LOVABLE LOSERS

WASILLA — It’s official: The biggest losers in the Mat-Su Valley are from Palmer.

A trio of Palmer residents lost a combined 121.6 pounds to sweep the top three places in the third annual Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman Trim to Win community weight-loss challenge.

Beginning in January, challenge participants spent 12 weeks dieting, exercising and working toward building healthy lifestyles. This year, nobody did that better than Brian Lampton.

The 24-year-old lost 52.8 pounds over the course of the contest, which equated to 19.07 percent of his overall body weight.

“I got involved with (Trim to Win) because my mom came home and said, ‘We’re doing this,’” Lampton said. “I kind of got dragged down there for the weigh in, and did it as a team kind of thing.”

Once motivated, Lampton said he basically turned his eating habits 180 degrees and added regular exercise to lose the weight.

“Oh, I gave up bread, pizza, pasta, beer — everything,” he said. “I woke up in the morning and ran 30 minutes on the treadmill and after work I ran an hour.”

Giving up beer was difficult, he said.

“Yeah, that was pretty hard, because I love sports and my buddies were always drinking and going out,” he said. “I had to cut that stuff down.”

That winning Trim to Win also earned him the top prize of $3,000 was a nice bonus, Lampton said.

“I’ll take it,” he said, adding he hasn’t decided where his winnings will go. “I’m thinking about fixing up a hot tub or saving it up.”

Lampton may be undecided, but Chris Stratton knows where the $2,000 he received for placing second in Trim to Win will go — toward a new deck addition to his house.

Completing the weight-loss challenge was a pleasant coincidence, Stratton said. He had already begun a weight loss program when his girlfriend heard about Trim to Win. He had lost about 10 pounds, then took off another 41.2 pounds (18.75 percent) during the contest.

His secret to shedding pounds is simple.

“I did a nutrition program my mom had lost some weight on, so I did that as far as eating goes,” he said. “Then I did exercise six days a week. Primarily, I’d just go out and take my dog for a brisk walk. That was about it.”

Now fit, Stratton has moved on to conditioning more than dropping weight.

“I’m not really trying to lose weight anymore,” he said. “I’m trying to firm up a little bit more, get a six-pack going.”

For the 2010 third-place winner, a little friendly competition at home sparked her way to $1,000 in prize money. Victoria Loughran lost 27.6 pounds (18.42 percent) and finished barely ahead of her husband, she said.

“I did Trim to Win with my husband, and we’re pretty competitive,” she said. “I think we were less than half a percent (apart).”

Keeping up with three kids is hard enough, she said, adding that doing it with some extra baggage was starting to weigh her down.

“We were both really, really healthy before,” she said. “We were both in the military. Since we got out, though, we fell behind and got out of shape. We also want to teach (their children) some healthy habits.”

While first-place winner Lampton missed chasing his sports with beer, Loughran missed something else during the challenge.

“I missed sleep,” she said. “I had to get up early to get my exercise in, and I enjoy my sleep.”

She also said she was “surprised how may calories are in a can of soda and (the difference) in just cutting back on that.”

Loughran and her husband also identified with Frontiersman Sports Editor Jeremiah Bartz and his wife, Amber.

The couple both did Trim to Win and blogged regularly about their experiences online at frontiersman.com. Loughran said she enjoyed reading the blogs, along with postings and recipes from other Trim to Winners.

“I looked them up all the time,” she said. “When there were no updates I’d get a little freaked out. I was a fiend for it. I wanted to see more. I enjoyed their blogs a lot.”

She’ll also enjoyed the bragging rights she has over her husband. The margin of victory may have been small, “but I did win,” she said, “and I’m never going to let him forget that.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.