Final Draft

Thunder Biggest Loser
Paul Baker
Ashtyn Capen
Andrew Hagar
Madison Hatkevich
Anthony Hendrickson
May 1, 2015

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Executive Summary
One of the major health and wellness issues on Trine’s campus and other college
campuses is weight gain. Weight gain can cause serious health problems like diabetes, eating
disorders, and depression. We are proposing the program Thunder Biggest Loser, which is a
competition to help students lose weight and increase their overall health by being a part of a
team that should meet at least once a week with their trainer. Along with working on losing
weight and meeting with the trainer, there will also be informational sessions offered to talk
about healthy eating and counting calories. Students can also receive EMP points by going to
these informational sessions. There are prizes for the three teams with the largest percentage of
weight loss after the first semester, and a raffle at the informational sessions to give away a prize.
We will have Bon Appetite display the calories of each of their food choices to help students
count calories and be aware of what the healthier options are. The budget for this program is
$20,921.71. To evaluate our program we will give the participants satisfaction surveys to see
how well liked it was and where it could be improved.

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Table of Contents
Team Qualifications.............................................................................................................1
Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
Rationale ............................................................................................................................10
Proposed Tasks ..................................................................................................................18
Timeline .............................................................................................................................23
Evaluation ..........................................................................................................................24
Budget ................................................................................................................................26
Notes ..................................................................................................................................27
References..........................................................................................................................31
Appendices.........................................................................................................................34
Appendix A: Data from Surveys............................................................................34
Appendix B: Data from Surveys Continued ..........................................................35
Appendix C: First Survey ......................................................................................36
Appendix D: Second Survey..................................................................................37
Appendix E: Rules of Thunder Biggest Loser.......................................................38
Appendix G: Satisfaction Survey...........................................................................39
Appendix G: Knowledge of Preventing Weight Gain ...........................................40
Appendix H: Other Colleges with Similar Programs ............................................41
Appendix I: Electronic Signup Sheet.....................................................................42
Appendix J: Advertisement Sample.......................................................................43
Appendix K: Caloric Content Survey ...................................................................44

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Table of Figures
Figure 1: Percentage of Non-Athletes Versus Athletes Weight Gain....................................5
Figure 2: Percentage of Non-Athletes Total Weight Gained in a Semester ........................6
Figure 3: Students that would like to be Informed of Calories in Their Meals .................16
Figure 4: Percentage of Students Interested in Thunder Biggest Loser.............................17
Figure 5: Year One of Thunder Biggest Loser ..................................................................23
Figure 6: Year Two of Thunder Biggest Loser..................................................................23

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Team Qualifications and Experience
Catherine Swick has a B.S., M.Ed., and Ph.D. in sports management and exercise sciences. She
is also a professor in the Trine School of Health Sciences. She has been recognized as one of
“BG’s Best” for outstanding contributions in the field of education and has been the recipient of
numerous grants to promote physical activity and wellness. She has also been the supervisor of
multiple service learning projects, internships, and honors research projects in health and
physical education.1
The members of our group are qualified to run our program by:
Paul Baker
 Freshman Chemical Engineering major
 Two-year track team captain
 National Society of Leadership and Success
 Coach outlet team member
Ashtyn Capen
 Freshman Chemical Engineering major
 National Honor Society
 Executive Vice President of Student Council
Andrew Hagar
 Freshman Mechanical Engineering major
 Vice President of 4H club
 Track team captain
Madison Hatkevich
 Freshman Biomedical Engineering major
 National Honor Society
 Tennis and Volleyball captain
Anthony Hendrickson
 Freshman Design Engineering Technology major
 Wrestling and Football team captain
 Subway night shift manager

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Introduction
Unintentional weight gain is a problem on college campuses nationwide. Unintentional
weight gain is the process of increasing body mass when people have lack of control of what
happens in their environment, or lack the knowledge of managing calorie input and output. The
lack of control in an environment can consist of the unsuitable conditions like unlimited food
options or lack of access to exercise equipment. An increase in BMI (the measurement of body
fat by calculating height and weight together)2 can lead to a person who was previously in the
“normal” category to move into the “overweight” or “obese” categories.
Unintentional weight gain is a major problem plaguing college campuses across the
country. A study on unintentional weight gain was done on 904 students attending a large
university in Indiana which was unnamed.3 Seventy-seven percent of students in this study had
increased in weight over the course of their freshman year.4 In this study, the average weight gain
for both males and females was 3.5kg or about 7.7 pounds.5 The students in this study were
tested again at the end of their sophomore year.6 The test proved these students had increased in
weight by 4.2kg or 9.3 pounds for males and 4.3kg or 9.5 pounds for females.7 Obesity rates
increased from 21 percent to 36 percent from the baseline test by the end of freshman year.8
In 2009, the students that took part in the “Freshmen 15” study, a study done by the
National Institute of Health, gained about 7.7 pounds in their freshman year of college.9 “It’s
hard to be healthy in College,” says Layney Walker, a Texas State University Student, “You eat
the food in the cafeterias and it’s not healthy and then once you move off campus you don’t have
the money or the time. All the healthy food is way too expensive, so it’s easier, faster and
cheaper to go to a fast food drive-through — and there are so many around college.”10 Michelle
Reeves, the assistant director of Fitness and Recreation at Texas Women’s University, says, “A

3
lot of students walk in the door who are not fit, they may look weight-appropriate on the outside,
but it’s not uncommon to see twenty year olds with Type II diabetes.”11
At Auburn University, a study was done to track the amount of weight a student gains in
four years at their institution. Out of the 131 students surveyed, they found that the average male
gained 15 pounds and the average female gained 9.3 pounds.12 Also, Auburn University found
that most of the weight gained was body fat and the body fat went mostly to the participants’
waists.13 Sareen Gropper, a professor in the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Hospitality
Management at Auburn University, said, “Increases in waist circumference have been associated
with heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, among other heath conditions. Moreover, excess body
fat, even in those who are normal weight, can put them at increased risk for some diseases.”14
Students are in real trouble when their waistline increases. Staying lean and fit can prevent
detrimental diseases.
Even the slightest weight gain can still alter somebody’s weight category. According to
the study done by Auburn University, the percentage of their participants that were considered
overweight or obese increased from 18 percent at the beginning of their survey to 31 percent at
the end of their survey in just four years.15 People who are obese are at a higher risk to develop a
numerous number of diseases. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention,
people who are overweight or obese have an increased risk of developing coronary heart disease,
hypertension, osteoarthritis, and numerous diseases, cancers, and problems.16 However, if people
learn how to maintain their weight and manage their calorie input and output, it can help him or
her live a healthier lifestyle for the rest of his or her life. According to The University of Chicago
Medicine, maintaining one’s weight can promote health benefits such as lower cholesterol, lower

4
blood sugar levels, lower blood pressure, less stress on bones and joints, and less work for the
heart.17
A big factor for unintentional weight gain is not knowing how to eat healthy. Not
knowing how to manage calorie input versus calorie output can cause unintentional weight gain.
Many of college students do not know how many calories they should be consuming in a day, or
how many calories they are actually consuming. Debra Reed, a Nutritional Sciences Professor at
Texas Tech University, did a study to show that students don’t know how many calories they
should be eating in a day. Reed went around the campus asking students “How many calories
should the average person get in a day?” and she got responses that ranged from 200 to 10,000
calories in a day.18 According to Reed, “That so many students had no idea how many calories
they were getting, much less how many they needed, is a serious roadblock to healthy eating.”19
Also according to Reed, students are eating too many calorie-dense, nutrient-light foods.20 This
shows that college students don’t know the number of calories they are consuming and this could
be a major factor for unintentional weight gain.
Here at Trine University, we surveyed 185 undergraduate students, 117 males and 68
females, and 81 percent of the students said they have gained unintentional weight, see
Appendices A and B to see all of the raw data collected. According to the data from our survey,
we found that non-athletes and women are the most affected by unintentional weight gain on
Trine’s campus. This is illustrated in Figure 1, which shows the comparison of the percentage of
non-athletes who have gained weight to the percentage of athletes who have gained weight.

