A Gold Coast tradesman who entered a weight loss challenge says he feels “robbed” after failing to win the $26,000 prize, despite losing a staggering 25kg in just eight weeks.
Lloyd Goodall went from 113kg to 88kg in two months by following a strict diet and exercise regimen through interval training program, F45, he told Channel 9’s A Current Affair.
Mr Goodall said he decided to enter the challenge after putting on a few extra kilograms, and saw the $26,000 car prize as perfect motivation.
“I had a very busy work life, so you know, up early mornings, late home, just wasn’t finding the time for it, bit of a bad diet, led to putting on the kilos,” he told A Current Affair.
During the interview, Mr Goodall said he would train before and after work in a bid to shed as much weight and gain muscle as possible to win the challenge.
But according to the tradesman, despite shedding 25kg and dropping his body fat index to just 10 per cent, his efforts were not enough to take home first prize.
“I was obviously confident I had put in 110 per cent and that whoever was going to beat me would have something similar to mine,” he said.
The winner however, shed just 4kg and 4.5 per cent body fat, and while Mr Goodall says he doesn’t have a problem with the winner — he believes he was “robbed” from the top spot.
“At the moment, I don’t want to even look at the number 45,” he said.
F45 prides themselves on offering 45 minutes of high intensity interval training for participants. Mixing cardio and weights, the ‘eight week challenges’ have produced some remarkable results for those who stick to the diet and workouts.
“About three to four weeks in … at the half way point I lost 12kg,” he said.
“I lost a total of 25 kilos all up, and out of that 24.1 was body fat and 900g of it was a loss of muscle and I lost a total of 19 per cent body fat.”
According to the report, the winner was judged on before and after photos, weight loss and body percentage changes. Mr Goodall has approached F45 for clarification on why he got second, but says he is yet to receive a response.
In a statement to news.com.au, a spokesperson said they were “really proud” with the participants, but the judging panel focused on a winner who didn’t simply lose the most weight.
“The purpose of the F45 Challenge is to motivate and inspire members to transform their lives so they can become healthier and happier individuals in just eight weeks,” the statement said.
“The challenge in question refers to a local area Studio competition which is not co-ordinated by F45 HQ. In this instance, a group of Gold Coast based studios joined forces to offer a larger prize and created their own judging panel and metrics to award 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners.
“The F45 Challenge is designed to encourage people of all shapes and sizes to participate and the judging criteria of this competition took into consideration attendance at classes and special events; muscle gain; and muscle loss. These expanded criteria ensured that anyone in the F45 Community had a chance to win rather than just those with the highest body fat percentage.”