McGugin's Biggest Loser Powered By Coke Zero and Smart Water

McGugin's Biggest Loser has officially hit the big time as Coke Zero and SmartWater have signed on to be partners in what is becoming a tight race between Vanderbilt Athletic Staff. I wrote this next thought to my teammates on Team Black to encourage them to eat healthy and exercise this weekend leading up to the Monday morning weigh-in. There aren't too many iconic names out there that truly represent the American way of life. At a time when many traditional American companies are selling out to investors in Europe, it's great to know that Vanderbilt has got one of the big ones, in Coca Cola. In addition, Coke Zero and Sprite Zero are starting to disappear from the Vanderbilt media room cooler much faster these days, because some of us just don't want to give up our cola. Now Smart Water is coming into the picture with more of our student-athletes carrying it around McGugin. Take heed Biggest Loser Teams, there might be a lesson there.

Here are this week's stats:

Team Gold: 54 Total lbs lost (1.39% of total body weight lost)

Team Black: 44.5 Total lbs lost (1.06% of total body weight lost)

Next time around, answers to the probing question: What's on your iPod, or in my case Walkman when you get on the treadmill or for a walk around your neighborhood? I can't help but think some of my fellow Loser contestants have a Kenny Loggins or Frank Stallone blast from the past banging off the inside of their heads while in the Zone (Danger Zone that is).

McGugin's Biggest Loser Off and Running

It's a long athletic year, especially when you are winning. To fight the malaise that often comes with cycling through seasons, it often becomes necessary to find things to offset having to work so many hours. This winter, I decided to bring back McGugin's Biggest Loser which was started two years ago by Cal Cook of the National Commodore Club. The 2007 rendition was a bunch of guys who were mainly concerned with making jokes at each other's expense while trying to get into better shape. Needless to say, most are back for another rendition having found themselves back at square one.

This time around has seen much more interest as we have split 41 total contestants into two teams. Teams are co-ed and composed of various Vanderbilt athletic staff members and a few coaches. Team Gold has solid leadership under Lori Alexander (Associate Director of Student Athletics) who is herself often seen running the steps of Dudley Field. Team Black has the fortune (or misfortune) of having me as defacto leader. My only claim to fame in fitness seems to be that I was runner-up in the 2007 version.

This past Monday's weigh-in resulted in each team losing about 1% of their total initial weight. Team Black lost 41 lbs and Team Gold lost an equally impressive 39 lbs as a unit. Each team also sported two individuals that lost 8 lbs! Joanne Eskreis (Administrative Assistant) and Brett Wulke (Operations) anchored Team Gold while whispers of bulking up prior to the initial weigh-in marred the dietary exploits of Jason Silvers (Marketing) and me.

The plan here is to have some updates on McGugin's Biggest Loser here in the blog and hopefully introduce you to some of the people here at Vanderbilt that you might only know as that "girl I talked to on gameday" or possibly "the dude who picked up your keys in the gym after a game." The contest runs through March 30 with the winning team having bragging rights.