Retired Arlington Heights police officer wins Fittest Loser Challenge
It smacked of "sabotage."
Personal trainer Michelle Amsden, who molded a 361-pound South Elgin man into the Daily Herald's Fittest Loser last year, was handed an extra challenge for the weight loss contest 12 weeks ago.
Bob Coniglio was a cop, Type-A personality, used to being in charge.
He tipped the scales at 304 pounds when organizers matched him with Amsden, who would coach him through one-on-one sessions at least three times a week over the competition.
"I was thinking, 'They want me to lose this year,'" said Amsden, a trainer at Push Fitness in Schaumburg, the challenge's co-sponsor.
The problem wasn't motivation. Coniglio, 51, had the discipline to begin a grueling exercise and diet regimen.
The problem was physical. He couldn't do push-ups on the floor. Any routine that raised his heart rate left him out of breath and frustrated.
The problem was an elevated diaphragm that kept his lungs from expanding to a normal volume.
"You want to keep pushing, but it prevents you from breathing totally," said Coniglio, who lives in Arlington Heights. "You actually physically have to stop."
Amsden modified workouts around the condition and Coniglio pushed through, shedding 64 pounds and shaving about seven inches from his waistline.
He had the biggest drop in percentage of weight out of the five contestants - more than 21 percent - to be crowned the 2015 Fittest Loser Wednesday before 400 people at a finale party in Schaumburg.
Altogether, the five individual contestants - Coniglio; Deanna Bec, 30, of Berwyn; Robert Patterson, 56, of North Aurora; Cindy Uribe, 33, of Hoffman Estates; and Heidi Wiltse, 43, of Arlington Heights - lost 250 pounds.
Coniglio applied for the challenge, now in its seventh year, to improve his health, see his daughter, 15, "go down the aisle" at her wedding in the future, and show the "community what an officer can do."
Coniglio showed off his sleek physique in a summer suit and pink tie - all five received makeovers - strutting down an aisle of his own to applause.
"I knew I was going to win or at least come very close to winning if not," he said. "Being the very competitive person that I am, you don't win, it's not worth anything. Nobody remembers second."
The party also celebrated the 38 teams of co-workers in the Fittest Loser At Work Challenge, what has become a community health initiative since launching three years ago, said M. Eileen Brown, the Daily Herald's assistant vice president and director of strategic marketing and innovation.
The team from Pump Supply Inc. in Elgin finished first in the work challenge.
The results are dramatic, with participants "dusting off clothes in the back of the closet that you haven't worn in years," Brown told the gathering. Even more meaningful are the participants who were cleared of Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol without using medication.
"People change their lives," Brown said.
What's the secret to staying the course?
"You have to find something that drives you from within," said Joshua Steckler, owner of Push Fitness. "It can't be that your husband wants you to do it or that a friend says 'Oh, you really need to lose weight.' It has to be something that you internally want to do."
To get a sense of his lifestyle change, Coniglio points to his retirement party in March after more than two decades as an Arlington Heights police officer.
He skipped a celebratory cake. And the chief offered to take his slice.
He also favors flaxseeds in his salads and spaghetti - made from squash.
"It's an experience you never forget," he said.