5
Figure 1: Percentage of Non-Athletes Versus Athletes that Gained Unintentional Weight
We hypothesize that non-athletes gained more weight because they do not get as much
physical activity in a week as athletes. Also, females also tend to gain more weight than any
other demographic. Compared to males, females have a higher fat storage. According to M.A.
Michelle Hagar at Goshen IU Health, more women gain weight than men because of their need
to be heavy. Women in college begin to gain weight for births later in life.21We believe that this
is the main cause for more women to gain weight than their gender counterpart. According to
Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard School
of Public Health, an average inactive adult gains about one pound per year.22 According to our
first survey, see Appendix C: First Survey, more than 60 percent of the non-athletes said that
they are inactive, less than three days of physical activity. Most of the non-athletes who said they
were inactive had either gained 5 to 10 pounds, 10 to 15 pounds, or the more than 15 pounds as
shown in Figure 2: Percentage of Non-Athlete’s Total Weight Gained in a Semester. Based on
86%
77%
72%
74%
76%
78%
80%
82%
84%
86%
88%
Percentage of Non Athletes that Gained Unintentional
Weight
Percentage of Athletes that Gained Unintentional
Weight
Percentageof Non-Athletes Versus Athletes thatGained
Unintentional Weight

6
our data, students at Trine University are gaining more weight than the average weight gain for
inactive adults in a year. As stated earlier, this amount of unintentional weight gain increases the
students’ risks of many diseases, cancers, and problems.
Figure 2: Percentage of Non-Athlete's Total Weight Gained in a Semester
Along with long term physical consequences, like increased BMI, students can also
develop psychological issues. These psychological issues include depression, anxiety, and eating
disorders. According to the researchers at the University of California Santa Cruz, anxiety can
cause poor concentration, distractibility, and poor sleep.23 All three of these symptoms can cause
students not to do well in school. Also, students who feel depressed have been known to be less
productive with school work. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, depression
can interfere with a person’s ability to work, sleep, study, and eat.24 In comparison, a person who
feels depressed because of their body can lead to eating disorders. According to a study done at
The George Washington University, eating disorders can weaken the immune system, cause
0
5
10
15
20
25
Didn’t gain 1 to 5 5 to 10 10 to 15 15+
Percentageof Non-Athletes Total Weight Gained in a
Semester
Non-Athletes

7
students to be less active, and cause students to perform tasks at a poor level.25 Not only do these
psychological issues cause poor academic performance, but they also can cause more
unintentional weight gain and a higher probability of more serious diseases. These problems are
present at Trine University. Based on our survey, 10 percent of the students, six males and 13
females, said they feel depressed because of their body, eight percent of the students, five males
and nine females, said they have experienced an eating disorder since they have been at Trine,
and nine percent of the students, six males and 10 females, said they have developed anxiety
because of their body image. All of the students who have experienced eating disorders, feeling
depressed, and having anxiety were students that said they have gained unintentional weight.
One important factor in staying fit is knowing the amount of calories one eats. Bon
Appetit is a great place and they are not at fault for this problem. However, they could make it
easier on students by displaying the amount of calories for each meal. Calories are a big factor
for unintentional weight gain along with lack of exercise. When students are eating too many
calories and they aren’t getting enough exercise, they are at a higher risk for unintentional weight
gain. According to Danielle Beer, Bon Appetit’s Catering Manager, “Many of students do not
know how many calories they are eating at Bon Appetit. I always see students get in line to get
hamburgers and fries and then go over to get pizza and pasta. They don’t understand the right
portion sizes or the number of calories they should be eating.”26 Based on a survey conducted on
Trine’s student body, 92 percent of the students said they do not know how many calories they
eat at Bon Appetit. This is a major roadblock for stopping unintentional weight.
Even though students experience unintentional weight gain, there is a program at Trine,
EMP, which gets students active and raises awareness about many health related topics. The

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EMP program is a “wellness initiative designed for all Trine Students who would like to learn to
live healthy lifestyles.”27 The program is focused on helping students make good decisions in
emotional, mental, and physical wellness.28 For a student to receive the EMP certification, they
must earn at least 100 points in two years by attending a wide variety of sessions and activities
held by student services.29 The sessions and activities range from Get Moving Mondays, which is
Zumba, Pilates, and Yoga, to a variety of health related topics. Although this certification is
available to all students, not many students take advantage of this great opportunity. According
to Megan Cook, Director of Trine’s EMP program, on average there are around 15 students that
attend any of the EMP events.30 We believe that the participation is low because students do not
have any immediate incentives to go to the EMP sessions.
Also, unintentional weight gain is a relevant and important topic because it can affect
student’s health and cause them to be less successful in the future. This problem would affect
them in the long run when trying to get a job after graduation. Alumni are an important aspect as
to why unintentional weight gain is important, and needs to be addressed because alumni help
Trine grow as a campus by donating money to help Trine renovate and make changes to improve
the school. If students are depressed due to their body image and unintentional weight gain, it
would cause them to have a more negative college experience so they would be less likely to
give back to Trine as alumni. According to Madell, “A study done by NYU sociologist Dalton
Conley and NYU graduate student Rebecca Glauber, it was found that weight gain in women
usually leads to having a lower income level and a decrease in job prestige.”31 The results from
this study show how a woman who weighs more is more likely to get paid less than a woman
who weighs less for doing the same job. Even though a person’s physical appearance shouldn’t
affect getting a job, it does happen so anything that could be done to help students stay healthy

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should be done, to give students the best chance to be successful after college. Trine University
is known to have very high job placement rates. Knowing that studies have been done to prove
that weight gain can affect a person’s career, it is important to help students stay or become more
healthy and fit while in college. Focusing on unintentional weight gain and trying to solve the
problem would keep Trine’s job placement rates higher than other colleges.
To solve this problem we would like to introduce a program to Trine. This program will
be like the television show, The Biggest Loser. Students will get into teams of four and they will
work together to lose the highest percentage of weight. The teams will go to a weigh-in every
other week, the weigh-ins are completely confidential. During the competition, each team will be
assigned a “trainer”, which will be a student worker that is in the Exercise Science program. The
trainer will help the team create a personalized workout schedule and answer any questions the
team might have about working out correctly or eating healthy. Also, once a month there will be
an informational meeting. These meetings will help raise the awareness of maintaining your
weight and how to eat healthy. There will be incentives for the wining team, the top male and
female, attending the informational meetings, and losing a percentage of body weight every other
week.

