THE People WEIGHT-LOSS CHALLENGE!(WEIGHT-LOSS CHALLENGE; UPDATE)(People Weekly).

After steadily losing weight the first six months on the Challenge, Garcia "had a hard time with portion control" during summer barbecue season, he admits. Too many servings of hamburgers and pasta salad had him packing on 8 lbs. in just two months, and so his trainer-nutritionist Dawn Brodun got the 6'3" father of two back on track with a roughly 1,500-calorie diet that includes 200 "free" calories allotted for sweets such as fat-free frozen yogurt. Garcia also increased his cardio workouts, going from 30-minute to 60-minute sessions four times a week. Now 67 lbs. lighter, "just getting in and out of the squad car is easier!" says the Roseburg, Ore., resident, who also lost nine inches from his waist. Adds Brodun: "I saw his body shrink and his self-worth grow."

COOK

REBECCA SKROBACK

NOW 154 LBS.

En route to shedding nearly 70 lbs., the 5'51/2" West Allis, Wisc., resident also shed nine bags of "fat clothes," she says, referring to her former size-18 wardrobe. Skroback owes her success to 90-minute sessions at the Wisconsin Athletic Club with trainer Craig Hoxie five times a week. The married mom of three also exercises self-restraint at work, where she only allows herself small "sample" bites of rich dishes that won't jeopardize the 1,400-calorie diet created by nutritionist Amy Kulwicki of Froedert Hospital. After nine months "I feel awesome," says Skroback, who scored a new job in May as the head chef at a country club. "I feel younger, healthier and sexier!"

BUS DRIVER

GREG NOVOA

NOW 229 LBS.

The 5'9" dad of four struggled to learn how to count calories from University of California, San Francisco dietician David Besio. Still, some lessons stuck: He eats a lot more veggies and loafs around a lot less. Before, after a 10-hour shift, "I just wanted to sleep," he says. "Now I do things with the kids."

NURSE'S AIDE

JAMIE MACARAEG

NOW 163 LBS.

In June Macaraeg hit a plateau. But even when her nutritionist Elizabeth Blumberg cut down on her snacks, the 5'2" Woodbine, Md., resident remained stuck since her 12-hour shifts made regular exercise hard. "I'm not where I want to be," she says, but "it's a journey, and mine's going to take a little longer."

TRUCK DRIVER

GIORDANO MAURO-RHODIO

NOW 275 LBS.

Life on the road made it hard to stick to a regular workout routine, but when nutritionist Betsy Opyt made the 5'11" Naples, Fla., native swap greasy truck-stop fare for salads and oatmeal, he lost three inches from his waist. "I feel light," he says. "And I have more energy."

In roughly six months, Yvonne Beretta lost 56 lbs., thanks to hour-long workout sessions four times a week with trainer Terri Walsh and a 2,000-calorie daily diet created by nutritionist Cher Pastore. But then over the summer, the New York City cab driver, 48, decided to drop out of the Challenge.

Named Works: People Weekly (Periodical)

Source Citation
Tan, Michelle. "THE People WEIGHT-LOSS CHALLENGE!" People Weekly 23 Nov. 2009: 134. Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. .

Gale Document Number:A211733711

Disclaimer:This information is not a tool for self-diagnosis or a substitute for professional care.