Mid-Year Milestone: Five Seasons Burr Ridge's "Be a Loser" Winner Keeps Making Strides

Last year, Nader Najjar would serve as the time-keeper as his children raced each other through an obstacle course at the park.

Tracking the time was more his speed: over a dozen years, going from an active, single fresh out of college to a married 34-year-old father of five children, he had packed 120 pounds onto his 5-foot-8 frame. His weight ballooned to nearly 270 pounds.

Then, last December, the Willowbrook man was selected by Five Seasons Family Sports Club in Burr Ridge as its “Be a Loser” winner.

Among other perks, Nader received 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.

A little more than halfway through the yearlong program, Nader has lost 40 pounds. As of July 27th, he was down to 227 pounds. Along the way, he has plenty of gains to report: greater self-control and wisdom with regard to his diet, heightened energy throughout his days, and an all-around improved feeling of wellness.

To that list, add this: Nader is now winning those timed obstacle-course adventures.

“The kids notice it and are really happy about it,” he says.

So is his wife, Sandra, who has been supportive in keeping junk foods out of the home and encouraging Nader time to work out, even when she is tempted to ask him to watch the children or do something else.

She sometimes takes her children to Five Seasons to swim in the club’s indoor or outdoor pools. In addition, she has enjoyed precious free time for herself on those occasions when Nader brings the children to the club’s childcare center while he works out.

Nader’s heightened fitness and nutrition habits have rubbed off on the children, who are now much more “aware of unhealthy foods and things with empty calories,” Sandra says. “They want to be healthier.”

“This has been such an amazing opportunity to help us all lead a healthier life—not only Nader, but everyone in our family,” Sandra adds. “We are so thankful.”

A school teacher, Nader is now biking the six miles to summer school session that he his teaching. And the three-mile rides from his home to Five Seasons at the southeast corner of Madison Street and Plainfield Road? A piece of cake, compared with earlier in the year.

Recently, Nader faced a test of sorts during the month of Ramadan, one of the main pillars of the Islamic faith that he practices. During this mid-June to mid-July period, he did not eat from sun-up to sun-down, or nearly three-quarters of the day.

Although that may seem to be an ideal scenario for losing weight, in the past he would often gain weight because his metabolism would slow as he fasted and he’d pack on too many calories during the brief, permitted time of day for eating.

This year, however, he continued losing weight—and mustered much more energy than in past Ramadan cycles.

“By putting in the work beforehand, my body was ready,” he says. “My workouts were lighter than they had been in the days leading up to Ramadan, but they were a lot more active than I thought they would be. It wasn’t too much of a shock to my system.”

Looking toward the final five months of the year, Nader’s goal is to drop to 180 pounds and to go from his current 44 ½-inch waist (down from 51 ½ inches) to 36 inches.

To do so, he knows that he needs to resist the temptation to be comfortable with “plateauing” in his health and fitness journey. Instead, he is committed to continue pushing himself—with help especially from Five Seasons personal trainer Danny Miller.

“I need to revisit my nutrition and I need to revisit my workout intensities,” he says. “The stuff that worked in January (to lose weight) didn’t work in March and the stuff that worked in March didn’t work in May. It’s a constant evolution.”

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.

In addition to Five Seasons Burr Ridge, the other clubs 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.