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Rationale
Our program is going to be called, “Thunder Biggest Loser”. This name was chosen
because the show, The Biggest Loser, is a well-known show so the students will know what our
program is about. This program will promote eating healthy, exercising, and living a healthier
lifestyle to help eliminate unintentional weight gain among the program’s participants. This
program will also help students understand why they gain weight and how to help prevent
gaining unintentional weight. For the initial four semester run, we are limiting the number of
participants each semester to 100 students. If the program is a success, we will see if it is
possible to raise the number of students for the following competitions. The Thunder Biggest
Loser has three parts to the program; the competition, the informational meetings, and the
posting of caloric content in Bon Appetite.
Part I: Team Competition
This section will explain both the logistics of and the rationale for the team competition section
of our program.
Logistics:
This program will be a semester long team competition. The goal for the teams is to lose
the highest percentage of weight during the competition, not necessarily the most weight since
every student will have a different body type entering the competition. The teams will consist of
four members, at least one of the members must be a non-athlete, and each team will be assigned
a team trainer, which will be one of the Exercise Science majors. Each team must meet with their
trainer at least once a week to do the work out that the trainer made to fit the team’s fitness
ability. Each participant must also get weighed in every other Friday, so an email can be sent out

11
to each of the participants to inform the participants of team standings. The weights of the
participants will be kept confidential unless if the participant gives the program special
permission to highlight their success.
During every weigh-in, if a student loses any kind of body weight percentage from the
previous weigh-in, even if it is .001 percent, they will get a raffle ticket to be put into a drawing
to win a 25 dollar Visa Card. By doing this, students will work harder while working out with
their trainer or on their own so they can have a chance to win a 25 dollar Visa card. Cathy Swick
will draw the winning raffle ticket the Monday following the weigh-ins, and she will put the
raffle ticket number into the email that she will send out after every weigh-in that informs the
participants of the team standings. Also at the end of the competition, the top three teams with
the most weight loss percentage will be rewarded with prizes. Each member of the winning team
will receive a Fitbit Flex, each member of the second place team will receive a 50 dollar Visa
card, and each member of the third place team will receive a 25 dollar Visa card. Along with
that, the male and female with the highest weight loss percentage will receive a 150 dollar Visa
card.
Rationale:
Other colleges have done a program similar to our Thunder Biggest Loser program. One
college that is in their fifth Biggest Loser challenge is Bard College, which is located in New
York. Their last challenge had seven teams of five participants.32 The challenge is open to
students and faculty. The students and faculty members have to pay an entrance fee to be a part
of their program but their incentive for the winning team is most of the money from the entrance
fees.33 By the end of the competition, 27 out of the 35 participants lost at least five percent of
their body weight and lost ten pounds34. One of the participants said, “The awareness of mutual

12
sacrifice and determination, coupled with the accountability of sharing the experience with
others pushed me to get up and move each day.”35 Another participant said, “Before I started the
Biggest Loser Challenge eight weeks ago I was a very sad, lost woman…. By the end of this
challenge I am down 30+ pounds and extremely proud of my success. I feel like a new woman, I
feel like I have my life back, I feel like I can walk with my head held high.”36 This program was
a success because almost everyone had lost weight and learned how to live a healthier lifestyle.
The participants were also really happy with how the program was ran.
Another college that does something similar to our program is Saint Xavier University,
which is located in Chicago, Illinois. They do an eight week Biggest Loser but once again it cost
money for students to participate in the program. The incentives for the program is there will be
cash prizes for the top three placers and a prize package for all the participants that lose five
percent or more of their starting body weight.37 Each participant is also assigned a coach, which
will set up nutritional and exercise goals for the participants each week.38 The participants only
have to weigh-in at the school twice, once at the beginning and once at the end to get the
participants total weight loss percentage, but each week they must weigh themselves at home and
submit their weight online.39 The participants were asked to take before and after pictures so they
could physically see their success.40 At the conclusion of the competition, the top three weight
lost percentages were 24.11 percent, 13.24 percent, and 10.24 percent.41 Also to see a list of 42
other colleges that do a program similar to this, see Appendix H: Some Other Colleges that do
Programs Similar to Thunder Biggest Loser. Based on these colleges’ success, the Thunder
Biggest Loser will be a success.

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Part II: Informational Sessions
This section will explain both the logistics of and the rationale for the informational session’s
section of our program.
Logistics:
The second part of our program consists of monthly informational meetings for the
participants. Once a month there will be an hour long informational meeting that will be led by
Allison Everetts, a Senior Exercise Science Pre Physical Therapy major and a Personal Trainer
and Group Fitness Instructor at the Steuben County YMCA. Allison will be paid 100 dollars for
each of the monthly sessions. The literature of the informational meetings will consist of
informing students on healthy eating habits and exercise habits. This will include but not limited
to healthy portion sizes, managing calorie input and calorie output, healthy food substitutes, and
different types of exercises for different results.
Along with the monthly informational meetings, there will be two mandatory meetings
for the participants to go to, once at the beginning of the competition and once at the end of the
competition. In the first mandatory meeting, the participants will learn how the program will
work, they will meet their team trainer, and they will also do their initial weigh-in. If a student is
unable to attend this meeting, they will need to talk with Cathy Swick as soon as they can so
Cathy can briefly talk to them about the information that was covered in this meeting. In the last
mandatory meeting, the participants will find out who the team and individual winners are, and
the prizes will be passed out. If a student who is an individual winner is unable to attend this
meeting or they do not show up, they will not be eligible for the prize and the prize will then be
awarded to the next participant with the highest weight loss percentage. If a student is part of one

14
of the top three teams and they are unable to attend this meeting, they must contact Cathy Swick
to set up a time to receive their prize.
In order to motivate the participants to go to the Thunder Biggest Loser informational
meetings, there are a few incentives to get the students to attend. When a participant comes to the
meeting each month, they will be given a raffle ticket. At the end of the meeting, a student
worker will draw one of the tickets out of a “hat” and that student would receive a 10 dollar Visa
card. Along with that, students will also earn points to go towards the EMP certification that
Trine offers. By integrating our program with Trine’s preexisting program, students already in
the EMP program may become involved with our program too. Also, students may be more
motivated to go to other EMP programs since they will already be earning some points when
they attend our informational meeting. Not only will the students gain awareness about a healthy
lifestyle, they will gain more awareness about other health related topics.
Rationale:
There was a study done by four doctors that addressed weight-gain prevention on 232
adults that aged from 18 to 35.42 In this study, each participant was signed up for either an eight
week program or a 16 week program that the participants were not required to go to.43 These
programs both taught the participants simple steps to help prevent weight gain. During the study,
the participants in the eight week program were rewarded for going to the informational meeting
by receiving 10 dollars for each meeting they went to, and the participants in the 16 week
program were rewarded for going to the informational meetings by receiving 20 dollars for each
meeting they went to.44 At the conclusion of this study, participants attended 84 percent of the
meetings.45 Also, the participants reported high levels of satisfaction and confidence in the
effectiveness of the meetings.46 By the end of the study, the participants lost anywhere from

15
0.68kg to 3.5 kg (1.5 pounds to 7.7 pounds) by just attending the meetings and using the
information taught to the participants.47
Part III: Caloric Content
This section will explain both the logistics of and the rationale for the posting of caloric content
section of our program.
Logistics:
The final part of the Thunder Biggest Loser is posting the caloric content of the foods
offered at Bon Appetite. The calories will be posted on the menus above each of the food
choices. Danielle Beer said, “I think this is a great idea to post calories. It would make students
more conscious of what they are eating.”48 Along with that, she also mentioned how easy it
would be to get the calories posted. She said that the hardest part would be putting the number of
calories to the right food in their recipe catalog on a computer because of the wide variety of
food Bon Appetit offers.49 After the calories are put into the catalog, she said from there it would
be easy because then they can just print off food templates and replace the old ones already in
Bon Appetit with the new ones.50 Based on our survey, there is a high percentage of students that
would like Bon Appetit to post the calories on all of their food choices as shown in Figure 3:
Students that would like to be Informed of Calories in Their Meals.

