased online here or at the SAC desk with cash or check.

 

bigest loser winners
Mike Smith and TJ Ojehomon
at the pool.

It turns out that High Rise resident coordinator Mike Smith and student TJ Ojehomon really are the biggest losers on campus.

It was confirmed this past spring semester when the Smith/Ojehomon team lost the highest percentage of body weight in The Biggest Loser competition, held by the campus recreation department and inspired by the popular television show The Biggest Loser on NBC.

For four weeks, 14 students and staff worked out almost daily, tried out new forms of exercise, logged their food choices and made weekly swaps from unhealthy habits to healthy habits in hopes of being crowned Lipscomb's Biggest Loser.

Students Rachel Bevans and Felicia Hogan also lost big time, bringing in the most “swapportunity” points to win the second half of the competition. Each week, the participants had to swap out an additional unhealthy habit, explained Emily Harris, director of campus recreation and coordinator of the program.

One week the participants swapped high-calorie drinks for low-calorie drinks. The next week they swapped parking close to class for parking at the Stokes parking lot. And one week they swapped taking the elevator for the stairs, a swap that caused student Hunter Mayberry much despair, as he lived on the upper floors of the eight-story High Rise residence hall.

“When Emily announced that the swapportunity for the third week was to not take any elevators, poor Hunter screamed in frustration,” said Bevans, a senior pre-med major from Clarksville. “It was pure torture for him to take that many stairs every day, several times a day. I am proud to say that he managed it though and overcame the hardship.”

Bevans’ pride in her teammate seems to be a theme among the participants, who all say they were so glad to have a partner to hold them accountable during the four weeks of fitness training.

“I really enjoyed when we would work out as a group, and how motivating everyone was to each other,” said Haleigh Seifert, a senior nursing major from Texas. “When someone looked like they wanted to give up or were already trying to give up, no one let them. There was always someone there with encouraging words and a pat on the back. We worked out as a team and succeeded as a team.”

The students had to work out with their designated partner six days a week, Harris said. They also met with the whole group two days a week for exciting workouts such as hula hooping, cardio tennis, an Easter egg hunt with assigned exercises hidden in the eggs, or a challenge to run to Kroger, write down calorie counts in certain foods, and then run back to campus.

They also kept a nutrition log of everything they ate and a journal of their thoughts and feelings and were subjected to an inspection of their dorm room by Harris, who wanted to emphasis the spiritual and emotional aspects of fitness as well as the physical aspects.

Seifert said she certainly learned that losing weight “isn’t about superficial reasons, it’s about being healthy to be able to serve God to the best of our ability. This program is really well-rounded in all aspects of spirituality, mentality, emotions and physical fitness.”

As a group, all of Lipscomb's Biggest Loser participants lost 111.2 pounds, 123 inches and 10.7 percent of their body fat. Smith and Ojehomon lost 11.24 percent of their body weight.

The participants say The Biggest Loser program has made permanent changes in their lifestyles. “I thought I ate pretty healthy to begin with, but the swaps made me think a lot about what I was putting in my mouth,” said Steffani Davis, a junior physical education major from Illinois. “I have kept to the same eating plan. I think about what I am putting in my body, keep track of my nutrition log and try to make sure I get enough rest.”

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