by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The City’s Planning and Development Department’s “2006 Fat Off” may have been a spin-off of NBC’s “Biggest Loser,” but unlike the TV show, there were many winners in this game.
Lisa Ransom works for the department’s long range section was the contest’s “biggest loser” — shedding 21 pounds over the course of three months. Her 21 pounds were worth $42 towards the United Way. The department’s contest was its contribution to the City’s annual United Way fundraising campaign and Ransom wasn’t alone. Overall, Planning and Development lost 70 pounds and contributed $424 to the United Way.
The contest was Ransom’s idea. While other City departments were holding bake sales and other fundraisers, Ransom realized that a “fat off” would serve a dual purpose — she and her co-workers could lose weight and raise money at the same time.
“I got the idea because I had to lose weight,” she said. “Around here, we bring in junk food and last year I put on a few pounds. I realized it (the contest) would be a great win-win. I made the presentation and many got involved.”
When the contest started shortly after Labor Day, over 20 employees from Planning and Development entered the contest that included a weekly weigh-in and weekly prizes for those who lost the most weight the past week. Not everyone lasted. Dieting takes will power and there were also penalties figured into the contest.
During the weekly weigh-in, participants donated $1 to the United Way for every pound they lost. However, they donated $2 for every pound they gained that week.
“It was open to the whole department,” said Ransom, who was the weekly winner once when she lost 7 pounds in one week. “Not all of them stuck it out, but enough did to make it interesting.”
Ransom also won $25 for being the “biggest loser” and donated that money to the United Way as well.
So, how did she do it? Ransom said she found a Web site — sparkpeople.com — that showed her how to keep track of her daily caloric intake through small meals and what foods those calories were coming from. Once she reached her daily caloric goal, Ransom didn’t eat anything else the rest of the day. Her diet was supplemented by regular exercise at the YMCA.