16
Figure 3: Students that would like to be Informed of How Many Calories are in their Meals
Rationale:
There was a study done by the Stanford Graduate School of Business on a chain
restaurant in New York City that posted calories. From their study, Stanford found that when the
restaurant posted the calories next to their food items, there was an average of a six percent
decrease in the number of calories per transaction and the restaurant’s revenue stayed the same.51
This study shows when calories are posted where the customers can see the number of calories
they would be consuming, they choose to buy fewer food items and they switch to lower calorie
food items. As an example, a student at Trine who usually consumes around 2000 calories a day
would start consuming around 1900 calories a day if there was a six percent decrease in the
number of calories. The posting of the number of calories will help the students in the Thunder
Biggest Loser make healthier food choices so they can stay make sure that they are doing the
right thing to get their team on top. Not only will this benefit the participants of the Thunder
Biggest Loser, but this will also benefit every student on Trine’s campus.
71%
29%
Students that would like to be Informed of How Many
Calories arein Their Meals
Yes No

17
Based on an interest survey of 100 Trine students, see Appendix D: Second Survey, there
was a high demand of students that said they would want to participate in a “program that was
like the Biggest Loser and you would get prizes for losing body weight percentages every other
week and also the top three teams with the highest percentage of body weight lost would get
prizes” as shown in Figure 4: Percentage of Students Interested in the Thunder Biggest Loser.
Also, a majority of the students that want to participate in the health club were non-athletes and
females.
Figure 4: Percentage of Students Interested in the Thunder Biggest Loser
82%
18%
Percentageof Students Interested in the Thunder Biggest
Loser
Interested in Program Not Interested in Program

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Proposed Tasks
1. Obtain Approval for the Thunder Biggest Loser: We will present our idea to Trine’s
Student Services. If the Thunder Biggest Loser gets approved, we will continue with the
following tasks.
2. Select a Faculty Sponsor: For the first semester of the Thunder Biggest Loser, Cathy
Swick will be the sponsored faculty member. After the initial run, Cathy will be asked to
continue being the faculty member for the next semester. If Cathy is unable to be the
faculty sponsor, the team will then ask another faculty member to be the sponsor of the
following Thunder Biggest Loser.
3. Create Literature for the Informational Meetings for the Participants: We will create all of
the PowerPoints that will be needed for all of the monthly informational meetings that
will be held for the participants and then we will send the PowerPoints to Allison
Everetts so she can make changes if she feels any are needed. These PowerPoints will
each have a specific topic related to healthy eating habits or exercising habits. This will
include, healthy portion sizes, managing calorie input and calorie output, healthy food
substitutes, different types of exercises for different results, and free apps to help track
calories.
4. Talk to Bon Appetite about Caloric Content: We will talk to Bon Appetite about posting
the number of calories in each of their food choices. The calories will be posted next to
each food choice on the menu outside of Bon Appetite and the menus above the foods.
We will explain our program to Bon Appetite and ask them to post the calories. We will
explain to them that posting the caloric information for their food choices will not only
help the Thunder Biggest Loser participants do better in the program, but posting the
calories will also help the student body to make better food choices.
5. Hire Student Workers: Students in the Exercise Science program will be the student
workers and student trainers for the teams. We will hire 25 student workers and they will
be paid the minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, and we estimate one hour a week per week
that the program will run each semester. The student workers must be a current junior or
higher to be eligible for the job. Students interested in the job must send their resume to
Cathy Swick at least a month before the hiring date. Information about the job posting
will be told to the Exercise Science professors and they will be asked to inform the
students about this opportunity. There will also be a flyer outside the classrooms used for
the exercise science classes. Cathy Swick will be in charge of hiring the student workers
in the form of a phone interview or a person to person interview. The student workers
will be in charge of the weigh-ins, managing the tables for visit days and S.O.A.R,
putting all of the data together for the emails that will be sent out after the weigh-ins, and
they will also be assigned a team to be the team’s trainer throughout the semester.

19
6. Determine EMP Point Values for the Informational Meetings: The faculty sponsor will
either email, or have a meeting with Megan Cook to determine the point values for each
informational meeting.
7. Reserve Times for Weigh-ins in one of the Lecture Halls in Best Hall: We will reserve
two times for every other Friday to weigh the students. The times will be from 6:30am to
8:00 am and from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. Student workers will be at these weigh-ins to
collect all of the data.
8. Reserve Fabiani Theater for Informational Meetings and Mandatory Meetings: We will
reserve Fabiani Theater once a month to hold the Thunder Biggest Loser informational
meetings. Also once a semester, we will reserve Fabiani Theater for the initial mandatory
meeting for the teams and the initial mandatory meeting for the faculty sponsor and the
student workers.
9. Reserve Tables for Recruitment Days: We will reserve tables in the University Center for
V.I.P Visit Days and S.O.A.R. The table will be accompanied by Cathy Swick, if she is
available, and a student worker. If Cathy Swick is unable to attend the visit day, two
student workers will be at the table to talk to possible participants.
10. Purchase Equipment and Incentives: Cathy Swick will order all of the equipment needed
for the program to work; poster boards, rolls of raffle tickets, and a scale. She will also
buy all of the incentives needed for the program; Visa Cards and the Fitbit Flexes. All of
the equipment will be stored in her office.
11. Start Advertising to Recruit Participants: To recruit students to participate, we will rely
on advertising, see Appendix J: Advertisement Sample, for a template for all of the
advertisements. We will advertise by a couple mass emails to the student body, a
PowerPoint that loops in the University Center and the cafeteria, Facebook and Twitter,
and a table set up in the University Center during S.O.A.R, Trine’s health week, and
V.I.P visit days. Once these advertisements have been displayed, we will rely on the word
of mouth to get more students to join because students that are interested in joining the
Thunder Biggest Loser will try to recruit other students to join their team. On the
advertisements, having at least one non-athlete will be clearly specified so when the
students are making their teams, they will not run into the problem of not having at least
one non-athlete.
12. Students Fill Out Sign-up Sheet: Students can pick their own teams and they must fill out
an electronic form, see Appendix I: Electronic Signup Sheet, and have it sent to Cathy
Swick at most two weeks before the competition starts to give Cathy enough time to get
the teams created, and send out an email stating that the club is full. The students can also
fill out a form for themselves if they are unable to create a team of four, or if they do not
know any one, incoming freshmen, and then they will be put into a “raffle” and will be
randomly assigned a team.

