Burnt Church first Nation residents shed the pounds together
This year, Burnt Church First Nations residents have been shedding the pounds in hopes of feeling healthier — and maybe winning some money — in their community's version of The Biggest Loser show.
One of those people is Valerie Mitchell Savoie, who has lost 42 pounds by the time the competition ended Monday.
Savoie is the leader for the "Mark's Angels," named after her brother, the only man on the team. He lost nearly 30 pounds.
Joanne Bartibog organized the competition when she came back to work after Christmas upset about the weight she had put on. She said she figured a lot of people were feeling the same way.
Working as the Aboriginal Youth Suicide Prevention coordinator for the Esgenoopetitj Wellness Centre in Burnt Church, Bartibog said she knew she had the right resources to start a new program in the community.
She watched The Biggest Loser on NBC, in which people compete for a million dollars by losing the most weight, and decided this might be a fun way to get the community in shape.
"I wanted to create something to motivate the community in a healthy way," said Bartibog. "And many of the staff here has joined too."
Contestants formed teams of five, with each person paying $20 to join.
Each team-mate had to come in every second Tuesday to be weighed.
At the end of the six-month competition, the winning team-members took home the other teams' entry fees — over $1,000 split five ways.
More than 50 people participated and over the six months Bartibog tracked everyone's weight, recording the ups and downs along the way.
The chief and council gave each team member a brightly coloured T-shirt with the team name written on the sleeve: Barb's Bodacious Babes, Salt n' Pepa and the youngest team, the Brat Pack.
A bright poster on the wall tracked the total weight loss for each team, with Wow or Terrific motivational stickers marking major losses in weight.
"A lot of people have already said they will participate again. They want to keep going toward their goal," said Bartibog, who added that although a couple of groups dropped out early on, she has seen a big difference in many others.
"There are a lot of people walking around here in the evenings."
And one of those people is Savoie. Not only has the community grown accustomed to seeing her on her daily walks, she has changed her eating habits too.
Since Savoie buys the groceries for the house, she said her kids ended up going on a diet too.
"There was no grease and I would only buy whole wheat bread. At first they didn't like it. They'd say, ‘What is this bread?' but they got used to it."
Bartibog said the centre decided early on not to tell people how to go about losing the weight. Each person was instructed to visit the doctor before starting the competition to find the best way to diet, especially if they were diabetic.
"Diabetes is rampant in Aboriginal communities. We had them go to their doctors because we didn't want people starving themselves just to win some money."
Other communities have already approached Bartibog, excited to start something similar in their towns. She said she already has even bigger plans for next January, when she hopes to get donations for sneakers and gym memberships.
"January is the best time to start. That's when its cold and people need help getting motivated."
Bartibog said the program isn't just be about shedding pounds.
"In the beginning, we would go swimming together," said Savoie."We tried to encourage each other and offer counseling. We wouldn't be hard on someone if they gained — just tried to keep them motivated.
"Its not just about being healthy, it is a social activity. They go bowling together, many are becoming close-knit friends."
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