Behind the scenes the folk at Tri-California were feverishly putting together the pieces to get us Losers to California. We did not know how hard they were working but they put a lot together in a short amount of time.

They contacted their sponsors for equipment, made flight arrangements and even put us in contact with their company’s triathlon coaches Reid and Eileen. Some Losers, myself included did not avail ourselves of the coaching because we did not take the offer seriously (in the reality tv world when people tell you to ‘contact me’ they really mean ‘don’t bug me’ so some of us did not know that this was a real offer of assistance by Reid and Eileen).

I arrived in San Fran on Thursday and greeted by our executive driver Russ with his white limo who chauffeured us to the very nice Galleria Hotel in the market district. Actually it was a white van but I might as well make it appear like it was a limo! I was greeted by a goody sack that included a workout bag, bike helmet, googles other tri stuff, protein bars and Godiva Chocolates! AUUGGH. I immediately gave my Godiva to the bellman but since I had not eaten in like 12 hours I knocked out 1200 calories of protein bars! Crap!

Now after zero hours sleep on Wednesday night and a five + hour flight in cramped conditions I was exhausted. However I knew that I would not be working out on Friday in preparation for Saturdays event so I needed to get a workout in on Thursday. Especially since I have only been averaging two workouts per week over the last month. So after settling into the the hotel and catching up on some work, texting other Losers that I had arrived and taking a nap I went for a quick tour of the city – Biggest Loser style. I hopped onto google maps and got a route and jogged from my hotel on Sutter down Embarcadero to the World Famous Fishermans Wharf and back. Running is a great way to see the sights of a city.

After getting back to the room and settling down for some more work Blaine sent me a text to ‘stop working and come relax’. How did he know what I was doing? I don’t know but I shut the pc and caught up with him and Dane. We gathered in the lobby to head out for dinner where we met up with the rest of the Losers who had arrived in town. There was Hollie, Coleen, Bernie, Brittany, Heba and Ed, Blaine and Dane. We went to a Mexican(?) restaurant where I had half a roast chicken and veggies and a salad.

While at the restaurant I found out that my Alumni from my Season were in town. Matt, Suzy and Seth (and his wife Chelsea) BL2 were in town and had gone out to dinner. I called Seth and caught up with them at the hotel briefly in-between my appetizer and main entrée.

Friday Morning I was able to get up early enough to sneak in a 30 minute resistance workout before meeting Russ in the lobby to head out to Treasure Island which is a former military base. The sights on the bridges alone were amazing.

At the Island we meet up with our underutilized triathlon coaches Reid and Eileen who gave us instructions on maximizing our experience. Then we were fitted for our Bikes and I got a chance to ride an actual road bike instead of the terrain bike I am used to. Very different feel but all-together cool. Why are there no road bike rental places in Mi?

We then went to Lunch to do press meet and greet and then eventually back to the hotel for a hot minute before attending a dinner time reception at the Hotel with fans of the show and a private dinner afterward. Then it was time to rest up.

Race Day

The air was palatable with excitement as the overcast horizon hid the sun that would soon shine on our success. Whatever that means.

We woke up and met in the lobby and rode to Treasure Island where we spent the next hour rounding up our bikes and laying out our gear in the transition area. I tried to do what Blaine and Dane did since they were pretty seasoned at this stuff.

Participants

Helen Phillips broke her wrist and toe a couple weeks back while bike riding on Mackinac Island so she was our Official Starter and Head Cheerleader.

Relay Teams

Team Hoover – Suzy (Swim and Bike) Suzys Friend (Run)

Team Believe It Be It – Ali (Swim) Brittany (Bike) Bernie (Sprint – I run – He sprints)

Full Tri’s

Blaine, Dane, Matt, Ed, Pete, Holly, Heba, Coleen

Swim Leg

We BL’ers had our own ‘wave’ that launched around 7:30am. We started off in the water and the temperature was very reasonable considering the sky was overcast and it was a rather windy 70 degrees or so. It also really helped that I had a great wet suit from Patty at WetSuitRental.com. It was a tri-bouy set up and you swim around the bouys twice for a toal of .93 miles. This was the first time I had been swimming since my Sophomore year of high school. “How hard can it be?”, I thought. “I am from The Biggest Loser. I can do anything!”