20
13. Create Teams: Once all of the students send Cathy Swick their teams or if they wish to be
assigned a team, she will then send it off to the student workers to assign each student,
who wishes to be randomly assigned a team, to a team. If the number of students who
signed up does not equal teams of four, the “extra” students will be assigned to a team
unless if there is a total of three extra participants and then they will be a team of three.
The student workers will also assign each team their own team color. Once everything is
finalized, the student workers will send Cathy the teams and the color that each team will
be. She will then draft up an email and send it to everyone in the Thunder Biggest Loser
to tell them their teams and inform them of the first mandatory meeting time.
14. Purchase Team Shirts: Based off of the students’ shirt sizes from the sign-up sheet and
what team color they have been assigned, Cathy Swick will order all of the specific shirts
for each team for the final meeting.
15. Assign Teams a Team Trainer: Once all of the teams have been created, each team will
be assigned a student worker to be the team’s trainer. The trainer will create a
personalized workout schedule that will fit the team’s fitness ability once they have met
their team during the first mandatory meeting. Whether that is just walking for a while
and then doing some light cardio or doing more vigorous activities for the more fit
students in the program. The trainers are also there to answer any of the team’s questions
about how to work out, eating healthily, or how to promote a healthy lifestyle. The trainer
will also meet with the team at least once a week to work out, but meeting with the
trainer more than once a week is encouraged if the team and the trainer are able to do so.
16. Hold Informational Meeting for Student Workers and Faculty Sponsor: An informational
meeting will be held in Fabiani Theater for all of the student workers and Cathy Swick.
At the beginning of the meeting, Cathy Swick will tell each student worker what team
they have been assigned to and she will also give each student worker a roster of their
team members. Also, in this meeting each student worker will be informed of how the
program will work, important dates, informational meeting sign-ups, and they will be
given the rules for the program, see Appendix E: Rules of Thunder Biggest Loser.52 If a
student worker is unable to attend this meeting, they will need to contact Cathy Swick to
set up a meeting with her so she can give the student worker all of the information
covered.
17. Have Student Workers Sign-up for Working the Informational Sessions: After the
informational meeting for the student workers, they will be asked to sign-up to run the
informational meetings for the participants. The student workers will talk to Cathy Swick
about open dates to check participants in for the informational meetings that might fit the
student worker’s schedules. There will be one, one hour informational meeting each
month and only one student worker will be at each informational session. The sign-ups
will be first come, first serve basis so the student workers are encouraged to talk to Cathy
Swick as soon as possible.

21
18. Hold Mandatory Meeting for the Teams: Each member of each team must attend this
initial meeting in Fabiani Theater. In this meeting, each participant will receive a
complete set of rules for the competition, meet their team trainer, and have their initial
weigh-in. The teams will talk with their trainer to find out when would be the best time to
do their weekly workouts. If a team finds out that their schedule and the trainers schedule
will not work out, they can go talk to Cathy about possible solutions, switching trainers
with another group. An email about the meeting will be sent two weeks before to inform
the students of the day and time of the meeting, and to advise the students to wear light
clothing for the weigh-in. After the weigh-in, the competition has officially started.
19. Have Teams Sign-up for Weigh-in Times: After the mandatory meeting, the following
day there will be a sign-up sheet outside of Cathy Swick’s office for each participant to
sign-up for a time to get weighed. Once the students sign-up for a time, they will be
expected to be at the weigh-in at the time they signed up for. There will be two time
spans where each participant can sign-up, once in the morning and once in the evening, to
give students the flexibility of making sure they can make it to the weigh-ins. If for some
reason a student is unable to make it to the weigh-ins, they will receive a weight loss
percentage of zero that week. If a student has a special reason why he or she will not be
able to make it to the weigh-in, the student will need to send an email to Cathy to
schedule a time to come and get their weight recorded.
20. Have Monthly Informational Meetings: The informational meetings will be held once a
month at 7:00pm in Fabiani Theater. This is based off of an informal survey of 100 Trine
students where 74 percent of the students said they would like the time of the
informational sessions to be held after 5:00pm. By doing this, most participants who are
in sports will be able to attend these meetings along with the non-athletes. As stated
before, the informational meetings will be about healthy eating habits and exercising
habits. Allison Everetts will present the literature for the informational meeting. The
student worker who is running the informational meetings will arrive 30 minutes early to
set up. The student worker will sit outside of Fabiani Theater to record the participants as
they walk up so they can receive EMP points for attending the meeting and to give the
participants a raffle ticket to be put in for a 25 dollar Visa Card drawing at the end of the
meeting. Once it is 7:00pm, the student worker will go into Fabiani Theater and give
Allison the Visa card and the raffle tickets so she can draw a winner at the end of the
session. The student worker will then send Megan Cook an email of who all attended the
informational meeting so she can give them their EMP points.
21. Have Biweekly Weigh-ins: Every other Friday there will be weigh-ins. Each member of
each team is encouraged to wear shorts and a T-shirt for weigh-ins. Participants do not
have to wear shorts and a T-shirt to walk to the weigh-in, they can wear whatever
weather appropriate clothes is needed to walk to Best Hall and they can change in the
bathroom outside of the lecture hall. The weigh-ins will be worked by two student
workers at each weigh-in time. One of the student workers who is in charge of the
morning weigh-in session will obtain the scale from Cathy Swick the Thursday night
before the weigh-in and after the weigh-in the student worker will give the scale back to
Cathy Swick. For the second weigh-in time, one of the student workers will obtain the

22
scale from Cathy Swick any time after 7:30am and after the weigh-in the student worker
will hold on to the scale until Monday and then they will give the scale back to Cathy
Swick. The weigh-ins will go as followed; as a student shows up, he or she will walk up
to the first student worker who will ask the participants name. Once the worker finds the
participant in the Excel spreadsheet, the worker will then prompt the participant to walk
up to the scale where another student worker will be standing. The participant will be
asked to take their shoes off and then they will weigh themselves. The worker will walk
up to the other student worker and tell him or her the participant’s weight. The student
worker will then put the new weight into the Excel spreadsheet and calculate the weight
loss percentage. If the participant lost any weight, a student worker will then give the
participant a raffle ticket so they can be put in to a drawing for a Visa Card. The
participant is then free to leave. If there is more than one participant in the room at any
given time, the student worker who weighed the participant will type in the student’s
weight manually to insure the participant’s weight and weight loss percentage is kept
confidential. All the weights and weight loss percentages will be kept confidential unless
a participant gives special permission to the program to highlight their success. After
every student has been weighed and their weight loss percentages has been calculated, the
student workers will send Cathy Swick an email with each team’s current weight loss
percentage and any student that gave them permission to highlight their weight loss
percentage.
22. Send Emails to Participants After Weigh-ins: The Monday after the weigh-ins, Cathy
Swick will send an email to all of the participants to inform the teams of their place. By
doing this, when the teams see the standings, they will be more motivated to work harder
at eating healthy and working out so they can do better in the team standings. Also in the
email, Cathy will announce the winning raffle ticket for the student who had a weight
loss percentage. The student will then set up a time with Cathy Swick to receive their
Visa Card.
23. Have Final Weigh-ins: The week before the last week of the program, there will be a
final weigh-in for each participant. The members must attend this weigh in. If a
participant does not attend this weigh-in they must send an email to Cathy Swick to set
up a time to get weighed. If a participant does not set up a time to meet with Cathy
Swick, they will receive a total weight loss percentage of zero. At the conclusion of the
final weigh-in, the student workers working at this time will tally up the final team
weight loss percentage and they will send it to Cathy Swick.
24. Host the Mandatory Final Meeting: The last mandatory meeting will be held the week
before finals. In this meeting, Cathy Swick will announce the team standings. The top
three teams and the top male and female will each receive their prize. Each participant
must be present in order to receive their prize. If a student who is an individual winner is
unable to attend this meeting or they do not show up, they will not be eligible for the
prize and the prize will then be awarded to the next participant with the highest weight
loss percentage. If a student is part of one of the top three teams and they are unable to
attend this meeting, they must contact Cathy Swick to set up a time to receive their prize.

