The Eclectic Interweb

Last night was the finale of the Hills Biggest Loser Competition organised by the gym I’m a member of. I’ve written a little about this in the other blog but this is an extended edition so to speak.

For those who’ve not kept up, the competition started 13 weeks ago and ended on Saturday… however attendance at the dinner was mandatory for those who might have won a prize, so along I went along to the Trevi Lakeside Restaurant in Baulkham Hills, accompanied as usual by my lovely wife.

We sat quietly for a few seconds and then Sally (my Personal Trainer) leapt on me… ignoring my bad back… demanding to know if we’d won. Like I knew!!

Actually I might have had an inkling since the two of us at the top of the chart chat quite often and I knew that her maximum weight loss was 21% of her original body weight where mine was 24.4%… but I wasn’t telling Sally! 🙂

First came a short speech from one of the managers… followed by a short speech from one of the sponsors… then the food!

The wife had a slight hiccough when they served calamari with salad and a very nice Thai dressing with coriander, but they soon changed it once they were made aware she was allergic to seafood. The main course was either chicken stuffed with roasted capsicum on a bed of creamed potato with asparagus and snow-peas… or steak with saute potatoes and the asparagus and snow peas. Since they served alternate meals to alternate people the wife had the chicken whilst I had the steak.

The chicken was reportedly ok… but my steak was, let’s say… a little labour intensive. Still it was enjoyable. Of course I had to leave the saute potatoes which was quite sad, but I’ll get over it.

What was harder to resist was the chocolate fountain with the supply of strawberries and marshmallows for dipping!!! But I swallowed manfully and walked past. 🙂

Oh yes… I won.

Prizes? I’ve been asked before but could never remember, well now I have them in front of me so there are no more excuses so let’s see;

Well I have a voucher for 15% off the total bill of my next visit to Trevi…which might be handy since there will be 10 of us here for a few weeks!! I also have a voucher for the airfare for two to fly anywhere on the ‘Eastern Seaboard of Australia’… so maybe the wife and I can take a weekend in Cairns or somewhere (if we can find overnight babysitters :)). We also have a voucher for “1 Diva Half Dozen” from Dinner Divas about which I currently know nothing but *will* find out very soon!! 🙂

Those who read the previous post where I was slagging off the Crowne Plaza hotel will be pleased to learn another prize was “overnight weekend accommodation, with buffet breakfast, for two” in a Crowne Plaza ‘Spa Suite’! I hope their restaurant chef is better than their function catering. I also hope none of their staff read this!!

We also received vouchers for two to take a Jet Boat ride around Sydney Harbour. I’ve seen these before but at $80 per adult have managed to resist the temptation. Now I can indulge without guilt 🙂

There is a 12 months subscription to a “Men’s Health” magazine… I’ve always been a bit suspicious of those but since it’s free… what the hell. I may as well read it for a year – take the issues into the gym… or something.

Also included were two vouchers for ‘The Edge’ which is an indoor rock climbing centre. Both kids *lurve* going there so I think they’ll have the voucher off me quick smart!! 🙂

I also received a voucher for a ‘hot stone therapy massage’… which I’ll probably pass on. I’ve never been much of a one for massages… but I’m sure there are people here who’d be more than happy to accept it.

Strangely, I was also presented with an 800 gram tub of ‘Ripped Factors which seems to be some sort of protein drink. It tells me it’s ‘ultra low carb’ and provides ‘total nutritional support for getting cut. I have *no* idea what that means so I may pass on that too!!

Last but certainly not least… I was given a voucher for a 6 month Focus Program or a Boot Camp Registration. I’ve seen the Boot Camp so no thanks… I’ll go for the 6 months gym subs thanks. 🙂

So… no million dollar cheque, no mansion in the country… no name up in lights and 15 minutes of fame. Just me and my little envelopes. Still I’m quite happy. Losing the weight was the major win after all and as long as I keep the weight off I’ll keep on winning. Can’t be bad.

Oh yes… just one more thing. You know my ‘outings’ are never quiet, simple and uneventful affairs? Well this one was no exception.

As the prize giving got under way… a fire alarm went off somewhere nearby. It turned out to be somewhere in the block containing the restaurant and, in fine form, the firemen arrived post haste… just in case there *was* a fire to be dealt with. Nice one guys!!

Naturally standard procedure is to evacuate an area to keep the public safe so the Fire Chief started to insist we all left. The owner and the manager of the gym were arguing that it had nothing to do with that building… so we should be left alone to continue giving out prizes.

Well they *did* continue, but by the time they got as far as me (i.e. ‘Grand Prize’ winner) the Fire Chief was inside the restaurant loudly insisting it had to be cleared *immediately*… and the owner and gym manager were arguing just as loudly that they were refusing to close it down.

The Fire Chief’s temper wasn’t improved when some of the women decided he must be “the night’s entertainment” and started chanting ‘strip, strip, strip’. I wonder if he gets that a lot?? 😀

As you’ll imagine this made my ‘thank you’ speech a little less coherent than it might have been and I have no recollection of what it was I actually said. The wife recorded it I think so maybe I’ll watch it one day and become excruciatingly embarrassed. Ah well – was a good night all in all and maintained the ongoing chaos of our life too… what else can one ask for from a night out?? 😀