City and school officials at Monday’s weigh-out for this year’s Biggest Loser challenge are pictured above. From left they are Chris Marczak, Oak Ridge Schools assistant superintendent; Mark Watson, Oak Ridge city manager; Bruce Borchers, Oak Ridge Schools superintendent; Bob Eby, Oak Ridge Board of Education vice chair; and Ellen Smith, Oak Ridge mayor pro tem.
They watched their diets, worked out and walked, and monitored their weights to lose an average of 7 to 10 percent. One unidentified city employee lost 18.44 percent of his weight, the highest percentage lost by any of the 79 Oak Ridge city and school employees who participated in this year’s Biggest Loser Challenge.
The weigh-out for the three-month competition was at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on Monday. Results, including the name of the city employee who lost the most, will be announced during a Wellness Fair in the Oak Ridge Civic Center at 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 11. A winner from each organization will be awarded and so will the overall male and female winner, along with a second- and third-place winner.
The city and schools have both had the weight-loss contest before, but this is the first time they’ve teamed up to have a joint competition. It was coordinated by the City of Oak Ridge Wellness Committee and Oak Ridge Coordinated School Health.
With one exception, all of those who weighed out on Monday morning had lost weight.
Cindi Gordon of the City of Oak Ridge said the man who lost the most modified his diet, walked a lot, and monitored his weight regularly.
“We’ve had some really good successes,” Gordon said. “It’s about getting healthier.”
Bob Eby, vice chair of the Oak Ridge Board of Education, said he’s lost about one inch off his waistline working out about four times a week doing CrossFit, a type of short, intense workout that exercises the body’s cardiovascular system and muscles.
“It’s a heavy workout for a short period of time,” Eby said. A medical professional told Eby, “Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.”
Oak Ridge School Superintendent Bruce Borchers said he had already lost about 25 pounds in the fall and wanted to maintain his body weight.
“I have been exercising more, and that was also one of my goals,” Borchers said. “It doesn’t stop here for me.”
Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said he had lost up to 33 pounds by eating healthy foods, including soups and fruits and vegetables, and avoiding carbohydrates.
“It kind of proved to me that I could do it,” Watson said.
Gordon said there could be another Biggest Loser Challenge this year, possibly in July.
Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers weighs out at the end of the 12-week Biggest Loser Challenge on Monday.
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