Shredded pounds and happy faces abound as Lee County Sheriff’s Office employees completed the 8th annual Fitness Challenge this week. The voluntary, agency-wide, twelve-week weight loss competition is designed to make winners of the “biggest weight losers”. Sheriff Office employees lost a combined total of well over a half-a-ton at 1,415.4 pounds.
Close to two-hundred participants began working off the weight the first week in January. Challengers weigh in at the start and the finish. The event has individual and team components and the winners are judged on the percentage of weight lost. The “biggest losers” in the various categories get cash and prizes. Raised through the entry fee and donations from local business supporters. The New Balance Store on Trailwinds Drive, the law firm of Lusk, Drasites, Tulisano and Smith, as well as Brad Henry, Regional Director for Take Shape for Life, were the generous sponsors who rewarded each male and female individual winner with prizes this year. The overall male winner dropped an impressive 40.4 pounds, while the female lost 43.2 pounds. In the team category, the three-person team, “Phat Bodies”, gave up more than 115 pounds.
The challenge concept of the weight loss contest is modeled after the 9-1-1 Fitness Challenge. This successful program (911fitness.com) is in its 14th year and is coordinated by retired Miami Police Lieutenant and former bodybuilder Jim Sayih. The goal of the challenge is simple: help promote weight loss and a healthier lifestyle to those who serve and protect the public.