MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- The IronWorks Gym Health Promotions office here is scheduled to host its third Waist Wars weight loss competition starting Monday.
Initial weigh-ins are scheduled to run from Monday through April 16 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., with final weigh-ins slated to run May 31 - June 4.
No initial weigh-ins will be held outside of the first week.
According to the rules of the event, four-person teams must finish both the initial and final weigh-ins to qualify.
The winning team of the competition will be decided by calculating the team’s total percentage of weight loss as a whole.
Winners will split a cash prize of $500, and each person who finishes the eight-week competition will receive a Waist Wars T-shirt.
“(The cash prize) is a little added incentive to lead a healthier lifestyle,” said Darci Kruse, IronWorks Gym health promotions assistant director. “A lot of people want to take some weight off; they want to drop a few pounds. Pretty much anyone you talk to will say, ‘Yeah I can stand to lose a few pounds.’ (The competition) is just a way to get that team motivation going. You don‘t want to be the person that loses for your team by not losing your share of the weight.”
The rules of the competition only require the competitors to come in for the initial and final weigh-ins.
All team members do not need to be present for the weigh-ins as long as they have the names of their teammates.
Once weigh-ins are done, competitors are left to themselves to lose the weight.
“We just want to encourage people to come out and give it a shot,” said Kruse. “The teamwork is a good incentive. Working out with somebody else gets you motivated. If you set a workout schedule with someone else, it’s much more difficult to skip that.”
Sgt. Enrique Watson, Cpl. David Garcia, Lance Cpl. Rolly Harsh, and Pfc. Giovanni Martinez made up the four-man team, which won the last Waist Wars competition.
“I signed up and weighed in,” said Cpl. David Garcia. “I think I lost about 14 pounds.”
Garcia said to lose the weight he and his team went on three-mile flack jacket runs, spent a lot of time in the pool and sauna, and had to change their diets by cutting the fatty foods and increasing their water intake.
“(Being on a team) was one of those factors that motivated me into losing that weight,” said Garcia. “That was pretty much it.”
Garcia’s team competed against 16 other teams during the last competition before they were able to split the cash prize.
“The ‘cash money’ was another motivator,” said Garcia.
For more information about the Waist Wars weight loss competition, call the IronWorks Gym Health Promotions office at 253-3696 or 253-6883.