Michelle Cole is the winner of Revelstoke’s Ultimate Loser Weight Loss Challenge, shedding 38 pounds -- or 17.53 per cent of her body weight -- during the three month contest hosted by Trans-Canada Fitness.
Cole said she felt younger and refreshed after working hard at her fitness regime that included swimming, walking and workout videos. “Exercise gives you energy,” Cole said. “I feel like I’ve come full circle to where I was 20 years ago.”
Cole made it a family affair, working out alongside her daughters. The experience has given her new youthful vigour. “I don’t know if I could say turning back the clock. But I think I’m now actually physically my chronological age, because when I was carrying all that extra weight, I was older than I really am.”
The contest was co-organized by Tanya Secord and Trans-Canada Fitness exercise therapist and personal trainer Neil Jones. Secord helped put together an impressive $2,500 prize pack for the contest. Cole will receive a workout outfit from Universal Footwear, a photo shoot with Pure Studios, a makeover at Refinery Day Spa & Salon and more.
Kathy Bracken finished in second, losing 39 pounds, but a slightly lower percentage. She credits Jones for helping her get started, and her family for supporting her through the past few months. “You just have to take that first step,” Bracken says. “I’ve struggled forever. After you have your kids, you struggle to lose those last ... pounds. You just think you can’t do it. I never thought I’d lose 40 pounds in three months.”
Bracken said the sacrifice was worth it, because it was about health and family in the end.
Maralee Faurot lost just under 39 pounds, and finished third in terms of percentage loss. She also credits Jones for helping her with lifestyle changes, which included pumping iron for the first time. “I’ve never been a member of a gym,” Faurot said. “With Neil’s help -- he taught me a lot about working out and changing my lifestyle,” said Faurot. “People that haven’t ever come to a gym like myself, it’s even scary just coming through those doors the first time.
“I didn’t know I was going to feel so good every time I walked out of that door after a workout. You just get energized. I’d quite often turn to Neil and say, ‘I feel like a million dollars,’” she added.
In total, 88 participants started the challenge, and about 30 finished it. In all, participants lost about 900 pounds.
Secord says it’s about persistence, or “stickability” as she puts it. “It is a struggle; it’s a tough one and it takes perseverance,” she said, adding she thinks the results will encourage those sitting on the fence to come take part when they run the second round in September.
For himself, Jones overcame some hesitation about being associated with a weight loss event. “This is a lifestyle,” he said of the skills he taught participants, not the “hype and Hollywood” of popular weight loss shows. “We broke through and the message came across.” Jones said. What did he think of the results. “What do you say? It speaks for itself. There is nothing I could put into words. They’re standing there.”
Cole’s advice for anyone thinking about making getting into shape a priority: “Stop procrastinating.”