New exercise fanatics get buff, free stuff

In honor of Fitness Awareness Month, AC Fitness in Carrboro held a ceremony Tuesday night honoring the three finalists and announcing the 2004 winner of its Platinum Fitness Challenge.

The center named husband and wife Brandon and Alison Perkins co-winners of the competition and awarded them a free one-year membership with four extra visits per month. They also both received a new pair of Brooks running shoes and a $10 gift certificate to Carolina Coffee Shop.

But the two said winning the competition pales in comparison to the new, healthier lifestyle they now lead.

"How I feel and the amount of money I'll save on health care are much more beneficial to me than being named the winner of the competition," Brandon Perkins said. "I can take the lessons I've learned from here and apply them everyday to not return to a less-than-desirable body."

The challenge is held yearly at three gyms in North Carolina and is modeled after standards set by Platinum Fitness & Health, a personal training group based in Washington, D.C. This year, 13 contestants entered at the Carrboro AC Fitness location.

Steve Donai, general manager of the center, said the challenge promotes healthy eating and regular workout sessions with a trainer. He said the winner is the person who shows the most overall improvement in fitness.

"It's not necessarily who looks the best in a bathing suit," Donai said. "It's who improves the most."

Alison Perkins lost almost 30 pounds and decreased her body fat by almost 20 percent in the course of a year. Brandon Perkins lost almost 40 pounds and 3 percent body fat in the same time.

Runner-up Mandy Price, a journalism major at UNC, lost 18 pounds and roughly 13 percent body fat while participating in the challenge.

"Before I was introduced to Platinum Fitness, I didn't work out at all," she said. "Now a passion for working out has been instilled in me, and I'll never be the same again."

The center gave Price a free year's membership with two extra visits per month and a $10 gift certificate to Carolina Coffee Shop.

While on the program, the three finalists met with their trainers at least once a week and worked out at the center three or four more times on their own. Trainers stressed cardiovascular workouts and diets that consisted of six small meals a day.

Donai said it only made sense to name October as Fitness Awareness Month at the center because the winner of the challenge is announced in October as well.

He made it a point to say that the gym does not advocate fad diets, specifically the Atkins diet. He said it instead promotes diets with more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, as well as a regular workout routine.

"A lot of people are scared of gyms," he said. "But it's just regular people getting healthy."

Alison Perkins said she is enthused about the progress she's made with the gym.

"I feel like a completely different person now," she said. "I was always shy, but now I have a lot more self-confidence. The experience has opened a lot of doors for me."

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.