PORTLAND, Maine — Fans of “The Biggest Loser” don’t have to fly to California or sweat it out with a celebrity trainer to win the battle of the bulge in 2012.
Maine’s own version of the NBC reality show, minus the TV cameras, will kick off Jan. 1, 2012, with a weigh-in at the Portland office of Dr. Lou Jacobs, who organizes the annual weight loss challenge. Last year, 132 people took part, and participants have shed thousands of pounds since the event kicked off five years ago, Jacobs said.
“They remove medicines from their cabinets,” he said. “They adopt healthy changes that they stick with.”
To compete in the three-month program, participants pay a $25 entry fee that’s used to fund two grand prizes based on the highest percentage of body weight lost and greatest overall transformation.
If the challenge reaches 300 participants in 2012, the April 1 payoff will total $7,500, enough to quell the common complaint that “The Biggest Loser” participants get to skip work for three months and focus solely on weight loss, Jacobs said. The payoff breaks down to $2,500 a month, a full paycheck for many, he said.
“The two resolutions people have are to make more money and to lose weight, and hopefully this year we’ll be doing both,” he said.
Last year, two winners each took home $1,650 in prize money. Jason Tupper lost 68 pounds and nearly 25 percent of his body weight, while Jake Whitaker dropped 83 pounds, more than any other challenge participant. This year’s challenge is dedicated to Whitaker, who died in November after a battle with lymphoma.
Jacobs, a chiropractor and acupuncturist, said he established the program on an impulse but as part of a longstanding effort to return common sense and prevention to a health care system fraught with quick fixes and pills.
“It was last minute,” he said. “I was watching ‘[The] Biggest Loser’ and I was like, ‘I should do this for my patients.’”
Beyond weight loss, the program is built on motivating, educating and inspiring participants, Jacobs said. He has teamed up with Health Coaches of Portland to offer participants classes, discounted services and expert advice on topics from goal-setting to nutrition.
“We want to give people the willpower and the excitement to take the first step,” Jacobs said.
For more information on the weight loss challenge, visit www.weightlosschallengeme.com.
Would love to see something like this in the Bangor area. The one the YMCA offers is far too expensive.
Try your local TOPS chapter…it is only 28 dollars a year, and 14 for additional spousal membership…I lost 70 pounds last year, another member lost 90…and it doesn’t just last 3 months of support but is ongoing…
Also please note this, the Y was does offer scholarships on this program, which could make your payment much much lower Call and ask for Jessica
It is. Most things are.My ex- did TOPS, and IMHO, it really seemed more like a social club than a serious effort. But, that was kinda my ex-‘s clique too.
I lost 199.6 pounds in the past 18 months. My wife 100. Yay Us!
I’m a very competetive person. I sure wish this was alot closer as well. I tried Tops and found it unhelpful. I lost a the gym when I was in a competitive setting. I got away from the gym when I was hurt at my job last year. Its time to get into a comptetive setting.
A grossly misleading headline, and free advertising for a doctor…
I like this approach, it gets people involved in a local community that can support each other through the process and keep each other motivated. One great way to make sure you are getting the nutrition you need is through the Body by Vi 90 Day Challenge. check it out here;
http://info.OneStepAway.net