Five Seasons Burr Ridge Picks Willowbrook Man as Winner of 'Be a Loser' Contest

Of all the gifts that Bob Diamond received on Christmas, the one that overshadows all the others was a phone call that he had the pleasure of making to Nader Najjar.

Diamond, the chief club officer at Five Seasons Family Sports Club in Burr Ridge, told Najjar that he is the club’s 2015 “Be a Loser” selection.

Najjar, quite aptly, sees the selection as a gift—after all, it includes a yearlong family membership to the club and other benefits with a total value of $12,000. But as Diamond relates the experience, it was a thrill for him to be able to be the bearer of news that sets Najjar on a life-transforming path.

“I think I was even more excited than Nader, and he was really grateful, thankful and excited,” Diamond recalled. “We had so many worthy contestants but it was clear to us that Nader was the ideal ambassador for the Be a Loser program.”

The “loser” term refers not to Najjar’s character or position in life, but to a key element of the program’s mission: to help someone lose a significant amount of weight through consistent exercise, dietary changes and increased knowledge in the ways of nutrition and fitness.

A 34-year-old father of five and special-education teacher, Najjar was simply looking for a one-day pass to the club in early November when he was surfing the Internet at his Willowbrook home and came upon the “Be a Loser” entry form on the Five Seasons website.

Having added more than 120 pounds to his 5-foot-8 frame over the past dozen years, Najjar had no doubt that he could benefit from the program. As he read the program overview, Najjar considered the commitment—of time, of energy and in changing his daily habits—that would be part of the package.

“It was the middle of the night and my entire family was asleep and there I am, assessing myself as a father and as a husband,” he recounted. “I was thinking about how can I be the best father and husband that I can be in the kind of shape I’m in?”

“I decided to go for it,” Najjar added. “I figured, ‘What do I have to lose?’”

As a DePaul University student, he rode his bicycle all over Chicago and was otherwise an active young man. He took a job as a teacher at a private school in Villa Park and after getting married, became a father in 2004.

In those new roles, his exercise level plunged while his eating increased. It was a subtle thing, month to month, but over time it started to mount.

“I found I kept putting on weight and it kept going up and up and up,” says Najjar. “Once I got over 200 pounds, I started feeling lethargic. After a while, I stopped weighing myself.”

Along the way, he and his wife, Sandra, continued growing their family, which now totals three daughters—10, 8 and 4 years old—and two sons, 6 years old and 8 months. They have represented five great excuses for Najjar not to work out regularly: “My home is so busy,” he says. “To take an hour to work out makes me feel guilty and selfish, to pull myself away from my kids.”

But those excuses are now five of the strongest reasons why he looks forward to transforming his fitness level—and changing his life—this coming year.

Over the past few months, he has sensed a decline in his energy when playing with his children. In addition, his wife expressed concern—for the first time ever—about the health effects stemming from his weight.

On Dec. 29th, Five Seasons Fitness Director Erik Knowles led Najjar through an orientation that included an explanation of the fitness-training plan, measurements of different parts of his body and stepping on a scale to determine his weight at the start of his journey: 267 pounds.

Najjar’s goal is to get back to 140 pounds, but losing weight is just one of many indicators of his progress over time. One of the first orders of business has been Najjar’s maintaining a written log of all the food and drinks that he consumes.

“He knows that it’s not going to happen overnight, and it’s going to be a process, and we want to set clear expectations of what it will take for him to lose the kind of weight he’s looking to drop,” Knowles said.

Najjar was chosen from among eight applicants, including two other men and five women. Four, including Najjar, were finalists who were interviewed by Diamond and Knowles.

The “Be a Loser” prize 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. All six clubs are engaging in the ‘Be a Loser’ Contest, having selected individuals who have committed to participating in a year-long health, wellness and fitness program.

Last year, Mark Wright, a 27-year-old member of the Five Seasons Family Sports Club in Cincinnati, lost 190 pounds after embarking on the program at 467 pounds. Along the way, he has accomplished physical feats that he never imagined possible, including his recent completion of the Cincinnati Half Marathon.

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 was selected from among eight applicants vying in Five Seasons Burr Ridge’s “Be a Loser” contest.

A special-education teacher, Nader Najjar has a variety of motivations to lose weight, including his desire to maintain his stamina in playing with his five children, the oldest of whom is 10 years old.

Five Seasons Family Sports Club Fitness Director Erik Knowles leads Nader Najjar through his orientation at the club on Dec. 29, 2014.

Five Seasons Family Sports Club Fitness Director Erik Knowles takes a measurement of Nader Najjar during his orientation on Dec. 29, 2014. At first, Najjar will be more likely to see a more dramatic reduction in inches than in pounds, Knowles says.