Know Your Own Strength

Here was my husband Bruce last August wearing his new vest. Quite a bit has changed since then.


In January of this year my husband was selected from over 750 applicants to be one of 6 contestants in the Know Your Own Strength Challenge sponsored by Gold's Gym and the Washington Post. He was assigned to a trainer named Antonio (below left next to Jim Snow, the President of Gold's Gym) who worked him hard for 12 weeks.

It was a little weird because his progress and that of the other challengers has been appearing in the Tuesday issues of The Express. The first week caught me totally off guard when someone told me they saw my husband in the paper. I hadn't realized it was such a big deal.



Last Thursday night was the big reveal. All six of the contestants were given spa days and new clothes for the big day. Bruce got an amazing custom suit from Geoffrey Lewis Ltd. that he loves. We all gathered at the Washington Post offices for a lovely dinner and a celebration. Unfortunately my husband didn't take home the oversized check for $5000. He came in second and got a small gift from Gold's.

He is still a winner though because he lost 56 lbs during the challenge. 56! It's a big deal because he's still out of work and without the challenge he could easily have been sitting at home watching TV (more than he did anyway) and gaining weight. I call that a win.



Happily, although his pants are barely staying up - even with a belt, the vest still fits. It would truly suck if, after years on the needles, I finished it only to find it's way too big. That could change though because Gold's gave each contestant a year membership to continue their workouts.