Westmont, IL -
As part of their last hurrah, five area law enforcement officers gathered Sunday for a “last supper” feasting on double cheeseburgers, pork chops, French fries and even some pumpkin cheesecake.
The grease stopped there. The “Fit for Duty” team then arrived at Mbc Fitness in Westmont for weigh-in. Each member stepped on the scale in the name of charity, health, $5,000 and a trip to Las Vegas.
Comprised of police officers from Westmont, Hinsdale and Lombard, the officers join about 2,000 other teams across the country competing in this year’s 911 Fitness Challenge, a 12-week competition for safety officers, military personnel, corrections workers, nurses and physicians and spouses to lose weight and gain muscle. The team in each of the four regions losing the most fat and gains the most muscle will be awarded the trip and cash.
“They are totally excited,” said Detective Jim Schlicher of the Westmont Police Department, team captain of Fit for Duty. He said his team is upbeat about their chances to take the Central division.
“We have a great shot,” said Westmont Detective Craig Gomorczak. “Everybody on our team is pretty fit going into it. We just need to be fine tuned, and we have all the resources behind us.”
Schlicher, who is also a personal trainer at Mbc Fitness, has counseled his teammates to cut out all dairy, breads and pastas, spread meals out throughout the day and drink lots of water. The team has access to free cardio classes and personal training sessions at Mbc, and will keep a meticulous food journal for two weeks.
“The hard part is the next two weeks, when we are getting the habits of the new routine down,” Schlicher said.
Gomorczak said he is doing the competition to get healthier for himself and family.
“I’m still pretty healthy, but I want to stay in the game as I’m getting older,” he said. “The (police officer) job has a lot of stress, and it takes a toll on you. I have two kids and one on the way. I want to grow old to see my kids’ kids.”
Fit for Duty was joined by about 10 other teams from throughout the western suburbs who came to Mbc Fitness to be pinched, prodded and weighed.
Jim Sayih, 911 Fitness founder, said the competition is unique in since it only rewards muscle gain, not weight loss. If any member of a team loses muscle, the whole team is disqualified.
Sayih, a retired police lieutenant from Miami, said the competition stemmed from his graduate research on obesity.
“In my career I attended a bunch of funerals, a lot of them preventable,” he said. “I noticed an alarming rate of overweight cops and firemen.”
Proceeds from the competition go to the Shriners Hospitals for Children.
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