Sponsors ensure a safe, healthy, fun Challenge

Throughout the 12-week Fittest Loser Challenge, five contestants and 57 At Work teams reaped many benefits from the generosity of the event's 20 sponsors.

Assurance, a brokerage firm in Schaumburg, which has garnered a number of impressive awards itself for employee health programs, donated items and education to the participants in the At Work Challenge.

"We provided Lifetime Fitness passes, weekly tips and also webinars through Unfold Yoga (+ Wellness)," said Jill Micklow, wellness consultant at Assurance.

Assurance also donated $1,000 to the winning team of the At Work challenge, with the Daily Herald Media Group contributing $1,000, for a total of $2,000 to be donated to charity.

The winning team, Pounds for Blue, from the Hanover Park Police Department, is donating half of the prize to Illinois Special Olympics and half to Hanover Park's war dog statue. Assurance also donated Beats wireless headphones to each member of that team.

Amita Health was involved in the Fittest Loser Challenge from day one to the finale, and was the Daily Herald's medical partner for this year's competition.

"We are an annual sponsor," said nurse practitioner Nizza Maguigad. "We do a pre-evaluation of the five main contestants at our clinic, and then again at the end." In addition, the Amita nurses also do the pre- and post-evaluations for all of the nearly 300 At Work participants, which includes blood work and health and nutritional counseling in addition to weigh-ins.

Dr. Anthony Auriemma, an obesity medicine specialist with Amita and the director of Alexian Brothers Weight Loss Solutions, was one of the featured speakers at the Fittest Loser finale, held at Chandler's Chophouse and Grill in Schaumburg.

"This program highlights the obesity problem in our country, with 60 percent of the U.S. population overweight or obese," he said. "It's a complex disease, and people often relapse. These contestants share their problems and share their struggles. We thank them for opening themselves up for this."

Push Fitness in Schaumburg partnered with the Daily Herald Media Group in the contest, donating time, energy and expertise to help the five Fittest Loser contestants.

"We train the five contestants for three days a week, and they do a boot camp with us on the weekends. Each of the five main contestants had a trainer," said Push Fitness owner Josh Streckler. "We love doing this. It never gets old, and keeps us on our toes."

Push Fitness also provides bonus incentives each year. This year, the fitness center provided Fitbits to help contestants stay motivated. Trainers also helped contestants identify food sensitivities and develop food plans.

"This year's group did very well," Streckler said. "They supported each other and stood by each other."

All five Fittest Loser contestants and the winning At Work team benefited from sponsor Dick Pond Athletics of Hoffman Estates.

"The five main contestants immediately got fitted for shoes and inserts, and the At Work winners get fitted after (the competition ends)," said Dick Pond manager Nick Hurley.

Athletic shoes were provided by Brooks, one of Dick Pond's vendors, and special insoles were provided by another vendor, Superfeet. In addition, Dick Pond sponsored Walk to Run programs for all participants and their families, to help them prepare for a 5K race.

"The biggest thing we like is being involved with the contestants from the start," Hurley said. "We get them started on the right foot."

Sponsors offered various forms of exercise to At Work participants. Among those contributing fitness classes was Pure Barre.

Taking their services on the road, Pure Barre instructors paid several visits to team locations, and also held classes at four of its own locations. During the competition, each team member received one free visit and a reduced price on a three-month membership option.

"This is our first year as a sponsor," Pure Barre instructor Faith Wade said. "One of our longtime clients, Kerry Diminuco from the Daily Herald, talked with us about Fittest Loser, and we thought it was a great idea."

Pure Barre also contributed prizes to the raffle, held the night of the finale, of a one-month membership and a 10-class and a five-class pass. Proceeds from the raffle benefitted the Kids Fit Foundation.

Members of all At Work teams also received one free Pure Barre yoga class of their choice.

Unfold Yoga + Wellness offered classes at customers' places of work, homes and gatherings. Unfold Yoga worked solely with the At Work contestants, and provided webinars in partnership with Assurance.

"We offered a metabolic webinar, and a desk and chair yoga webinar," said Katie Mitchell, co-founder of Unfold Yoga. "We also awarded free classes for our webinar winner, for which team members posted their most creative yoga pose. It was a lot of fun!"

Dr. Aimee & Associates, a comprehensive health care practice, sponsored the Fittest Loser effort for the first time this year.

"We provided options for weight loss, meal replacements, weekly weigh-ins, allergy testing for food sensitivities, stress management and more," said marketing manager Wendy Schmidt.

Sponsor Northern Illinois Food Bank supported weight loss and good health by promoting exercise.