It was Hard as H-E double hockey sticks! I remember thinking, “What did I sign up for? Black folk don’t swim?” Then I would remember my Goddaughter Carlee Jackson and Olympic Gold medalist Cullen Jones.

It was rough. I started off slow, slowed down further and knew it would be a long swim when a turtle with one flipper passed me by and asked me to stay in my lane. I started getting cramps in my thighs and my arms did not want to move at all. I had to fall into a pattern of 30 regular strokes, 30 backstrokes, 3 minutes floating then 6 minutes floating.

The worst thing of all was that the back of my neck was on fire! My swimming form was so poor (I never put my head in the water so imagine a human bobble head) and the wetsuit was rubbing a increbible rash into my neck. The saltwater salve was not helping either.

When I thought I might want to give up I had to talk to myself: “Phillipians4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Then I thought to myself “What if Christ did not strengthen you to do this, you dummy?” Then I sang to myself, “What have you done today to make you feel proud?”. Then I thought – “You should not be proud of this, your floating like a harpooned seal!” Then as I would look over and see the Jet Ski with the little stretcher on the back to take in troubled swimmers, I started hearing Jillian: “If you quit I am going to kick you A!#”. Then I knew I would finish. It might be as they are closing the course, but I would finish.

Finally I got to shore after an hour in the water (most of the others finished around 30 minutes) and as I got out of the water I was so incredibly dizzy I had to sit down on the launch steps. I understood later that as you swim most of your blood goes to your upper body and as your body readjust you get the willys. It was really weird!

I made it to the transition area with Coach Reid’s assistance and asked him about my neck. He told me I would be fine, put some body glide on it and figuratively kicked me in the tail to get me off on my bike leg.

Bike Leg

It took a lap or so just to get my bearings after that swim. Did I mention how hard that swim was? Let me tell you about it. Oh I digress.

Anyway the Bike course was termed ‘technical’ meaning there are like 200 turns over the course of the entire 24 miles (6 laps) including a slight hill at the conclusion of each lap. I made sure I grabbed and guzzled at least 20 oz of water or PowerAid on nearly every lap to help me recover from the swim. If was also different getting accustomed to a real road bike (provided by Sports Basement) as opposed to my Hybrid beast of a road/ mountain bike.

After a couple laps I got into a grove with my bike and actually started passing kids on tricycles and even lapped and jogger who was pushing a stroller. I was getting the hang of this thing! Coaches Reid and Eileen and Helen and other Tri-Cal folks and fans were cheering us on!

The only rough patch was when my inner thigh started cramping up! I had never felt that before so I had to adjust how I sat and pedaled etc. Then on the last hill I (I usually take hills standing up) I caught the mother of all quad cramps and it was seizing up something serious as I came into the transition area (the pros caught a pic of me grimmacing). I literally had to sit down and try to stretch out my quad before I go up to start my run. I was afraid Coach Reid would come over again and give me the boot so I had to boogie onto the run course.

Run Leg

I knew with the leg cramp that I had to hydrate so I took water and Powerade and Bananas and Glucose drops all during the run of 6.2 miles (three laps).

Thanks to Phil at Hyperkat Racing I had fresh batteries for my Polar heartrate monitor and I settled into my aerobic heartrate zone and each lap was within a few seconds of the prior. I had not fully recovered from the swim but at least I knew I would was in my element. That swim was rough. Did I tell you about that swim? I don’t think you understand!

As I crossed the finished line nearly all of the Losers cheered me on and I felt remarkably refreshed for an almost 4 hour workout. I knew it had to do with the fact that we Losers were there together as a team pushing through and cheering for each other. Not to mention the encouragement from other triathletes along the way like the gentleman who was competing on his 67th birthday.

And then there was ‘Crash girl’;

I witnessed a female triathlete in an ugly crash with another cyclist. She was bent over in pain and crying. Then I saw her later finishing up on the run course. And she had the nerve to encourage us along the run. She was the stud! No quit whatsoever. That’s B.L. style right there.

Here is Tri-Cal’s TV Page and YouTube Channel -

Expect a Bl excerpt soon and see Blaine and Dane do a Half-Ironman before the BL finale. Sick!

