Fire Department Staff Make Lifestyle Changes for Weight Loss Challenge

Call it Naperville’s Biggest Loser competition, but for the 11 employees at the Naperville Fire Department set on losing some weight and improving their health, all of the participants are winners. 

In January, employees of the administrative division of the  stepped on the scale – collectively – to weigh in on a weight loss challenge. The team would attempt to lose 10 percent of its weight before Memorial Day. At the midpoint of the challenge some participants are making greater gains with losses than others.

The challenge was a weighty one. After kicking up his own fitness routine and watching an employee lose more than 130 pounds, Naperville Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis thought the fitness challenge would be a good way to encourage others in the department to make healthy lifestyle changes. 

“If one person could encourage me, having others involved could encourage more people,” Puknaitis said.

The initial weigh in was done on Jan. 23 held at the city of Naperville’s Electric Service Center using one of the department’s truck scales. The 11 challenge participants weighed in at 2,840 pounds.

The group’s goal is to lose 10 percent or 284 pounds, Puknaitis said.

“That is pretty significant, if you think about it,” he said.

The group is about halfway through its challenge and has not yet checked in on the amount of weight it has lost to date, Puknaitis said. He said some people in the department have made more progress than others, noting one of the participants has lost about 15 pounts

Making the lifestyle changes necessary to lose weight has been challenging at times for some employees, he said. It takes time to learn to schedule workouts and it’s a personal and cultural adjustment. But, having a group of people involved in the challenge allows them to help one another. 

One of the main goals for the group is to lower the amount of sugar and sodium they are consuming because those changes alone can have a positive affect on weight loss, Puknaitis said. 

Over the last year he has lost about 20 to 25 pounds, he said. He made changes to his diet, added in exercise, like running and biking. Now, he is working to maintain the lifestyle changes.

Once the challenge ends at the end of May, the participants will be working to stay on track, he said. The incentive for participating in the challenge was better health.

Puknaitis said he has seen progress in his own experience.

“You feel better and when you feel better and see progress it’s an incentive to keep going,” he said.