TO Star article: Man Lost 252 pounds in 10 months - at a gym?

It was totally unfair to the competitors, who may have sacrificed other things to hopefully win the contest.  They needed to know the facts up front, and make their decision knowing the whole truth.

I know someone who also won a contest at her gym (I actually think that it was extreme now that I think about it) for her weight loss and physical transformation and failed to mention in her write-up that she had WLS. I think that it is very unfair to others OR that it should have been mentioned. I think that it sets others up for unrealistic expectations (i.e. that they too can go from 350 lbs to 160 lbs and run marathons). Her statement did state that she made "diet changes" but that was all that was mentioned.

Hmm... that just seems so wrong to me on so many levels.

As an aside, I knew a woman several years ago who had WLS and continued to attend TOPS.  She was given all sorts of rewards/awards for her incredible weight loss.  Never mentioned the WLS.  Not impressed.

All I can say to that is bull crap......The gym is just using this guy....

But the guy should of returned the money if he new he was being dishonest also....

My opinion.

Linda

While I am annoyed with the fact that the gentleman did not disclose his WLS to the other contestants, I'm more annoyed with the CEO of Extreme Fitness and his quotes used in the article.

The fact that he has the gall to say the following really irks me:

Not surprising as many CEO's can be crooked and twist the facts when they feel threatened.

At one point Extreme Fitness said they were going to help me out post-operatively with a membership pro bono, but it seems once CityTV had all the lay offs and I did not have a means of free publicity for them the offer was mysteriously unheard of.  My mom no longer goes to that gym for that reason, and the fact they love to overchage you and hope you don't notice.

Yesterday was Extreme Fitness flyer day and it was funny to see everyone had tossed it into the recycling bin next to the mailboxes.  

I'm not a fan of unscrupulous companies, but this one just takes the cake.

They were talking about this on am 640 this morning - totally unfair advantage, but I'm sure he still worked his butt off!

No way...He won ...the surgery is only a tool if used correctly. I'm sure he went to the gym and that played an essential role as well. Losers have an excuse, he did something about it , good on him.

Yes. BUT.... what about the advertising the company is doing promoting that he lost the weight through the gym program alone?

It depends on the slant. Was he working out or a member of the gym the entire time he lost the 252? I think he won the challenge with a 42 lb weight loss within the 60 days. A hockey goalie could lose 10lbs in 60 minutes while a competitive eater can gain that in one sitting.

This guy could have easily slacked off during the 60 days and not done as well or put the pedal to the metal and worked his butt off to win.

He had the surgery to be able to play with his kids not for this competition (Unless he did it knowing this competition existed then there's bigger issues at play?) Blame the gym for not specifying WLS rules , blame the gym for not measuring percentage of bodyfat lost instead of weight lost...but don't blame the guy for winning the challenge.

Ask yourself, what if he didn't make it off the table? What if some insane individual trained for say 16 hours a day with a trainer? What if he went up against a DSer ? ;) The stars aligned itself for him and he was lucky enough not to encounter any such variables. Congrats and good on him!

Ahhh... yes, you just got my point. It's the gym that I most take issue with - their promotion of his "win" reads like he lost all the weight through work-out at their business.  Most def a huge congrats to him on losing such an insurmountable amount of weight, shame on the fitness centre for "using" his great results to their benefit, without being absolutely truthful.

ANYWAY... you and I can debate this at cawfee this evening. LOL  Really hope to see you there, I've missed you much.

K.