The men and women of the U.S. Air Force do not make a habit of losing.

The third of the service’s three core values is “Excellence in all we do,” which doesn’t leave much room for losing.

But losing is exactly the point of a new program going on at Vance Air Force Base.

More than 200 men and women from the military and civilian ranks at Vance are doing their level best to lose — and, by doing so, to win.

Vance’s Big-gest Loser is a basewide weight-loss competition that began Jan. 7 and concludes April 7. It is being conducted by the Vance Health and Wellness Center (HAWC) and fitness center.

The number of people, 202, and teams, 51, taking part in the inaugural competition surprised Kellie Jensen, Computer Sciences Corp. Applied Technologies Division fitness program coordinator with the Vance HAWC.

“My original goal was 10 teams, so that was 40 people,” she said. “It completely exceeded my expectations. I was stunned. We’re a small base, so if you have a good handful of people, that’s considered a successful program. I was very pleased with the response.”

The idea for the event came from a former Team Vance member, Master Sgt. Karen Horvath, who after leaving Vance was assigned to a base in Turkey where a similar competition took place. She thought the Biggest Loser concept would work well at Vance, so she e-mailed her idea to Jensen more than a year ago.

“It was too soon to do it last January, so I sat on it,” Jensen said. “I thought January would be a good time frame, so we decided to implement it this January. It is has been great timing because the (NBC) TV show has been so huge.”



Weight of the competition



For the most part, competitors are divided into four-person teams, although there are a couple of teams of three. Team names include gems like “Waist Removal,” “Garden of Eatin,” and “Bums Away.”

To make the competition fair, winners will be determined based on percentage of weight lost, rather than total weight.

“If you have a 200-pound man versus a 150-pound woman, it makes it an even playing field,” Jensen said.

Competitors run the gamut from active-duty military to civilians, including Department of Defense and contract employees, as well as spouses and children.

“They’ve made it a family affair,” Jensen said. “It’s been fun to see the response.”

The first weigh-in was Feb. 4, and the next will be March 3. The final weigh-in will be April 7, with an awards ceremony planned later that month.

The Feb. 4 weigh-in found participants lost a total of 1,024 pounds, roughly five pounds per person and about 2.5 percent average weight loss. The top two individuals lost 19.9 and 19 pounds, respectively.

“That was great to see,” Jensen said.



And the prize goes to ...



There is a bulletin board on which teams can chart their monthly progress, and monthly prizes are being awarded. February’s winning team was given fitness trampolines, second place earned exercise mats and StayBalls and third place received $10 gasoline gift cards, all courtesy of Integris Bass Baptist Health Center.

March’s winners will receive massages from therapist Katie Barfield — 20 minutes for first place, 15 minutes for second and 10 minutes for third.

Overall winning team members will receive a $100 clothing gift certificate from Sears, second-place finishers earn a limousine ride and lunch from Vance Club and the Downtown Autoplex and the third-place team wins four $45 Starbucks gift baskets.

The top male and female loser each will receive a Nokia camera from Crosstown Wireless, second-place finishers earn a $75 Dillard’s gift basket and third place receives a $50 leisure package from St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center.

But the primary benefits of Vance’s Biggest Loser, said Col. Richard Klumpp Jr., 71st Flying Training Wing commander, will outweigh the prizes awarded.

“I think it’s great to have folks across the base committed to not just exercise but also to diet for a healthy lifestyle,” Klumpp said. “From a commander’s perspective, we are sending folks over to the war, and it’s important that they’re in good shape to be able to do their duties over there. But the neat thing about this is it’s not just active-duty military people, we’ve got retirees, contractors, government employees and spouses. It’s great.”



Losing to win



Jensen hopes all the participants of Vance’s Biggest Loser are winners in the long run, that this concentrated period emphasizing diet and exercise will translate into beneficial lifestyle changes. A follow-up program will encourage participation in the fitness center’s FitLinks program. A monthly support group also will be initiated, as well as continuing monthly weigh-ins.

“It’s not a one-time shot, but it is the long haul,” Jensen said.

To aid participants in their weight-loss quest, HAWC and fitness center are offering nutrition and fitness classes.

“All these are things we offer anyway, but we’re really spotlighting them with the Biggest Loser program,” Jensen said.

The competition has been friendly, Jensen said, but spirited.

“It’s been fun because it’s being talked about so much,” she said. “Our historian (Jim Malachowski) is participating and in wing brief, I guess he was trying to sabotage the competition because he was giving out candy. I’ve heard some good-natured ribbing going on between teams.”

Jensen said she hopes Vance’s Biggest Loser becomes an annual event.

“Even if you don’t have a lot of weight to lose, even if it’s just a few pounds here or wanting to be healthy, I still think it’s a good way to be held accountable and motivated,” she said.