When Oxford firefighters say they’re looking to trim some of the department’s fat, they don’t mean the budget, they’re talking about themselves.
In a contest reminiscent of reality TV shows like ‘The Biggest Loser? and ‘Celebrity Fit Club,? at least 15 members of the fire department are on a mission to shed pounds and decrease their body fat percentage by July 1.
The winners receive cold, hard cash.
The losers get a dose of good-natured humiliation.
Each of the participants has put $20 into a prize pot.
Whomever decreases their body fat percentage the most over the next 90 days will receive 60 percent of the pot.
The second biggest loser will receive the other 40 percent.
‘It’s a friendly competition we started to get everybody in a healthier state,? said Fire Capt. Ron Jahlas. ‘Obviously, lower body fat percentage is going to lead to greater health.?
Body fat percentage is a measurement of the amount of your total body mass that is fat tissue as opposed to lean body mass, which includes muscle, bones, blood, organs, tissues and anything else.
As an added incentive, if the group as a whole loses a combined 350 pounds, the department’s captains will conduct a training session dressed up like ladies.
‘If by us putting out the second challenge we can motivate a couple extra people to lose a couple extra pounds, it makes everybody that much healthier,? Jahlas said.
However, if the group fails to lose at least 200 pounds, Jahlas said the firefighters will be required, during a training session, to wear those tiny red plastic fire hats handed out to kids when they visit the station.
Last week, firefighters held the official weigh-in and body fat measurement at POH Regional Medical Center’s Oxford campus.
According to Kevin T. Walsh, supervisor of physical therapy and director of sports medicine for POH, the firefighters weighed a combined 3,208 pounds. The average weight was 213.9 pounds. The average body fat percentage of the firefighters was 33.5 percent.
According to the American Council on Exercise, the acceptable level of body fat is 25-31 percent for women and 18-25 percent for men. Men are considered obese if their body fat exceeds 25 percent, while women are classified as obese if their fat level is 32 percent or more.