Log pull

Well this year I decided to do something a little different. I was watching Worlds Strongest man on television one night and decided that I would do something like that. So I went around town looking for Big Logs that would be suitable for this challenge. They had to be at least 250 pounds, big and round. As you can tell I think I found them



Now what the challengers were to do is group up into teams of two. It had to be male and female and they were to pull these trunks 300 feet. The team that did it the fastest was the winner. However this challenge was done in heats. You have to win your heat to move on to the next. In the end Josh and Mary won in a fast time of 50.55 seconds.

The picture above you see is the 2008 graduates of the weight loss challenge going against the 2009 challengers. The 2008 graduates lost big time.


Congrats to Josh and Mary for your efforts

After 7 weeks at WLC

Here is the last weight loss:

Name Inital weight Pounds lost Percentage lost
Richard A 395.0 60.2 15.24%
Josh B 326.0 42.8 13.13%
Vic G 326.4 42.2 12.93%
Mary S 209.6 26.8 12.79%
John S 356.8 42.8 12.00%
Krista O 287.0 28.8 10.03%
Tracie B 245.4 22.8 9.29%
Mark M 285.2 24.6 8.63%
Debbie L 312.2 25.8 8.26%
Darcey L 189.0 14.0 7.41%
Joe T 420.4 28.0 6.66%
Josh F 380.8 20.8 5.46%
Jennifer L 315.0 16.4 5.21%
Marsha H 175.4 8.8 5.02%
James F 328.4 15.4 4.69%

Let's see what happens after 14 weeks stay tooned.

First mile run

This week’s challenge was a mile run. For the last 5 weeks they have been gearing up for this without them knowing it. Some of them did really well while others struggled to finish. The average finishing time was 15:05 minutes. The majority of them came in just around that time.
Now take into consideration that they are carrying around an additional 100 pounds and really have not done anything like this in a long time if not at all, I think that that is a great starting point for them. As I told them, “THERE WILL BE ANOTHER ONE”, we will use this on only as a bench mark for greater thing to come.
This year’s winner was Mary. Great job Mary.

Mary helping the last runner come in.

Indoor workout challenge

Well, due the weather it was time to go inside and get a good old fashion workout under their belts. Some of them have been doing that and some of them have been thinking that they had been doing it. This challenge took the meaning a full body workout to another level. Every discipline was done for 10 minutes. Those disciplines where, Olympic Bench, Lat Pull down, Bend over rows, Steps, Outside running, and biking.


With the Olympic Bench men could choose their lift to be anywhere from 95 pounds to 135 pounds, but once that decision was made and one repetition was done it could not be changed for the whole 10 minutes. With the ladies their range was from 45 pounds to 65 pounds.


With the Lat Pull Down the men had a range of 70 to 100 pounds to choose from and the women 40 to 70 pounds.


With the Bend Over Rows the weight range for men was 95 to 135 and women 45 to 65.

With the outside run/walk, yes it was slippery but no excuses, they needed to go outside for ten minutes and run from cone to cone. Seven laps equaled a mile and each full lap was up and back.

Some people had leg issues but this did not stop them from completing the task and they were rewarded for doing so. At the end of the day this lady in two weeks lost 13 pounds, bad ACL and all.

10 minutes of step at a high speed.
Now I broke each team down into smaller units of 2. The way you win this challenge is by accumulating the most points in all disciplines combined. The winner was Darcy and Steve Good job to all.

Chair Squats

So, how many times can you go up and down on a chair? How many times a day do you get up from your desk at school or work? Well, this week the challengers did just that and for a warm down they did push-ups and planks. Now, let me be more specific and explain each challenge.
With the chair squats every challengers starts in the seated position and when I tell them to get up they get up. When I tell them to sit they sit. They are not allowed to use their hands to push themselves up in any way. They can only use their legs. The winner went 20 minutes and sat down over 500 times.

With the push-ups they would start on the floor and when I told them to come up they did just that. When I told them to go down they did. Sometimes, in my kind-heartedness, I had them go half way up and hold for a count of 20. In the end the winner ended up doing 70 push-ups.

Then finally for a warm down they did planks. Once again you start on your stomach and elbows. When I tell them to rise up they lift their hips up off the ground. Their hips only come up far enough to get off the ground and keep their backs straight. They cannot lift their hips up so high that they make a tee-pee. I would have them hold it for 15 seconds. The winner was able to do 10 minutes worth.

Quitting when life gets hard

Too many times in this life I have run across people who, when life gets hard, they quit. When life becomes a little uncomfortable they quit. When things don’t go exactly their way they quit. Let me ask you a question, does that quitting make you a better person or just give you another excuse on why you don’t want to do or achieve something? If inventors quit every time a new invention failed would we have the light bulb? Would we have automobiles? Would we have planes? Would we have computers?

