MANSFIELD — With the Strive to Thrive contest just past the halfway point, contestants have kicked it into high gear as they race toward the finish line in April.
On Thursday evening, contestants gathered at the OhioHealth Ontario Health & Fitness Center for the monthly community event. They participated in a team competition, received a lecture on nutrition from Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Baylee Leonhardt and took part in a community workout.
After the halfway point standings (week 6), Susan Hunt is currently in the lead after losing over 8.76% of body fat. Instead of celebrating, however, she hopes that someone else will dethrone her.
“I want everybody to have this kind of feeling that, ‘hey, my pants are two sizes smaller than they were,” Hunt said after recently going down two pants sizes herself.
Since the start of the year, Hunt focused on her level of food intake and portion control. Since then, she can now make six meals out of what she would originally eat in one serving, effectively saving time and money.
“I might get a bag of chips, but if I do, before I eat any, they get parceled out into one of those packages so that I know what the serving is and I’m not just gobbling them out the bag,” Hunt said.
Tia Angelo, who currently sits at last place, saw the standings and felt motivated to start getting into the gym five to seven times a day after only attending once or twice a week the first half of the competition. She’s also given up soda and limited her coffee intake.
“I print out a calendar every week, I send it to the family and tell them ‘this is where I’m going to be and when,” Angelo said. “Just to make sure it (the competition) was becoming a real priority.”
Ontario councilman Eddie Gallo stands in third place after losing over 5.25% percent of body fat. Even after battling off a sinus infection for the past couple of weeks, he’s still feeling good, stronger and more fit.
“I haven’t lost the total weight that I thought I would and I was really discouraged by the last time we did that body image check. My lean muscle mass had gone up and my body fat percentage had gone down,” Gallo said.
In the beginning, Gallo struggled with the fitness portion of the competition but now finds himself looking forward to it every week. Despite not having an interest in making it to the first place spot, he said he’d be very satisfied with making it to second place.
“The win for me would not even necessarily be finishing first, but to feel like I was on the right path to the right track of overall health and wellness,” Gallo said.
After being diagnosed with diabetes and avoiding it for a long time, since joining the contest Gallo’s gotten on track with taking care of himself.
“I’ve got my sugar under control, back on all the right medicine, followed up with all the right doctors, so that part of it has been a win already,” Gallo said.
Once he follows up with his diabetic doctor next week, he won’t have to go in for another doctor’s appointment until a regular checkup.
As he moves forward into the latter half of the competition, Gallo wants to keep a consistent schedule. He wants to start attending the gym four times a week before going into work and also getting outside more once the weather clears up.
“You don’t lose all the weight that you think you might want to in a short period of time. It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Gallo said.
