Five Seasons Burr Ridge 'Be a Loser' Update: Nader Najjar 'Doing it the Right Way'

When he was selected for a Burr Ridge sports club’s “Be a Loser” program at the start of the year, Nader Najjar was viewed as an ideal ambassador.

That is how Bob Diamond, chief club officer of Five Seasons Family Sports Club, described the 34-year-old special education teacher and father of five from Willowbrook. And so far, through the first quarter of 2015, Najjar has lived up to that billing.

He has shed 18 pounds from his 267-pound frame, but even more importantly he has been a consistent sight at the club, whether working out with a personal trainer or on his own.

One of the most difficult aspects of the program has been “not getting too obsessed with the numbers,” Najjar acknowledged.

“I feel like I’m doing it the right way,” said Najjar. “At first, I think I thought the pounds were supposed to fall off. I was more used to crash dieting before, but I’m feeling better and my body is changing and adapting.”

As Five Seasons Fitness Director Erik Knowles forecast at the outset, Najjar is seeing a more significant change in his “inches”---he has dropped a combined 18 inches from his hip, waist and thighs.

Over time, Najjar is looking to shed the 125 pounds that he had added over the past dozen years to his 5-foot-8 frame. Already, at 249 pounds, he is experiencing the benefit of feeling more energetic, whether playing with his children or otherwise navigating his day-to-day life.

“I feel a huge difference,” he said. “Things don’t hurt as much. It’s really nice.”

Najjar is working out five or six times a week, either before going to work or immediately after working. He knows that if he goes home after work, he won’t get out to the club. Among other things, he is maintaining a written log of all the food and drinks that he consumes.

A few moments stand out as mileposts of progress: the time that Najjar needed to drill a new hole in his belt, and the moment when he retrieved long-unused pants from the back of his closet.

Najjar credited Five Seasons staff, in particular trainer Danny Miller, for their support. He has also enjoyed backing from his entire family, from wife, Sandra, to his children, especially 7-year-old son, Muhammad, who keeps on top of dad’s tracking of food intake: “Did you measure that? Did you do that? How many calories is that?”

The “Be a Loser” program is under way at all six Five Seasons sites in the Midwest. Its mission is to help individuals lose a significant amount of weight through consistent exercise, dietary changes and increased knowledge in the ways of nutrition and fitness.

Those individual winners have also been a source of mutual encouragement via email updates to one another. And on Sunday, April 19th, Najjar will be joined by fellow “Be a Loser” contestant Teresa Marie Kasper, from the Northbrook club, as they participate in The Morton Arboretum’s fifth annual Arbor Day 10K Run in Lisle.

The “Be a Loser” prize, with a total value of $12,000, includes a one-year family membership to the club, two one-hour training sessions per week, an activity tracker, nutrition counseling, Five Seasons fitness gear and a weekly goal-setting workshop.

Five Seasons Burr Ridge is one of six Five Seasons clubs throughout the Midwest—the others are in Northbrook, Ill., Indianapolis, Indiana; Dayton, Ohio; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Crestview Hills, Kentucky.

Five Seasons is at 6901 S. Madison and is online at http://fiveseasonssportsclub.com/burrridge and can be reached at 630-570-5200.

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

Nader Najjar performs a strength-training exercise on Friday, April 3, at Five Seasons Family Sports Club in Burr Ridge. (Photo by Danny Miller)

A close-up of Nader Najjar on Dec. 29, 2014, as he embarked on the “Be a Loser” campaign.