By Lindsay Buchanan (Florence, SC) — If it takes 21 days to form a habit as some say, then the contestants of Florence’s Biggest Loser competition should be well on track for maintaining their weight loss progress through changed eating habits.
Last week the top five contestants vying for the top spot in the competition looked back at the progress they’ve made and the lessons learned through their classes with McLeod Health and Fitness Center’s nutritionist, Kitty Finklea.
Throughout the competition Finklea has served not only as a guide for the nutrition side of the competition, but a sounding board as well. Top 5 contestant Jack Greenan learned firsthand the value of paying attention to more than just the physical side of the contest two weeks ago when he had his worst week of the competition.
Although Finklea had told the contestants repeatedly how important it was to get enough calories (at least 1,200 for women, 1,500 for men) in their daily diet in order to lose weight, Greenan wasn’t convinced.
“I was only eating about 900 to 1,000 calories a day, but last week I hit a wall,” said Greenan in an interview last Wednesday. “I worked out harder than I ever had but I only lost 1 pound. So, I met with Kitty, and she said, ‘You can’t look at this as a mathematical ratio. Your body will shut down and it won’t process the fat you have as if you’re eating.’
“So I started eating and I knocked off a couple of pounds here and there. I was looking at it very mathematically, saying if I only put 900 calories in and I burn 1,500, well 400 has got to come from somewhere — well, not really. That’s definitely what I will take away.”
Marie Mills, another top 5 contestant, has also learned the value of having a sounding board throughout the competition. Heading into each week, Mills would choose a meat she planned to use as her protein for meals and find a new way to “doctor” it up, but she came to a crossroads when she tried to find a healthy alternative to traditional salmon patties.
“I’m used to the old Southern, deep-fried, smothered-in-ketchup salmon patties,” she said. “This week Kitty helped me modify them. I bought the plain, no water added salmon patties at Wal-Mart and mixed it up with one egg white, diced onion, black pepper and a little bit of bread crumbs, about one tablespoon. You mix it up and it makes about five salmon patties. And you’ve got protein and it’s about 100 calories.”
For top 5 contestant John McElwee, mixing it up in the kitchen has also been key in his journey, especially at breakfast.
“I’ve really enjoyed my breakfast bowl,” he said. “It’s basically a little olive oil, spinach, mushrooms, shrimp and egg whites — shrimp or turkey. It can be an omelet, but most of the time it winds up being in a bowl.”
Some of the most useful tips McElwee said he learned from Finklea were a better understanding of reading labels and switching the way he though about eating.
“I’ve learned about trying to train myself to eat healthier on a regular basis, making that the norm instead of the rarity,” he said. “I’m using a lot more spices without salt. Reading the ingredients on labels and really watching sodium have been big things I’ve learned.”
Greenan said one of the things he has noticed over the contest is a huge difference in the way things taste since giving up diet soda and other sugars.
“I’m someone who could drink a couple of liters of diet soda a day, and I did, but now I’m drinking water,” he said. “Everything now tastes sweet, even granola bars that really aren’t that sweet taste very sweet.”
Top 5 contestant Mary McLeod said the competition has taught her the correct way to lose weight, by exercising and eating right. Although it’s been hard work, she is determined to continue the journey and said “even my family is getting healthier because of the way I’m cooking.”
For Mills, who was very guarded about her weight in the past, the hard work she has been encouraged to put in through the Biggest Loser competition now makes her more inclined to talk about her struggles and her successes.
“Never before have I been open about my weight and now I’m like, ‘Yeah, I weigh this,’” she said. “I’ve got a long way to go, but I’m getting there slowly. That’s with chronic migraines, fibromyalgia, every excuse in the book, but I’m doing it.”
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