UH Maui College, Molokaʻi holds Biggest Loser Competition

Maui College
Contact:
Emily R. Sullivan, (808) 984-3549
Director of Marketing and Community Relations, Marketing
Posted: May 27, 2011

Left to right, 1st place April Maddela, 2nd place Susan Macuse, 3rd place Mariah Rapanot-McGuire
Left to right, 1st place April Maddela, 2nd place Susan Macuse, 3rd place Mariah Rapanot-McGuire
Staff versus student volleyball game
Staff versus student volleyball game

In an inspiration pulled from reality TV show “The Biggest Loser”, Donna Haytko-Paoa, education coordinator of University of Hawaiʻi Maui College, Moloka'i, decided to motivate students and faculty to lose weight and embrace a healthy lifestyle.

Students were given the incentive of a $500 scholarship to lose weight. They were encouraged to partake in workshops every Friday that educated students on how to exercise and eat healthy. Each week of attendance at the workshops earned the student’s name in a bucket, which was used for a scholarship drawing at the end of the program.

Mariah Rapanot-McGuire was awarded the scholarship and placed third in the program by losing 16.8 pounds. “It feels great,” Rapanot-McGuire said. “I changed my whole diet. I took rice out and stayed away from everything that had sugar in it. I also exercised more.”

The first place winner was April Maddela losing 26.6 pounds, with Susan Macuse in second place losing 17.2 pounds and Rapanot-McGuire in third place losing 16.8 pounds. The final weigh loss for the entire group was 163.3 pounds. 

To keep the momentum going, UH Maui College, Moloka'i staff plan to work over the next month to get students, friends and family of UH Maui College, Moloka'i to join us in pledging in the Pound for Pound Challenge.  Taken directly from the challenge website, for every pound you pledge to lose through May 31, 2011, the Pound For Pound Challenge will donate 11 cents to Feeding America® – enough to secure one pound of groceries on behalf of local food banks.

For those who are already at a healthy weight, you can choose to maintain your healthy weight, which results in a five pound food donation.  UH Maui College, Moloka'i has developed an online team where participants have already pledged to lose 333 pounds.

“Our participants have stood to benefit personally from this experience and this is their opportunity to ‘give back’ by turning their weight loss into something that is good for the community. The pounds that they are pledging to lose will result in pounds of food for Hawaii's hungry,” said Haytko-Paoa.

Hawai‘i is currently the leader in the Pound for Pound Challenge with 42,659 pounds of weight loss pledged. UH Maui College, Moloka'i would like to make a contribution to keeping Hawai‘i on top and encourages friends and family to take the pledge by joining the UH Maui College, Moloka'i team or creating one of your own. 

For more information, visit: https://picasaweb.google.com/uhmcmolokai/BiggestLoser?authkey=Gv1sRg