Gold’s Gym encouraging Pocatello-Chubbuck community to lose a ton of weight
POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - As part of the Pocatello-Chubbuck community's first-ever weight loss challenge, dozens filled Gold's Gym on Thursday afternoon to weigh in.
Inspired by similar community challenges on the East Coast, Gold's Gym partnered with the cities of Pocatello and Chubbuck, Portneuf Health Trust and Southeastern Idaho Public health, to see if the community can lose 2,000 pounds over the next 12 weeks.
“We’re hoping that we can help people just be a little more conscientious about what they’re consuming, what they’re eating, what their daily habits are,” Ari Price, the gym's director of operations, explained.
The event began with weigh-ins at Gold's and Southeastern Idaho Public Health on Thursday. From there, it's up to the participant.
Price said the group decided 2,000 pounds was a safe goal based on the results of their normal 12-week challenge. With more than 300 people signed up, Price belives they will "blow that out of the water."
Even though the goal of the challenge is to lose a ton of weight, literally, Price said they don't want people focusing on the scale.
"Some people, as soon they step on a scale, their journey completely ends," Price said.
Instead of pounds, some prefer to see the difference in inches, which the gym's 3D scans highlight.
"Just stepping on the scale, you see 'hey, five pounds down.' Well, you don’t necessarily know what that's from," head trainer Michael Carr said. "When you check out your scan, it will tell you if you lost fat mass versus lean mass, which is really nice.”
Carr said that these scans are a great way to show progress, even when the scale doesn't.
"When people do lose fat but put on muscle, that’s gonna stay similar on the scale. So they’re like, ‘I’m not losing any weight.’ Well, you’ll come here and the inches change drastically,” he explained.
During the journey to April, Carr emphasized the importance of staying consistent with your diet and exercise but added that you don't need to be perfect.
"If you mess up once, that's not going to change your entire 12 weeks," he said. "12 weeks is a long period of time, one mistake isn't going to ruin anything."
At the end of the challenge, everyone is a winner. When weighing out, each participant receives one raffle ticket per pound they've lost. Those will be redeemable for a handful of prizes donated by local businesses.
If you are interested in participating, additional weigh-ins will be held on Friday from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Gold's Gym and from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Southeastern Idaho Public Health.
