By Noel Ceriani
UNIVERSITY CITY, SHARJAH – Eight American University of Sharjah students took prizes in the Men’s and Women’s Biggest Winner fat loss competition that ran from Feb. 7 to March 3.
Hosted by the Student Athletics and Recreation Department, along with the Office of Student Affairs, four men and four women earned recognition for losing weight by following prescribed nutrition and exercise regimens.
Participants were divided into four categories. For women they were below 60 kg, 61-70 kg, 71-79 kg, and above 80 kg. For men they were below 85 kg, 85-99 kg, 100-110 kg, and above 120 kg.
According to an email from the Athletics Department, AUS Biggest Winner was a four-week fitness challenge where students could transform their lives mentally and physically to achieve the highest percentage of fat loss.
Participants had to submit their weights and after 30 days the winners received an Amazon gift card and the coveted AUS medal, as per the email.
Coach Tamara Arabyeat explained that this challenge was made for students who want to lose weight but do not know how to start. The competition will therefore help them learn and follow a plan made by the coaches.
“This is my fourth semester doing this and I am happy for the students, because they put in the effort and there’s a result,” added Arabyeat. “Even if they don’t lose weight, they still feel fit and there are always benefits.”
Participant and AUS student Toufic Khalaf said “the fat loss challenge is a challenge I chose to participate in because I felt that I needed to get more in shape, but never actually had the motivation to try and change anything until I received this challenge in my email.”
“Personally, my biggest motivation in anything is to win, and so making it a challenge where there is healthy competition between each other was very motivating for me,” added Khalaf.
Aside from being motivated to lose weight, the students’ environment also helps.
Student Pinar Khan, women’s winner of the 71-78 kg category, said “because a community was formed between all the girls who were working towards the same goal of losing as much weight as possible by working out and controlling their diet, it was really helpful and motivated me to continue.”
The ceremony was held at the Athletics Center on March 15, when Khan was awarded first place in her category by losing a total of 5.1 kg in a month.
