It took a while for Danny Cahill, the biggest loser ever on “The Biggest Loser” TV show, to take the stage at the Baker Park Band Shell in Frederick on a cool and cloudy Saturday a week ago. First, there was that overly long, self-serving introduction and commercial by Amir Rashidian, chiropractor and co-owner of Creating Wellness Frederick, the main sponsor of the Frederick Wellness Revolution that started last week.
Brandi Rashidian, director of operations for the for-profit Frederick company, said by e-mail that the majority of their income comes from “registration for our Frederick Wellness Challenge Community Program, maintenance programs and corporate wellness programs.”
For profit or not, it’s a worthy cause, and Cahill, the friendly, well-spoken Oklahoma resident, was a good choice to kick off the month-long wellness activities around Frederick. When he got his turn at the microphone, he explained how he lost a record-setting 239 pounds in seven months during the 2009 season of the show. He worked his butt off under some tough trainers and followed a philosophy that could be an inspiration to any of us who need a kick to finally start our personal weight loss or fitness campaigns.
His advice: “Don’t give up,” discover why you want to lose weight or get in shape so you can tolerate the “how” part, and “start your journey today.” He also recommended writing down our goals.
That really hits home when you wonder how to tackle that “muffin top” condition of the belly starting to overflow your belt. I need that kick when my tried-and-true method of pure thoughts, clean living, daily flossing, but mostly pure thoughts, just doesn’t cut it anymore. Maybe it’s the occasional straying from pure thoughts that’s part of the problem — that and eating way too much.
It’s certainly not fair to use myself as a personal example, but of course, there’s the danger of being in too good shape, becoming even more of a chick magnet — like me and my hero Barney Fife when he was still around. It can be a real problem.
What I had to do to take some of that pressure off was disguise myself as an old guy by dyeing my remaining hair gray, wearing thick glasses, adding lots of wrinkles, walking stooped over, saying “dang it” a lot, constantly talking about the good old days and complaining about everything. But that was in the pre-muffin-top days.
Help can be as close as your neighborhood health club. What they’re counting on, though, is that telling statistic that only a small percentage of new health club members stick with it. They can provide a valuable service to those who do stay with it. In some clubs, you get free classes and, more importantly, free guidance with your membership from experienced trainers to get you working on an overall fitness program and on your core muscle groups — your arms, legs and pie holder.
Or you can do it on your own. Even simple exercise — like walking — helps. But the health clubs don’t want you to discover that anytime soon.