You can go to EternalTiming’s web site and view our results by team, by gender as well as our split times per event, Swim Bike and Run. You can also see pictures from the professional photographers who were on site.

Search by CLASS and look for Biggest Loser M (Male) F (Female) or R (Relay)

After all the Losers finished some of us grabbed a bite to eat at the course. I must have easily eaten over 2000 calories of Granola and yogurt and other ‘healthy’ junk foodf. I turned my heart rate monitor on during the second lap of the Bike leg and by the end of the run had burned 5100 calories. That’s amazing. But I still should have eaten better post race.

Some of us then went to the hotel to rest and some of us stayed and watched the professionals race and I got some medical attention for my neck. Today I can’t turn my head to either side without pain but I am told it will blister and scab up and it is the mark of a Triathlete so I should shut up and be proud. I got back to the hotel and got some work done and took a 30 minute nap before heading out to dinner.

One of the regular triathletes who also has ownership in a restaurant called ROE shut down one floor in the establishment for all BL and Tri-Cal staff to gather and celebrate our accomplishment. Tri-Cal gave us awards for the Top BL Team (Ali, Brittany and Bernie) and the Top Male (Blaine) and Female (Hollie).  Also Blaine gave us all awards that uniquely described our race that day. Ali got the ‘Speedboat’ award and I got the ‘Rowboat’ award. Hmm, I wonder why. Did I tell you about…

In conclusion the Triathlon may well become a new love if I can get a hold of good equipment (why are there no road bike rental companies in Ann Arbor?) I plan to look up Triathlon events in Michigan today.

As a company, Tri-Cal is full of incredible people like Terry, Colleen, Megan, Meredith, Liz, Russ, Eileen, Natalie, Reid, Nick and everyone else I forgot to mention.

The sport of Triathlon is full of incredibly helpful people such as WetSuitRental.com, HyperKat Racing, Sports Basement and all the other sponsers.

So here is the video summary from the weekend.

As for my summary from the weekend: It was great! Amazing even!

We contestants have a special bond with those contestants from our own Seasons primarily and then with other BL alumni and now with our fellow BL Trithletes. I hope to do many more triathlons and potentially introduce others to the sport. After I line up sponsors for the equipment and take a masters swim class of course!

Hope our weekend inspires you to go out and do something you have not done before.

Talk to you soon and remember,

There’s a Winner Within You!

Another Detroit Open Casting Call has come and gone and here are a few of my basic observations.

Don’t be a drag

The more upbeat you are the better your chances.  Not obnoxious but upbeat.  Have plenty of energy.  Want to be here.  We had three casting directors in Detroit and they took about 5-7 minutes per table. You actually bore the casting directors if you are boring.

Don’t be a dum dum!

Read, read, read all my blog articles about the open casting call process.  Read everything online.  Watch the casting directors videos, listen to the podcast we did. Take it all in!

I am surprised how many people still come in looking shabby and unkempt.  Do you really think your going to make a good impression wearing an oily t-shirt?  Even if your a ‘good ‘ole boy’, look good!  I know this may conflict with the advice you hear about being yourself. Well maybe it doesn’t.  If oily t-shirts are what you wear regularly then come on down… Just don’t expect a call back.

Go it alone

If I really really wanted to be on the show I would come alone even if they were casting teams of eleven.  But I am like that.  I believe in myself and if they are casting a Biggest Loser football team I would come with the intention of making a great impression on the Casting Directors.  Even if they did not pick me this season, they would next season!  If you are desperate enough and have the ‘goods’ then you don’t let anything stop you. Come alone if need be.

No Pick Up Lines

People that meet in line and ‘pair up’ have never made it on the show. There is no story there. I don’t even know if they have ever gotten a call backs. Enough said.

You only get one shot, do not miss your shot to blow

At the call back you have one shot to impress the people that matter most.  Be very upbeat and energetic.  Review the videos and tips that are online. You are on camera.  This is not a job interview.  If your energy is low and your personality do not show through then your blowing it.

