August 3, 2006

Results are in:

Twelve week ‘get in shape’ competition works for all

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

For 12 weeks five high school buddies and their wives worked out religiously. The five men dropped nearly 110 pounds altogether, lost a high percentage of their collective body fat and got in shape by working out.

The participants get together for one last photo before heading off to celebrate at Big D’s in Los Gatos. Top row, from the left are Nick Mucelli, Jeff Zontos, Rick Hayashi, Rod Acord and Ted Omura and two trainers from Crossfit in Campbell. The bottom row is Tara Mucelli, Donna Zontos, Lisa Hayashi, Andrea Acord and Jenn Omura. The children are Adam Hayashi (standing) and Brandon Omura.

Their get-fit program was actually a competition, which began last April. The five males, who are in their 30s, have known each other since high school. Four of them, Ron Acord, Rick Hayashi, Nick Mucelli and Jeff Zontos graduated during the late 1980s from Willow Glen High School. Ted Omura, graduated from Los Altos High.

When their wives, who also are in their 30s, found out about the competition, they decided to have their own contest, including two of the women who recently had given birth. Although the wives didn’t want to publish their statistics, they also had a fantastic time and a lot of fun. They are Tara Mucelli, Donna Zontos, Lisa Hayashi, Andrea Acord and Jenn Omura.

On Sunday, July 23, all 10 contestants weighed in, rowed and bench-pressed.

The winners turned out to be Rick Hayashi, a dean at Leigh High School, and Tara Mucelli.

Silicon Valley Diet
The contest was the brainchild of Ted Omura. The Willow Glen chiropractor, who lives in Almaden and runs the Score Clinic on Meridian, suggested the men not just lose weight, but lose it wisely along with a workout program that would help turn them back into the fit young men they used to be.

As the competition began, Omura noted that it would be more fun to work on their bodies together instead of separately. He developed the Silicon Valley Diet—a healthy solution for busy people—to ensure that the participants were motivated to embrace a healthy lifestyle and not just to lose weight.

To make it a real challenge, the group decided that the winners and losers would go away for a weekend with the losers paying the winners’ way. Prior to the start of the competition, the men voted on whether they would go to Palm Springs or spend a weekend in a cabin at Lake Tahoe.

The five competitors get together for a photo. From the left are Rod Acord, competition winner Rick Hayashi, Ted Omura, Nick Mucelli and Jeff Zontos.

Tahoe won, and Hayashi and Tara Mucelli will have all their expenses paid for travel, accommodations, golf, food, drinks and anything else.

Most of us, Omura told the Times, have tried the South Beach, the Atkins and the Cabbage Soup Diet. They might work for a while, “but these diets are so boring and unmotivating.”

Instead he structured a program where competition and motivation work together. For example, Omura said since losing weight is easier for a heavier person, the category would be judged on the percentage of the weight loss. For example, a person with an initial weight of 200 pounds, who loses 20 pounds would receive a statistic of 10 because 20 pounds would equate to a 10 percent total body weight loss.

Part two would be the percentage of body fat lost. People can be very thin, but not fit, he said. In addition, muscle weighs more than fat. For example, if one person’s body fat percentage is 20 and during the 12-week period he lost 5 percent of that, his final statistic would be 25.

The third area was strength and conditioning. The competition was set up to ensure that the participants didn’t just lose weight but strengthened their muscles and increased their cardiovascular output. In this area, competitors would be given points for the most repetitions for bench-pressing their body weight, or for cardiovascular strength and for which participant can get to 250 calories first on a rowing machine.

No losers
No matter what, Omura said, there would be no losers. All 10 competitors would be ahead of the game even if they didn’t finish first.

In the end, Hayashi dropped 38 pounds and 11.1 percent of his body fat. The Leigh High School dean’s ending statistics were 146 pounds at 11.5 percent body fat.

“Rick followed a very good diet that was low in carbohydrates and high in protein,” said Omura. “He worked out a lot at the Almaden Valley Athletic Club on the elliptical machine. He also was focused because he’s a very competitive person.”

Tara Mucelli lost 20 pounds and her body fat percentage dropped nearly 10 percent to 19.7 percent. Her sister Andrea Acord, dropped her body fat percentage nearly 8 percent to 13.7, sharply lower than women’s typical body
fat percentage of over 20 percent.

Even though the 12 weeks were “tough, it was a lot of fun,” said Omura. All 10 participants are aware of how much better they feel, he added, and the diet and exercise routine has become a way of life instead of just a competition. The group enjoyed it so much, they are thinking about doing another competition, Omura said.

“The nice part about it was that we all motivated each other,” Omura added. “Wives and husbands worked and motivated each other instead of one eating nachos and watching the other work out. This also proves that if you are motivated and into a healthy lifestyle, you will make your health a priority.”

Before the competition, the participants would drag themselves home after a long day at work. Because of it, each of the 10 found the time to work out and eat healthy.

Omura said he wasn’t grotesquely overweight or out of shape, but “I wasn’t living an optimum health style that met my expectations. By participating in the contest, I was able to achieve health and fitness goals that I’d been trying to reach for the 10 years since I was married. I’ve always wanted to get back into the shape I was in college.”

Did it work for him? Well, Omura is now off his blood pressure medication, his pants fit better—he needs a new wardrobe—and he doesn’t get out of breath playing a game with his children.

“I sleep better, and I feel better,” he said.

However, he cautioned that moderation also works. That was right after he told the Times that when the competition ended and the scores were tallied up, all 10 families headed over to Big D’s in Los Gatos for burgers and ice cream.