Now have successful person ever quit in life. The bottom line is that quitting is only done by losers. I said it, losers. We can all make up excuses on why we can’t do certain things but that is all they are, excuses. Success comes from overcoming adversity and not saying “quit” but “I can and will”. We can achieve anything we put our minds to achieve you just need to believe that and then go and get it.

I know some of you my say, “but what about if you physically can’t do something because of a blown knee or heart issue or whatever?” Then you just modify it! You try and find alternative ways to achieve the same goals and there are alternative ways. For example;

1) If you want to run and you have bad knees, then get better shoes or walk at a much faster pace. Run on a softer surface or run in a pool. There are many things you can do.
2) If you have a bad heart, then go to the point where your body will let you and then back off a little and try and stay in that pace.
3) Or if you are doing a project and run out of money, then ask around I can assure you that you can get the same parts or books for little or no cost. If you ask, people will try and help you.

America has gotten fat as a nation. We are one of the biggest nations on the planet and I am not proud of that nor should you be. It is embarrassing when you go overseas and you can spot an American just by looking at their physical stature. It is embarrassing when we think that modern medicine can replace hard work and moderate eating. God made these bodies to work and food to be enjoyed. God did not make these bodies to sit around, watch television and eat. Look at our great grandparents, they would be embarrassed if they knew and saw where we are today.

I can go on but I think you get the drift. What you put into something is what, in the end, you will get out. For American to get back to the way we were, we need to put the excuses away and focus. We need to stop living in the past and our past accomplishment and look ahead. We need to remember that we were at once a thriving nation but because of our stupid laziness we are now second at best. We need to take responsibility for our laziness and not rely on someone else and change our ways. Then and only then will we become the nation we once were.

First 4 weeks in the books for WLC

Well here are some great weight loss numbers;

Name Inital Weight 1/31/09 Pounds Lost Percentage lost

1)John S. 356.8 314.0 42.8lbs 12%
2)Richard A 395.0 354.8 40.2lbs 10.18%
3)Vic G 326.4 295.0 31.4lbs 9.62%
4)Josh B 326.0 295.2 30.8lbs 9.45%
5)Mary S 209.6 190.4 19.2lbs 9.16%
6)Mark M 285.2 267.2 18.0lbs 6.31%
7)Darcey L 189.0 177.4 11.6lbs 6.14%
8)Krista O 287.0 270.2 16.8lbs 5.85%
9)Joe T 420.4 400.6 19.8lbs 4.71%
10)Tracie B 245.4 234.0 11.4lbs 4.65%
11)Debbie L 312.1 298.0 14.2lbs 4.55%
12)Marsha H 175.4 168.4 7.0lbs 3.99%
13)James F 328.4 317.8 12.2lbs 3.71%
14)Josh F 380.8 368.0 12.8lbs 3.36%
15)Jennifer L 315.0 305.2 9.8lbs 3.11%
16)Pete W 265.2 258.0 7.2lbs 2.71%

Now this is cool! Can't wait for this next four weeks!

This week at Parkers Place Weight Loss Challenge

This was a not a really good week for most of the challengers. They really worked hard at their weight training. Some worked out for about three hours at a shot. But at the end of the week some of them only saw a 1 to 2 pound weight loss. Why is that? What happened?

Well some people think that if you eat very little food you will lose a lot of weight and quickly. They are right! However, after a very short time period that catches up with you. You metabolism kicks in and slows down almost to a halt. Then what happens next is everything you eat becomes stored food.

Don’t fool yourself by thinking that if I just don’t eat that one meal I will lose weight. That will catch up with you quickly. You need to eat a balance diet filled with all of the requirements of the day. You need to drink water and put down that can(s) of beer. Consistency will get them to where they want to be. Consistency will help them change their lifestyles for the better.



Last week we also had the Psychologist come in and speak to the group. Here talk was on setting realistic goals and then how to manage them. At the end they really pumped and thanked her for her wisdom.

3/4 mile run

One of the hardest things that a person that is obese can do is run especially when you probably have not run in a long time if at all. Well, this week the challengers ran for the first time and did well. Here are the results;

1) Mark Meinhardt 8:12.56
2) Vic Glassey 9:05;96
3) Josh Branham 9:17.49
4) Richard Andrus 9:22.38
5) Marsha Hoffman 11:33.77
6) Darcey Lowerre 11:44.88
7) Tracie Brasch 11:55.10
8) Josh Foust 12:15.11
9) James Foust 12:38.05
10) Krista O’Brian 12:54.59
11) Joe Tajnai 13:19.43
12) Debbie Lorenz 13:21.74
13) Jennifer Logan 16:53.53
14) John Schreck 16:59.09

Now take into consideration must of these people have at least 70 pounds to lose. Take into consideration that most of them have knee issues and high blood pressure and diabetes and they still tried and completed it. What is your excuse?