Biggest Losers win big
<p>Jen Brumley holds the hand of her daughter, Jordynn Walker, as Jen is hugged by her best friend, Julie Doty, at the Peak Health and Wellness Center Biggest Loser Challenge awards ceremony on Tuesday at the Hagadone Event Center. The two women were awarded the “Biggest Gainer” award for gaining muscle mass while lowering their body fat percentage.</p>
<p>Peak Health and Wellness Center Biggest Loser Challenge participants, 336 total, eat dinner with their loved ones at the challenge's awards ceremony Tuesday at the Hagadone Event Center.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE — Mandy Demute has had the arduous task of juggling three jobs and a systematic workout schedule, all while being mindful of a healthy diet.
The 39-year-old Post Falls woman is 36 pounds lighter than she was in September, the product of an eight-week commitment to Peak Fitness' Biggest Loser competition.
Demute was among the hundreds of locals at the Hagadone Event Center Tuesday night at the Biggest Loser party who was visibly leaner due to the competition put on by Peak's Hayden, Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene gyms.
The three facilities combined for 336 participants split into 18 teams. They collectively lost nearly 3,000 pounds.
Demute admitted she wouldn't have been able to shed the pounds without the aid of Peak, which gave competitors weekly assignments, meetings with trainers and measurements.
"Peak is awesome because it holds you accountable," Demute said. “The last chance workouts, the competition really pushes you. I would have never done it in two months on my own going to the gym."
Heath Wall, the Peak human resources director who helped spearhead the competition and Tuesday night's event, was happy to see his clients reaping the fruits of their labor, which began Sept. 23 and ended Nov. 18.
Wall was especially impressed by Demute's progress.
"Thirty-six pounds will make a dramatic difference in the way your body feels and acts. That's a big achievement," he said.
Team and individual prizes were given out at the party Tuesday with Post Falls resident Joe Gaines winning an all-inclusive trip for two to Cancun, Mexico. He lost 37 pounds and 8 percent body fat.
Corey Margason, a 31-year-old Coeur d'Alene resident who dropped 33 pounds, said he was pushed by the team aspect of the competition.
"There's more people counting on you. There's two competitions going on, a team competition and individual competition," Margason said. "When you know you have coaches and teammates counting on you to pull your own weight in a matter of speaking, it's motivation to get out there and do what you're supposed to do."
The event also featured a dinner and a presentation of contestants' before and after photos.
"You're talking thousands of pounds lost between the three gyms. About a thousand pounds were lost per gym, which is a huge deal," Wall said.