Special Thanks

I want to extend special thanks to the productions assistants Jason, Denise, Shelia and Pam as well as Contestants Amy and Shellay from Season 6 and Carla from Season 7 who were at the Casting Call for most of the day!  Ron and Mike from Season 7 had to fly to Boston on the day of the Casting Call and drove over a 1.5 hours north just to come by the Casting Call to encourage the fans who were in line before driving an hour back South to get to the airport.  Michigan’s  Losers give back!

Highlights

I did not take video this year because some good friends did the work for me.  Check out the great footage Jenny DiDinato and Chris of MadeFitTv put together.  Check out their blog MadeFitTv.com for comments and motivation as well.

Talk to you soon and remember,

There’s A Winner Within You!

photo courtesy of Vilhelm Sjostrom

When I tried out for the Biggest Loser I wanted to lose weight in front of the whole world so that the entire planet could hold me accountable – I remember telling the casting people that if someone sees me in a restaurant they should come over to me and ask me what I was eating and smack it out of my hands if it was junk food.  Now to be honest that was not the thing that got me on the show but the point of the story is that it is helpful to have people hold you accountable.

For example, I remember late in 2006 I had put on an extra 10lbs and Momma Jackie called me out and said that people were watching (while patting me on the tummy).  Needless to say I dropped that 10 lbs, got back to normal and the next year I received a call to appear on the Biggest Loser’s reunion show at a more normal weight.

So I am writing today to talk about how you can hold me accountable.  Let me tell you more.

New Year is a time of resolutions and changes and great expectations.

I realized over the last year that I have let others opinions and the fact that is was a challenging year re-define who I was.  I realize that I enjoy interacting with others when people know who I really am.  A few instances over the last few months have brought this to light more than ever.  After I expressed concern that potential clients would be turned off by some of my opinions, Beverly Cornell and Brian and others from Brand Camp encouraged me to be me no matter what. Then Chris said I should share more about the books I have read throughout my life not just those relating to Weight Loss and Health.  Then I received a great Word at Church a couple of Sundays ago.  And then there was the recent meeting with Adrian Pittman who told me what I know but have struggled with for some time; I need to spend at least 80% of my time doing what I love the most.

So the result of all this is that in 2009 I will be…me.  I mean really me.  I am going to sink or swim being me.  Now I still need God to mold and shape me and help me to grow as a person but I am a certain way right now and I plan to be more of who I am. (I know this blog may sound self-centered but trust me this benefits you, the reader of this blog, because what I love the most is interacting with people.  More about that in a minute.)

So who am I?  To borrow an exercise from Jack Canfield I am a former contestant on NBC’s The Biggest Loser who lost a person and keeps it off. I am an exciting public speaker.  I am a slow typist (yes this post took forever).  I am a Conservative Christian who listens to NPR and Fox.  I am a former foster-child who has been homeless and foodless and as a result fears none of those things now. I am a fan of self-help books and most of all the Bible (thank you Doc ).  I am a geek. I am an entrepreneur at heart. I am on my third business – and this is the one I was destined for, helping people like you.

Who am I?  I am the creator of a successful weight loss system called Lose It Fast Lose It Forever that is taught in my home town, Ann Arbor, Michigan and soon online.

But who am I?  I am sharp tongued.  Very. Even unapologetically acerbic at times.  I am very opinionated.  VERY!  For example:  As an Black / African-American / Whatever-name-we-call-ourselves-these-days who is actually bi-racial, I am amazed and irritated by any Black / African American / Whatever-name-we-call-ourselves-these-days who feels like Barack Obama in the White House means you can suddenly start teaching your children that they can accomplish anything.  What were you teaching your children when Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice were Secretary of State and Kofi Annan was running the U.N.? Not to mention other folk like Stanley O’Neal, Richard Parsons, Kenneth Chennalt, Ben Carson, Oprah Winfrey, Bob Johnson, Michael Lee-Chin etc.

I have seen my people buying calendars and coloring books and other nick-knacks to savor the moment when Obama’s election should have simply been an ‘I told you so..‘ moment, not some great awakening. And does Obama being President really matter if Blacks / African Americans / Whatever-name-we-call-ourselves-these-days still raise our children to be average by not making them get college degrees or become self-educated.  Oh yeah, speaking of degrees, every African American should immediately stop getting degrees in social work or similar and go into accounting, engineering or computer science.  Most people end up in careers other that what they are degreed in anyway so if later on you want to go and start a un-profitable non-profit then do so after you have paid off your student loans.

