By Spc. Wes Landrum
50th Public Affairs Detachment
The contestants stepped onto the scale one by one. The judges looked at the number being displayed, conferred and marked the weight onto the training sheet. This weigh-in was just another step in determining the Biggest Loser on Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
Outside factors like the television show and discussions with his peers convinced Lt. Cdr. Paul Allen, Expeditionary Medical Facility-Kuwait, to initiate the contest. Allen, a registered dietitian, said he would put the contest on, but with a few conditions.
"The biggest drive for doing it was I wanted people to lose weight safely," Allen said. "The goal is not to win the competition. The goal is to develop those habits and develop an awareness to lose weight, lose it properly and for life."
Allen said there were three rules for the competition. Number one, no fad diets. Diets such as the Predican and the Atkins diet were banned. Rule number two was participants were not allowed to use the sauna to lose weight. Allen said the sauna draws too much water out of the body and can cause problems, especially here in the desert. The third rule banned the use of supplements.
"Supplements are probably one of the biggest problems people face here with weight loss," Allen said. "We have too many people taking HydroxyCut, Ripped Fuel, Xenadrine and they have no idea what they are putting into their bodies. They are harming themselves for long-term weight loss."
Although only 130 people competed due to scheduling conflicts, the competition was started in the hopes of at least 200 people participating.
"Some people worked the night shift," Allen said. "Some people had to drop out because of mission requirements."
Heather Harvey, Task Force Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot, came into the competition with a weight loss goal of 15 pounds. She said she had tried everything to lose weight prior to the Biggest Loser.
"I did the fad diets. I did Atkins," she said. "Nothing was working."
Harvey said diabetes runs in her family and was determined not have the disease run her life as well, so she began the process of shedding weight. By walking on treadmills in the physical fitness center and strengthening her abdominal muscles, Harvey said her weight began to decrease.
"The first month, I lost seven pounds," Harvey said. "I was very proud of myself."
Throughout the contest, the participants were required to weigh in. The contestants would normally meet at the Community Center in Zone 1.
Allen said one would think there would be some competitiveness between the teams. However, this was not the case.
"The camaraderie is fun," Allen said. "You would think you would create some competitiveness by having teams competing for weight loss but they are helping each other."
Allen said the teams were using the personal trainer to help with weight loss. They were even using each other.
"They're running. They're exercising on the elliptical machines together," Allen said. "That bond you see, that friendship you see between the teams is pretty cool."
Between the weigh-ins, the teams took classes on how to get in better shape. Allen recommended that the participants exercise at least five times a week for at least 40 minutes. He said people should exercise because it gets the body moving and it burns calories. The also said biggest thing that people need to be aware of is what is going in their mouths.
Electrolyte-filled drinks are a major culprit because they also pack calories, Allen told the crowd.
"Just because we're in the middle of the desert, everyone feels they need Gatorade -- we need our electrolytes back. We really don't," Allen said "We get electrolytes from food and we want to make sure that when we are choosing calories, we choose them wisely. We don't need Gatorade, we don't need juice, we don't need any other liquid that contains calories aside from milk. Milk has everything we need – protein, carbohydrates and vitamins."
The next way to reduce weight is to reduce fat intake. Allen said there are three factors that the weight conscious should avoid.
"The biggest fat intakes we have here are omelets. Get rid of the eggs and get rid of the cheese. Cheese is one those food items that adds up really fast and, of course, it tastes pretty good," Allen said. "Get rid of the things that are fried. Don't go to the 'Brown Line' – hamburgers, hot dogs, onion rings, etc .... All of these things need to be reduced or eliminated."
Another thing that people love and should avoid is salad dressing.
"The biggest fallacy I hear is people saying 'I'm going to go to Subway' or 'I'm going to the deli bar and get a tuna fish sandwich,'" Allen said. "What is in tuna fish? Tuna fish and mayonnaise. We need to cut out the mayo."
Another way to shrink the waist line is to stop overeating. Allen said it's important to know how much food people are putting on their plates.
"It's important to know what a half a cup is or how much one cup is," Allen said. "You can tell (the DFAC workers) to not pile it on, but you have to take the plate you have and divide it into the sections it was designed for. The small sections of the plate are about a half a cup. The big section will be one cup."
"It's not the DFAC's job to decide how many calories they give us, it's how many calories we choose to eat," Allen said. "You can choose meatless meals. No one says you have to eat meat at every meal."
As Harvey stepped up to the scale, a smile emerged. She had made her goal.
"I'm so happy," she said. "I made my goal of 15 pounds but I'm not going to stop. There's a lot of work to be done."
At the end, 34 four-man teams combined to lose almost 750 pounds – an average of just under six pounds a person. The Fat Busters took first place. They lost 58 pounds, 7.95 percent of their starting weight. The Destroyers finished second,48 pounds or 6.29 percent of their starting weight. Third place went to Sierra Hotel 53 pounds or 6.17 percent of their starting weight.
Allen said another Biggest Loser competition is set to begin in September or October. The competition will run through Thanksgiving and end before Christmas.
"Programs like this are fun and they help reduce the prevalence of overweight and obese service members," Allen said. "That, in turn, keeps our forces healthy and fit to fight. It also helps reduce the incidence of related diseases, like diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure."