For Jennifer Crowe, losing has never been so rewarding.
Crowe, an admissions adviser in the department of urban planning, lost 29.7 pounds to win the recent UCLA staff weight-loss competition modeled after the NBC television series, “The Biggest Loser.”
Spanning 16 weeks, the competition involved 33 participants from various departments across campus, including the School of Public Affairs and the UCLA Housing Administration.
At the end of the competition, Crowe was awarded $900 as the first place prize. The second and third place winners received $300 and $200, respectively.
In spite of the financial incentives, many of the participants did not compete simply for the chance to win extra funds.
“I love competition and it was a good way to meet people in the (School of Public Affairs),” Crowe said. “I was focusing on my health ““ money is like the icing on the cake.”
Throughout the entire competition, there was only one week during which Crowe was not in first place.
“Everyone knew she was in first,” said Pamela Harris, an academic personnel coordinator for the School of Public Affairs and one of the organizers of the competition. “She was the one that everyone wanted to compete with.”
Crowe said that things seemed to be going well, especially during the eighth week of competition when she was named the halfway point winner.
“When I won, I felt confident that I could keep going to the end,” Crowe said.
However, there were moments when Crowe began to doubt herself. At the end of the competition, the rate of her weight loss became less consistent.
“When you’re used to seeing good results, it’s hard to see that you gained,” she said. “But I realized that it didn’t matter what it said on the scale, as long as I kept up with my regimen.”
Although a similar weight-loss competition took place last year, this year’s event was larger, more organized and involved more interaction among participants, Harris said.
Participants were required to pay $5 a week and the individual who lost the highest percentage of weight for that week was rewarded with $40.
Thus, through weekly weigh-ins at the School of Public Affairs, monthly group presentations from nutritionists and fitness experts and regular brown bag lunch meetings, the group developed close bonds of friendship and camaraderie, Harris said.
She added that this was further emphasized by the group’s motto, “Let’s get healthy together.”
“We’ll always be the “˜Biggest Loser Buddies,'” Harris said, referencing the group’s nickname.
In addition to the new friendships, participants also gained a greater sense of how nutrition and exercise affect their lives.
“I know more about how food affects my body,” Crowe said. “And I know the types of exercise that work best.”
She added that she became interested in kickboxing after attempting to incorporate physical activity into her lifestyle.
“I love it,” Crowe said. “The more in shape I got, the more I was able to push myself and keep up with the class.”
Fellow participant Etta Moore-Bray, a personal assistant in the School of Public Affairs, also emphasized that she became more aware of the importance of exercise.
“It’s always best that you have to exercise,” she said. “I’m not an exercise person, but I’m going to get back to walking every day.”
Planning is already underway for the next round of the “Biggest Loser Buddies” competition, of which Crowe said that she will be a part.
However, the event, which begins on Tuesday and will last for eight weeks, will be even more group focused.
“It seems like it’s going to be something regular,” Harris said. “We’re getting healthy and getting in the mindset of being healthy.”