"We hosted a 5K at Cantigny in Wheaton. We had food trucks come out to the 5K, too," said Jen Nau, NIFB director of communications.

"By participating, the competitors for the At Work teams exercised and also raised funds to support our hungry neighbors," added Hannah Papp, manager of retail partner relations for the food bank.

Lifespan Brands, a first-time sponsor of the Fittest Loser Challenge, helped make sure contestants stayed on track with a donation of Detecto scales.

"It's a terrific contest that shows people can achieve their goals. Plus, with us being in the consumer scale business, we thought we could be a good partner," said Clay Farnsworth, president and CEO of Lifespan. "We are just pleased to be a part of this, and we look forward to future participation."

Sponsor Salon Lorrene also had two of its own teams of employees participate in the At Work Challenge. The salon provided free hair conditioning treatments for all At Work participants "any time they came into the salon," said stylist Kim Warshaw. The salon also donated a gift basket for the raffle.

Orangetheory Fitness, another new sponsor, offered a free workout and team challenges during the event.

"This is a challenge for all types of people," said Becky Lewis, the fitness center's owner. "We chose this challenge because as people change, their exercise needs change, too."

When changing your body from the inside out, it always helps to have a makeover, and the five Fittest Losers got the star treatment from sponsor Deer Park Town Center.

"We have been the makeover sponsor for five years," said Angelika Jurczyk, marketing director for the shopping center. "I worked with the contestants, who picked out an outfit from one of our stores and got their hair and makeup done here, too."

The makeovers, provided before the finale, were valued at $500 for each of the five main contestants.

"The stylists did a great job and some of the contestants really stepped out of the box and tried something new when shopping," Jurczyk said.

The Fittest Loser contestants' makeovers took place at Avalon, a salon and day spa located inside the Deer Park Town Center.

Manager Natalie Roberti said when the contestants came into Avalon for their makeovers, "everyone was so excited and happy about getting to where they wanted to be. Our owner, Bonnie Conte, loves being a sponsor of this competition."

Deer Park stores also hosted events for the At Work contestants during the 12 weeks, including a St. Patty's Day run, workshops and classes, such as cooking tips at Williams-Sonoma.

Cross Kicks Fitness offered workouts in four locations for At Work Challenge participants.

"We had ten participants come into our Roselle location to work out during the 12 weeks, and eight or nine came into our Hoffman Estates gym," said Cross Kicks account executive Mike Lobello.

Cross Kicks also provided prizes of gym memberships to the top three Fittest Loser winners.

At Work participants received a week of free workouts and a discounted membership from sponsor CrossFit Rise.

"We had a great turnout for the free trial, and a few people also signed up for the membership," said Brian Schulz, who owns CrossFit with his wife, Jessica.

Being a sponsor "was a nice opportunity to reach another market and to reach more people. It's a very worthwhile event, and we're proud to be a sponsor," he said. "We look forward to doing this in years to come."

Ala Carte Entertainment restaurant group sponsored the contest for the second time this year through two of its restaurants, Chandler's and Moretti's.

"We held the finale at Chandler's, as our sponsorship," said Jim Early, general manager for Ala Carte Entertainment. "We're very community-oriented and we like getting invited to sponsor community events."

Novatoo Audio Visual also had a hand in the finale, as a sponsor, and took care of all the A/V needs for the finale event.

"That's what we do," said Novatoo AV tech, Mike Erickson. "We're sponsors for the Daily Herald for all of their big events."

Littman Bros Lighting was a first-time sponsor this year, and also had a team participate in the At Work Challenge. As sponsors, the store offered teams the opportunity to earn a challenge point by coming into the store and taking a selfie.

"We are proud to be a sponsor of such a positive event because we understand how important health is in all aspects of life," said Chelsea Garcia, e-commerce customer service manager for the store.

Valli Produce, an international fresh market, provided weekly healthy eating recipes, hosted a healthy shopping trip for the main contestants in conjunction with nutritional tips provided by a representative from Amita for the At Work participants. Valli Produce even hosted a tasting at the juice bar in its Glendale Heights store.

"We really wanted to reach out to our community and promote the healthy aspects of our store," said Frank Greco, manager of Valli Produce in Glendale Heights, one of the sponsor's six locations.

"I think it was thrilling to see, at the finale, how happy all the contestants were. We felt like we helped everyone," Greco said. "It was very rewarding."

In addition to generously providing goods and services to this year's Fittest Loser and At Work Challenge participants, many of these sponsors also contributed coupons and assorted items to the goody bags available for attendees to take home.