Co-workers at the St. Louis American see a lot less of Web Editor Kenya Vaughn these days – about 101 pounds less. She is the undisputed winner of the staff weight loss challenge. At the end of the six-month Challenge, Kenya lost 97 pounds, almost 33 percent of her weight. And she is still losing, sparked by just the right amount of incentive.
“I needed to do it for a while, but I didn’t feel motivated at all. This was the perfect opportunity for me to have some accountability for my weight loss journey,” Vaughn said.
In January, 16 employees at the St. Louis American newspaper (four teams of four) agreed to a 24-week weight loss challenge. The competition included weekly incentive prizes. The overall winner who lost the greatest percentage of weight received a choice between a three day two night trip for two to Las Vegas (and spending money) or a $1,000 gift card from either Macy’s, Schnucks grocery or American Furniture and Electronics.
The practical side of Vaughn prevailed in her choice for the gift card that would allow her to purchase a laptop.
“I just feel like I would enjoy the trip for a while, but the computer – I can have it,” she said.
The group reduced to 14 members when one went away to school and another is expecting a new baby. The “Fab 14” weighed 3,316 pounds with a goal of losing 574 pounds by the end of the competition on June 27. We lost just over 465 pounds, which is not too shabby, considering all the food foibles and exercise back-sliding that took place on weekends, holidays and when special relatives visited.
There was one upset victory. From the look of things, Earl Austin was the eyeball favorite to win as the top male and he lost almost 62 pounds – 18.47 percent of his original weight. However, the victorious desert was not for him to savor. He was overtaken in the last two weeks of the Challenge by the skillfully competitive web master, David Buckner, who competed on the platform of “Who said cheaters don’t win?”
Buckner lost almost 52 pounds, which amounted to 20.8 percent of his weight. Buckner and Vaughn reign as the top male and female winners respectively, each earning a $100 Wal-Mart gift card and Six Flags tickets.
Buckner also made out pretty well with two separate friendly side bets with a couple of staff members. However, the person who really reaped the benefit of his spoils was Buckner’s charming little look-alike.
“I took my son David, my girlfriend’s daughter, McKenzie and my little brother Jerrin to Six Flags,” Buckner said.
There went the Six Flags tickets – and the Wal-Mart card?
“I bought my son some video games.”
It kind of explains the sweet smile every time you see little David.
The team known as the “Transformers” was led by Vaughn to the final weigh-in as the top team winner – joined by Robin Britt, Mike Terhaar and me, as we dropped a few potato chip crumbs and pounds along the way. The Transformers lost just over 158 pounds, with Kenya losing 97 of those. Lucky us! It is no secret that the Transformers would have been left licking their plates if it were not for Kenya – but someone had to help her with all those weekly team gift cards. We keep it in mind each time we gratefully and shamelessly use our Wal-Mart gift cards.
How Vaughn lost weight was through an equally pragmatic approach – eat in moderation, slow down on the fast food (at least Monday through Friday) and exercise for real, and on a regular basis.
“The worse thing you can do is try to 100 percent deprive yourself,” Vaughn said. “Deprivation fails, and so does no exercise.”
Vaughn looked at losing weight as an occupation.
“I consider my diet like a job – you work five days and have two days off. I lay kind of low on weekends, eating whatever I want, within moderation,” she explained.
Vaughn started off working out twice daily, doing cardio, weights and the treadmill at least five days per week. If Vaughn had a taste for fast food, she would stave off the urge until after the Friday weekly weigh-ins.
“Fast food on Wednesday could mean disaster on Friday,” she said.
Kenya kept track of what she ate using thedailyplate.com (now part of livestrong.com). Registration is free and users can calculate their nutritional and caloric intake, get healthier food alternatives and suggested activities to make up the difference depending on weight goals.
And her “job” of losing weight paid off – by looking and feeling healthier, and in $1,385 in gift cards from weekly individual/team wins, as the top female, a top team member and as the overall winner of the Challenge. Her “second job” produced $14.28 for every pound she dropped.
The Challenge would not have been possible without the concern and support publisher Dr. Donald M. Suggs and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Jones.
“It was good for morale and the staff was really into it – participants and non-participants,” Jones said. “It was a daily adventure and it brought the staff closer.”
Jones and Graphic Designer Angelita Jackson are holding their own in the “Honorable Mentions” category. Jones lost 36 pounds and Angelita Jackson lost 38 pounds during the competition.
Although the calendar date of the Challenge has come and gone, several staff members continue to work toward their personal weight goals.
“I am happy to see the scale remains in the one conference room and people are continuing to try to maintain their weight.” Jones said.