See I told you I was opinionated.  Don’t worry this will not become a blog about social commentary because the stupidity that comes from the world of weight loss is enough to keep me busy.

Speaking of which, I absolutely hate stupidity.  With a passion!  And I hate false smart people.  By false smart people I mean people who have tons of knowledge but no wisdom!  Knowledge is just an accumulation of facts.  Wisdom is the proper application of those facts to solve a problem. I sincerely believe that the best way to learn is thorough experience.  Preferably the experiences of others.  I consider this the epitome of Life-Hacking.

So I am going back to being me with my varied interests.  I can’t wait to roll out the blogs I have kept from finishing and posting for fear of offending someone.  One is titled: “Why Your Doctor is Keeping You Fat“.  Another one is for people who say they have tried everything entitled “Fat People are Liars“, Another is “Personal Trainers Are Stupid. And why you Still Need One“.  These blog posts come from my personal experience which is why I can speak about certain things that others can’t  Check out a post I did called Parents Continue To Fatten Their Children For Slaughter for an example of how I really think.

Oh, by the way, I really do like people.  No, I love people.  I was raised in and out of foster care and group homes due to my mothers mental illness.  From this experience I realize that being around people is an essential part of who I am (this is characterized by my regular place of business – a 24 hour Starbucks).  To me people are relaxing.

So I want to help people. I want to help big people like me lose weight. Lots of weight. People like the folk in my classes. I know this subject like the back of my hand and I might as well help others from my own experiences.  So if you need some help with your health and weight loss goals I will be more than happy to help you.  I know first hand about all the mis-information and mixed information out there and how confused you are about achieving your weight loss goals. So I will give you the truth about what works and what does not.  There are no stupid weight loss questions.

Opps, I lied. If you tell me your concerned about all the loose skin you will have after you lose that extra 111 pounds and ask me what you should do about it, I am going to honestly tell you: 

Stay Fat!

Now if you ask me about my own loose skin I will gladly tell you what happened to it and I also will tell you about my 3 year aspiration to be a male model for Spanx (a women’s only line of undergarments   Do you see the difference in the questions?

I have also struggled with charging for the information and research I have gathered.  But then I have these Thomasism’s that I used to live by. For example ‘People spend money on what they want to spend money on‘.  This comes from my past experience with helping people with personal finance and real estate where people would pay for premium cable or premium phone service and would not buy there kids a book or a computer.

So my plan is to give away good content and free reports on my web site and to sell the best of best.  If your not willing to invest in your own good health then just get fatter and fatter or stay fat and die early.  Your grand-kids will forget about you in a few years after your gone.  Personally, I nearly went broke in 2005 as I saw the opportunity to get my health back.  I knew that even if I ended up losing everything I would be able to recoup it all if I was a healthy member of society. Yes, in case you did not know, being obese is deadly.

So lets wrap things up here.

I have tons of huge goals that you can hold me accountable on.  I will list them all with dates later this month but for now here are a few of this years goals:

• Continue teaching my LIF2 Classes locally offline and online.
• Finish my free eBook or free report by months end,
• Continue to speak regularly,
• VBlog and blog Regularly,
• Interview Smart and Inspirational people regularly,
• Set up guest blogging for some of my students and others who have a similar weight loss philosophy,
• Work with and send content to Muata, Israel, and Chris.
• Launch forums by spring,
• Finish and publish my Lose It Fast Lose It Forever Workbook,
• Get my personal training certification by June
• Maintain my weight and move on to the 3rd phase of my weight loss – The LaLanne, Lost Ark Phase.
• Send out my newsletter with my personalized Weight Loss Wisdom (See tomorrow’s post for my first one)
• Become the Kimkins Killer. (Not the person – the program)
• Spend time everyday helping people – especially my LIF2 family and teammates.

So there are a few of my goals with more to come.

Take a minute to write in some of your 2009 goals in below.  After all you have read this far.  You might as well contribute and help out others

Talk to you soon and remember,

There’s a Winner Within You!