Body Fat Loser Contest Update

Event Information

Update 11/04/08

Final Body Fat Measurement Required!

The end of the contest is near! Remember, to be eligible to win a prize, this final "zapping" is mandatory. All participants will need to have their body fat measured between November 17th and November 25th. If you originally had your body fat measured the week prior to the contest, please come in the week of November 17th.

Health Education will start final body fat measurement the week prior to end of contest:

Original contest information posted 8/2008

Winners will be decided on the most body fat pounds lost over this 3 month period, not total weight lost!

You may join through September 5th - the sooner the better!

Why focus on body fat?
You will be discouraged from following an unhealthy diet to lose the wrong weight - water and muscle. Instead, you’ll be encouraged to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviors to lose the right weight - excess body fat! Pumping up and gaining muscle is recommended. Body fat to be measured at Beaver’s Health Education Department.

$10,000+ in cash prizes!
The male and female who lose the most pounds of fat will each receive $500.00. Or you may sign up as part of a team and compete against other teams to win $750 as a team. Beaver & EPIC employees will compete in a separate contest with the same prizes.

Cash awards for second and third place in each category will depend on the number of participants. In addition to money donated by Beaver Medical Group for prizes, all entry money collected will be put toward cash prizes and the participant award reception. All participants will be eligible to win raffle prizes. Over 350 people have signed up - we will have lots of prize money to award!

At the end of the contest, we will have an award reception to present these awards and raffle off any prizes. All participants will be notified of the specifics later on.

Ready to join?
Download a printable registration form and mail it in with your payment to join . You can also e-mail emedina@epiclp.com or call 909-335-4131 and ask for Dr. Medina, Challenge Director. The fee to join is $25.00 if you are a patient or employee of Beaver Medical Group or EPIC Management. It is $35.00 if you are not connected to Beaver Medical Group/EPIC in any way. If you are joining a Team, each person on the team has to pay the appropriate fee ($25 or $35) for themselves

You need to have the Health Education Department do a body fat measurement for you (more information in the rules). We recommend you keep your body fat print out. You may stop in to have this done:

Health Education Department at 434 Cajon St, Redlands, starting Mon, August 18, Mon - Fri from 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Printable map of all locations: Note the Health Education office at 434 Cajon Street is located in the building South of the Redlands Main Parking lot on the corner of Fern & Cajon St.

Special 1-hour Jump Start Session!
Want to know what you need to do to win? Not sure where to get started? Then attend this special 1-hour session on Wednesday, August 27, from 6:30-7:30 PM in Conference Room A, at BMG-Redlands (340 Cajon St). No reservation or appointment needed. This is free to all contest participants! We will also be doing body fat measurements at the end of this session.

Support
If you need help in losing excess body fat for this contest, you are more than welcome to contact the Beaver Medical Group’s Health Education Department at 909-335-4131 and speak with our staff to find out what will fit best your needs. We have both group classes and individual consults with our registered dietitians, nutritionists, and Dr. Medina, No referral is needed, and there is no charge or co-pay for any of our classes or private appointments!
If you are interested in the Lite Weighs program, you will need to contact them directly at 909-793-11006. A referral may be needed for their services and there are costs associated with their programs and food.
You are more than welcome to participate in other weight loss programs in the community or commercially available. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Dr. Medina for a consult.
We have an online support group that we encourage you to join for the latest info and updates. Please send a blank e-mail to:
BMGBiggestBodyFatLoserContest-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 
General Rules
Winners will be decided by the most pounds (lbs) of fat lost between August 25 and November 26, 2008.
Body fat pounds lost will be based on body composition analysis, done by one of Beaver's’s Tanita Bioelectrical Impedance scales. Participants may also choose to have their body fat % measured by calipers, performed by Dr. Medina. If both methods are used, the pre & post values must be from the same method, i.e. you cannot use the Tanita scale for your baseline and calipers for your ending. An option can be to use the “average” body fat % reading between the Tanita scale and calipers, and if used, must be used for both baseline and ending readings for final body fat lbs lost calculation.
All body fat testing must be done by Beaver's Health Education staff and equipment. If you would like to have your body fat analyzed by another provider or method, you must first get PRE-APPROVAL from Dr. Medina before those readings will be accepted.
A total of three (3) measurements must be done to qualify for the prizes: Baseline (whenever you start the contest), and Ending (no later then Nov. 26). A middle reading should be done around the half way point. While most will want to start at the beginning of the contest for maximum time to lose the fat weight, one can enter at anytime. (i.e. You can enter in the first week or so of September, however, there are NO REFUNDS on entry fee once you enter.)
If you are unable to get any of these readings done in the appropriate time, it is YOUR responsibility to notify Dr.Medina of this and make other arrangements. Failure to do so could jeopardize your ability to win and prizes!
Extra body fat readings during the contest are optional, but highly recommend. At least one mid-way reading is recommended so you can see how you are doing. You can also come in and get measured once a month, but more frequent measurements on the body fat machine (i.e. weekly) are NOT recommended.
Special dates and times will be made available for testing outside of regular office hours. Please contact Health Education for those dates/times.
While Beaver's Health Education will be happy to assist you in your body fat loss goals (see “Support” below), it is up to the participant to choose their own body fat loss method. It is up to each participant to have their primary care provider’s clearance for any weight loss method followed that is not provided for by Health Education. Health Education will not check with each participant’s PCP to see if this was obtained, nor will we check on what method you have decided to use. The use of body fat analysis will hopefully deter you from using unhealthy practices, such as extreme starvation or quick weight loss methods where you lose mainly water and have a negative impact on your body fat loss readings!
Lite Weighs is one method that is more strict, and is a physician-supervised very low calorie method and is pre-approved since it is a Beaver Medical Group program.
Employees/staff of Beaver Medical Group Health Education are NOT eligible to participate in this contest, even under the employee category.
People who had Gastric Bypass surgery (GBS) in the last 24 months are NOT eligible to participate in this contest.
Team Rules
A team member may only win the Team prize; if they are the biggest loser overall, they are NOT eligible to also win the Individual grand prize.
Teams may consist of same or mixed genders.
Teams can consist of 2 people or more; there is no cap on how many you can have on your team.
Teams will be judged by a “body fat lbs per member” lost. Total body fat lbs lost will be divided by number of team members. Eg. If Team Health Education lost a total of 200 lbs and there were 4 members on the team, then the average team weight loss is 50 lbs.