23
Timeline
Figure 5: Year 1 of Thunder Biggest Loser
Figure 6: Year 2 of Thunder Biggest Loser

24
Evaluation
1. Competition Part of the Thunder Biggest Loser: To evaluate the competitive portion of
our program, we will look at all of the participant’s percentage of weight loss. If at least
80 percent of the participants lost some percentage of their weight and less than five
participants drop out, we will consider this portion of the Thunder Biggest Loser a
success.
2. Informational Meetings Part of the Thunder Biggest Loser: We will conduct a “test” at
the first mandatory meeting and at the final mandatory meeting, see Appendix G:
Knowledge of Preventing Weight Gain, to evaluate the informational meetings. This test
will see if the participants learned the information about how to not gain unintentional
weight. The questions for the test will be from the information in the informational
meetings they attended. Each student will be given the same test to insure good results. If
at least 80 percent more of the students pass the final test compared to the initial test, we
will consider this portion of our program a success since the program raised awareness
about preventing unintentional weight gain. Also to evaluate the informational meetings,
if at least 20 students from the Thunder Biggest Loser program receive their EMP
certification in two years then we will consider this portion a success. This will show that
students participating in our program are interested in learning about different health
aspects after attending the informational meetings put on by the Thunder Biggest Loser.
3. Caloric Content Part of the Thunder Biggest Loser: To evaluate the caloric content
portion of the Thunder Biggest loser, we will issue another survey, see Appendix K:

25
Caloric Content Survey. If at least 80 percent of the students said they felt like the caloric
content was helpful, and if at least 80 percent of the students said they felt like they made
healthier food choices because they could see how many calories were in their meals, we
will consider the caloric content portion a success.
4. Evaluation of the Whole Program: To evaluate our program, we will have a survey for
the participants to take after one semester of the Thunder Biggest Loser. This survey, See
Appendix F: Evaluation Survey, will collect data on how satisfied they were with the
program. The survey will also ask the students if they have any more suggestions to make
the program better. If at least 80 percent of the students say that they were satisfied, then
we will consider the Thunder Biggest Loser a success.

26
Budget
Starting Budget ........................................................................................................$40,000.00
 Equipment and Incentives
o 18 - $10.00 Visa Cards ........................................................................$180.00
o 44 - $25.00 Visa Cards .....................................................................$1,100.00
o 16 - $50.00 Visa Cards ........................................................................$800.00
o 8 - $150.00 Visa Cards .....................................................................$1,200.00
o 16 - Fitbit Flexes ($99.95 each)53 .....................................................$1,599.20
o 1 - Poster Board Pack54 ..........................................................................$11.82
o 250 - Custom Shirts ($7.57 each for 2 years)55 ................................$1,892.50
o 1 – Scale56 ..............................................................................................$62.27
o 2 - Roll of Raffle Tickets ($7.46)57 .......................................................$14.92
 Student Workers and Faculty Sponsor
o Student Workers ($7.25 per hour X one hour a week X 60 weeks). $10,875.00
o Informational ($7.25 per hour X 30 min. a week X 16 sessions)...........$58.00
o Weigh-ins ($7.25 per hour X 2 hours X 2 workers X 32 weigh-ins) ..$928.00
o Allison Evertts ($100 per informational session X 16 sessions) ......$1,600.00
o Faculty Sponsor ($300.00 a year) ........................................................$600.00
Money Spent ............................................................................................................$20,921.71
Money Left Over ......................................................................................................$19,078.29

27
Notes
1. "Meet Cathy Swick." Trine University Meet the Faculty. Accessed April 9, 2015.
http://www.trine.edu/meet-faculty/health-sciences/swick-cathy.aspx.
2. Dictionary.com. Accessed March 27, 2015. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/body
mass index.
3. Lloyd-Richardson, Elizabeth E, Steffani Bailey, Joeseph L Fava, and Rena Wing. 2009. A
Prospective Study of Weight Gain During the College Freshman and Sophomore Years.
March. Accessed March 29, 2015.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2696183/.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Lamphere, Tracey, and Michael Castellon. 2013. Eliminating the "Freshman 15" on
Campus. May 1. Accessed March 29, 2015.
http://www.window.state.tx.us/comptrol/fnotes/fn13Q2/freshman15.php.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Eagle, Wire. 2012. Auburn University study on weight gain among college students
published in Canadian journal. September 20. Accessed March 21, 2015.
http://wireeagle.auburn.edu/news/4599.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1998. The Health Effects of Overweight and
Obesity. September. Accessed March 21, 2015.

28
17. The University of Chicago Medicine. n.d. Maintaining Weight Loss. Accessed March 21,
2015. http://www.uchospitals.edu/online-library/content=P07872.
18. Toth, Heidi. 2015. Nutritionist Talks Daily Calorie Counts, Food Insecurity. March 9.
Accessed March 31, 2015. http://today.ttu.edu/posts/2015/03/nutritionist-talks-daily-calorie-
counts-food-insecurity.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.
21. Michelle Hagar, interview by author, April 30, 2015.
22. Harvard School of Public Health. 2011. Changes in specific dietary factors may have big
impact on long-term weight gain. June 2011. Accessed March 21, 2015.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/diet-lifestyle-weight-gain/.
23. University of California Santa Cruz. n.d. Anxiety Disorders. Accessed March 2015, 2015.
http://caps.ucsc.edu/resources/anxiety-disorders.html.
24. National Institute of Mental Health. 2013. Depression. Accessed March 21, 2015.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression-easy-to-read/index.shtml.
25. George Washington University. n.d. Impact of Eating Disorders on Cognitive Abiltiy and
Functioning in School. Accessed March 21, 2015.
https://counselingcenter.gwu.edu/sites/counselingcenter.gwu.edu/files/downloads/ED_Cogn
itive%20Ability%20.pdf.
26. Danielle Beer, interview by author, March 24, 2015.
27. Trine University. 2014 EMP Program. July 2014. Accessed March 25, 2015.
http://www.trine.edu/campus-life/health-and-wellness/emp-program.aspx.
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid.
30. Megan Cook, email from author, March 27, 2015.
31. Madell, Robin. "Your Looks And Your Job: Does Appearance Affect Advancement? -
Career Intelligence." Career Intelligence. July 6, 2014. Accessed March 22, 2015.
http://career-intelligence.com/appearance-affect-advancement/.
32. Bard College at Simon's Rock. 2014. 2014 Biggest Loser Competition. Accessed April 7,
2015. http://simons-rock.edu/kac/feature-stories/biggest-loser.

29
33. Ibid.
34. Ibid.
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid.
37. Saint Xavier University. 2014. The Biggest Loser 8 Week Fitness Challenge. Accessed April
16, 2015. https://www.sxu.edu/student-life/shannon/docs/BiggestLoser/Rules.pdf.
38. Ibid.
39. Ibid.
40. Ibid.
41. Saint Xavier University. 2014. Biggest Loser Fitness Challenge. Accessed April 16, 2015.
https://www.sxu.edu/student-life/shannon/biggest-loser/2013-results.asp.
42. LaRose, Jessica, Deborah Tate, Amy Gorin, and Rena Wing. 2010. Preventing Weight Gain
in Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study. May 26. Accessed April 16, 2015.
43. Ibid.
44. Ibid.
45. Ibid.
46. Ibid.
47. Ibid.
48. Beer, March 24, 2015.
49. Ibid.
50. Ibid.
51. Stanford GSB Staff. 2011. Researchers: How Does Posting Calories Affect Behavior?
February 1. Accessed March 25, 2015. http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/researchers-
how-does-posting-calories-affect-behavior.

