Corporate wellness:
In October 2019 we held the first annual communications workers union, biggest loser competition. The plan was that everybody weighed in, eight weeks before the Christmas holidays and the person that lost the biggest percentage of their initial weigh in weight won the competition.
There’s nothing like a bit of healthy competition to bring out your best, and the guys gave it their all in our twice-weekly lunchtime HIIT (high intensity interval training) circuit classes. With everybody also following the nutritional guidelines I had given them down to the last grain of (wholegrain) rice.
Not a session would go by that the craic wasn’t had, with the banter flying in between sets of burpees. On the rare days that the Irish winter sun decided to make an appearance, we would gather our kettlebells and battle ropes and head for the overflow carpark to train under the watchful eye of nearby Croke park, the home of GAA.
On the shoulders of giants
At the end of week four it was time for the halfway weigh in’s, and our contestants didn’t disappoint. Everybody steadily dropping the kilograms. It was clear that just like the great champions that have battled and won on the hallowed turf of “Croker”; our warriors were giving it their all, making the necessary sacrifices to win the coveted CWU biggest loser trophy.
The home stretch…and with fitness levels improving; the intensity of the sessions increased. By week six and seven the guys were firing on all cylinders with their eyes fixed firmly on the prize and by the time the final week was upon us, it was clear to see the unbelievable changes in everybody, not only in physical appearance but energy and fitness levels. This was going to be a close contest.
Alas, there can be only one winner and on the final weigh-in day, you could have cut the tension with a knife. An indication of how seriously the guys had taken the competition.
Weigh-ins done and numbers calculated. It was time to reveal our champion. It had been a very close competition. Every single one of our contestants had achieved amazing results and I couldn’t have been more proud of them, but just edging it and in first place our winner of the CWU biggest loser competition 2019 was… Ciara Melinn.
Ciara, an inspired competitor had nailed the nutritional side of things from early on. That coupled with never giving less than one hundred percent in every session heralded brilliant results and she proudly took home this year’s trophy.
A fun filled, action packed eight weeks with lots of laughs and lots of hard work had come to an end and we had our biggest loser 2019.
Following the success of The biggest loser, the guys in the Communications workers union requested ourselves at AB Fitness and wellbeing to continue implementing a corporate wellness programme indefinitely.