30
52. Hanover College. n.d. Wellness Program. Accessed April 9, 2015.
http://sites.hanover.edu/wellness/BiggestLoserCompetition.php.
53. Fitbit. 2015. Flex. Accessed April 8, 2015.
http://www.fitbit.com/flex?gclid=CjwKEAjwo5OpBRDU64qO07OXq00SJADn5hYnVVK
vKpBi4ZffikEltptAefy4Cw4nxhfi5zqO3he82RoCA6Pw_wcB#i.1nzs85c7dwekp1.
54. Walmart. 2015. Pacon Six-Ply Poster Board. Accessed April 8, 2015.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pacon-Corporation-Railroad-Poster-Board-6-Ply-25-Sheets-CT-
White/19668402.
55. CustomInk. 2015. CustomInk. Accessed April 8, 2015. http://www.customink.com/lab#loc-
groups.
56. Walmart. 2015. Health-O-Meter Lose It! Bluetooth Body Fat Scale. Accessed April 16,
2015. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Health-O-Meter-Lose-It-Bluetooth-Body-Fat-
Scale/33379098.
57. Walmart. 2015. Double Ticket Rolls. Accessed April 8, 2015.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Double-Ticket-Rolls-2000-Tickets-Per-Roll-Assorted-
Colors/11061621.

31
Bibliography
"Meet Cathy Swick." Trine University Meet the Faculty. Accessed April 9, 2015.
http://www.trine.edu/meet-faculty/health-sciences/swick-cathy.aspx.
Bard College at Simon's Rock. 2014. 2014 Biggest Loser Competition. Accessed April 7, 2015.
http://simons-rock.edu/kac/feature-stories/biggest-loser.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1998. The Health Effects of Overweight and
Obesity. September. Accessed March 21, 2015.
CustomInk. 2015. CustomInk. Accessed April 8, 2015. http://www.customink.com/lab#loc-
groups.
Danielle Beer, interview by author, March 24, 2015.
Dictionary.com. Accessed March 27, 2015. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/body mass
index.
Eagle, Wire. 2012. Auburn University study on weight gain among college students published in
Canadian journal. September 20. Accessed March 21, 2015.
http://wireeagle.auburn.edu/news/4599.
Fitbit. 2015. Flex. Accessed April 8, 2015.
http://www.fitbit.com/flex?gclid=CjwKEAjwo5OpBRDU64qO07OXq00SJADn5hYnV
VKvKpBi4ZffikEltptAefy4Cw4nxhfi5zqO3he82RoCA6Pw_wcB#i.1nzs85c7dwekp1.
George Washington University. n.d. Impact of Eating Disorders on Cognitive Abiltiy and
Functioning in School. Accessed March 21, 2015.
https://counselingcenter.gwu.edu/sites/counselingcenter.gwu.edu/files/downloads/ED_Co
gnitive%20Ability%20.pdf.
Hanover College. n.d. Wellness Program. Accessed April 9, 2015.
http://sites.hanover.edu/wellness/BiggestLoserCompetition.php.
Harvard School of Public Health. 2011. Changes in specific dietary factors may have big impact
on long-term weight gain. June 2011. Accessed March 21, 2015.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/diet-lifestyle-weight-gain/.

32
Lamphere, Tracey, and Michael Castellon. 2013. Eliminating the "Freshman 15" on Campus.
May 1. Accessed March 29, 2015.
http://www.window.state.tx.us/comptrol/fnotes/fn13Q2/freshman15.php.
LaRose, Jessica, Deborah Tate, Amy Gorin, and Rena Wing. 2010. Preventing Weight Gain in
Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study. May 26. Accessed April 16, 2015.
Lloyd-Richardson, Elizabeth E, Steffani Bailey, Joeseph L Fava, and Rena Wing. 2009. A
Prospective Study of Weight Gain During the College Freshman and Sophomore Years.
March. Accessed March 29, 2015.
Madell, Robin. "Your Looks And Your Job: Does Appearance Affect Advancement? - Career
Intelligence." Career Intelligence. July 6, 2014. Accessed March 22, 2015. http://career-
intelligence.com/appearance-affect-advancement/.
Megan Cook, email from author, March 27, 2015.
Michelle Hagar, interview by author, April 30, 2015.
National Institute of Mental Health. 2013. Depression. Accessed March 21, 2015.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression-easy-to-read/index.shtml.
Saint Xavier University. 2014. Biggest Loser Fitness Challenge. Accessed April 16, 2015.
https://www.sxu.edu/student-life/shannon/biggest-loser/2013-results.asp.
Saint Xavier University. 2014. The Biggest Loser 8 Week Fitness Challenge. Accessed April 16,
2015. https://www.sxu.edu/student-life/shannon/docs/BiggestLoser/Rules.pdf.
Stanford GSB Staff. 2011. Researchers: How Does Posting Calories Affect Behavior? February
1. Accessed March 25, 2015. http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/researchers-how-
does-posting-calories-affect-behavior.
The University of Chicago Medicine. n.d. Maintaining Weight Loss. Accessed March 21, 2015.
http://www.uchospitals.edu/online-library/content=P07872.
Toth, Heidi. 2015. Nutritionist Talks Daily Calorie Counts, Food Insecurity. March 9. Accessed
March 31, 2015. http://today.ttu.edu/posts/2015/03/nutritionist-talks-daily-calorie-counts-
food-insecurity.
Trine University. 2014 EMP Program. July 2014. Accessed March 25, 2015.
http://www.trine.edu/campus-life/health-and-wellness/emp-program.aspx.
University of California Santa Cruz. n.d. Anxiety Disorders. Accessed March 2015, 2015.
http://caps.ucsc.edu/resources/anxiety-disorders.html.

33
Walmart. 2015. Double Ticket Rolls. Accessed April 8, 2015.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Double-Ticket-Rolls-2000-Tickets-Per-Roll-Assorted-
Colors/11061621.
Walmart. 2015. Health-O-Meter Lose It! Bluetooth Body Fat Scale. Accessed April 16, 2015.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Health-O-Meter-Lose-It-Bluetooth-Body-Fat-
Scale/33379098.
Walmart. 2015. Pacon Six-Ply Poster Board. Accessed April 8, 2015.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pacon-Corporation-Railroad-Poster-Board-6-Ply-25-Sheets-
CT-White/19668402.

34
Appendix A: Data from Surveys

35
Appendix B: Data from Surveys Continued

36
Appendix C: First Survey
This survey is to see if weight gain is an issue on Trine’s campus. This is an anonymous survey.
Thank you!
1. Are you a: Male Female
2. Did you play any sports in high school: Yes No
3. Do you play any sports at Trine, if so please specify below:
Sport:_______________________
4. Do you consume alcohol: Yes No
5. Do you exercise regularly (3 to 4 times a week): Yes No
6. Are you happy with your body: Yes No
7. Since attending Trine have you gain any unintentional weight, if so answer A,B,C, or D :
A. 1-5 lbs
B. 5-10 lbs
C. 10-15 lbs
D. 15-more lbs
8. Are you depressed as a result of your weight gain: Yes No
9. Have you experienced an eating disorder since you have been at Trine? Yes No
10. Have you developed any anxiety as a result of your weight gain: Yes No
11. Do you eat healthy: Yes No
12. Did you know Trine has a program on how you can control your weight: Yes No
13. Do you know how many calories you eat at each meal at Bon Appetite: Yes No
14. Would you like to be informed of how many calories are in your meals: Yes No

37
Appendix D: Second Survey
This is an anonymous survey. All answers are for data purposes only.
1. Are you a college athlete? Yes or No
2. Do you exercise regularly (3 to 4 days a week) Yes or No
3. If you do not exercise regularly, is it because:
a. No desire
b. No time
c. Other:____________________________________________
4. What day of the week would you most likely be free? Circle one:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
5. What time of the day would you most likely be able to attend Thunder Biggest Loser
sessions? Circle one:
a. 7-9 a.m
b. 1-3 p.m
c. 3-5 p.m
d. 5-7 p.m
e. 7-9 p.m
6. How many days a week would you want to participate in this health club for one hour
sessions?
a. Once a week
b. Twice a week
c. Every other week
7. Would you like to participate in a program that was like the Biggest Loser and you would
get prizes for losing body weight percentages every other week and also the top three
teams with the highest percentage of body weight lost would get prizes?
Yes No
8. What kind of physical activities would you participate in? Circle as many as you want.
a. Dodgeball
b. Zorb Ball soccer (soccer with an inflatable ball around you)
c. Arrow tag
d. Campus wide capture the flag
e. Other, please specify:_____________________________________________

38
Appendix E: Rules of Thunder Biggest Loser
1. ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL BEFOREMAKING
ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO YOUR DIETARY HABITS OR YOUR
PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES ROUTINES.
2. Weigh-ins will be completely confidential. Your percentage of weight lost will only be
published if you give us permission to highlight your success. If at any time you feel like
your weight lost percentage is not being kept confidential, set up a meeting will Cathy
Swick.
3. Participants will weigh in every other week starting on the initial mandatory meeting
date. There will be a sign up sheet outside of Cathy Swicks office so you can sign up for
one of the two times on Friday to weigh-in. If you cannot make a weigh in, contact Cathy
Swick as soon as possible to make arrangements for you to come in and get your weight
loss percentage calculated. Students must weigh-in to be eligible for the biweekly
drawings.
4. No disrobing or loading up is allowed during weigh-ins.
5. T-shirts and shorts or light pants are recommended for weigh-ins. You must take off your
shoes before you weigh-in.
6. Drastic weight loss (more than 5 Ibs./ week) is discouraged. If your team trainer feels like
you are losing weight too quickly, you will be asked to have a meeting with your trainer
and Cathy Swick. If you are suspected of losing weight in a non-healthy way, you will be
kicked out of the program.
7. Weekly emails will be sent to inform you of the weekly team standings. This email will
also announce that week’s winner of the 25 dollar Visa card.

39
Appendix F: Satisfaction Survey
1. Were you satisfied with the Thunder Biggest Loser? Yes or No
If you were not satisfied with the Thunder Biggest Loser, why?
2. Where you satisfied with the prizes that the Thunder Biggest Loser awarded throughout
the program? Yes or No
If you were not satisfied with the prizes the Thunder Biggest Loser prizes awarded
throughout the program, why?
3. Did you feel like the information in the informational meetings was helpful?
Yes or No
If you do not feel like the information in the informational meetings was helpful, why?
4. What are some suggestions that you have to help the Thunder Biggest Loser program be
better for the next Thunder Biggest Loser?

40
Appendix G: Knowledge of Preventing Weight Gain
1. How many onces of water should you drink in a day?
a. 10
b. 100
c. 200
d. Half your body weight in ounces
2. If you want don’t want to gain weight what should you do?
a. Eat more calories than the calories you burn off
b. Eat the same amount of calories you burn off
c. Burn more calories off than the calories you eat
d. Both b and c
3. How much physical activiy should you get per week?
a. 4.5 hours
b. 1 hour
c. 2.5 hours
d. 30 minutes
4. Half your plate at meals should be covered in?
a. Protein
b. Fruits and vegetables
c. Fats and sugars
d. Whole grains
5. When you want to satisfy your sweet tooth, you should eat?
a. Candy
b. Fruit
c. Cookies
d. Ice Cream
6. You should avoid adding this on top of your meal.
a. Gravy and cheese
b. More grains
c. Ketchup
d. Salt and pepper
7. When you get hungry but it is not close to meal time you should?
a. Snakc
b. Go eat at a resaurant
c. Chew gum
d. Drink water
8. The number one key action to healy eating is?
a. Avoid oversized portions
b. Switch to low fat foods
c. Knowing your calorie intake
d. Drink more water
D,D,C,B,B,A,D,C

41
Appendix H: Some Other Colleges that do Programs Similar to Thunder
Biggest Loser
1. Bard College
2. Hanover College
3. Clark College
4. Goshen College
5. Clackamas Community College
6. Washington & Jefferson College
7. Columbia College
8. Western New England University
9. Boston University
10. Oakland University
11. Sherman College
12. University of Florida College of Dentistry
13. Palomar College
14. The University of Hawai’i
15. Saint Mary’s College
16. Beloit College
17. American Samoa Community College
18. University of Arkansas at Little Rock
19. Doane College
20. Boston College
21. Mesalands Community College
22. Northwest Mississippi Community College
23. Michigan State University
24. University of Texas Arlington
25. Texas Southern University
26. East Mississippi Community College
27. North Idaho College
28. College of the Sequoias
29. Texas State Technical College
30. Morehouse College
31. Globe University
32. Texas A&M University
33. University of Houston Downtown
34. Central Washington University
35. Montgomery College
36. Rend Lake College
37. University of West Georgia
38. Transylvania University
39. Nova Southeastern University
40. University of Georgia
41. Frostburg State University
42. Texas College

42
Appendix I: Electontic Signup Sheet
Name (First and Last):________________________________________________________
Trine Email: ________________________________________________________________
Phone number (just in case there are any questions): (____)_______-_______
Open days and time to workout:
___________________________________________________________________________
Shirt size: _____________
Check one:
I want to create my own team. Please provide the names the other 3 members in your
group, remember one member must be a non-athlete.
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
Please assign me to a team. You will be randomly assigned to a team. Please answer the
question below if you are wanting to be assigned to a team.
Are you/will you be an athlete at the start of this program? Yes or No

43
Appendix J: Advertisement Sample
Trine’s Biggest
Loser
Lose Weight * Get Fit * Have FunFall
Semester
2015
For More Information Contact:
Cathy Swick
swickc@trine.edu
For Sign-Up Information ask:
Cathy Swick
swickc@trine.edu
TimetobringtheTHUNDER!
Are you looking for a fun and rewarding way to get fit, lose weight, or to just
stay in shape? Then Trine’s Biggest Loser is for you! Join by yourself or with
your friends and get ready to have an exciting semester packed with activities
and exercise. You, along with your team and trainer, will battle with the other
teams to ultimately become Trine’s Biggest Loser!
 Teams of Four
o Sign up individually or as a team
o Individuals will be assigned a team
o Teams must include at least one non- athlete
 Prizes for the Most Weight Loss percentage,
attending meetings, and losing weight weekly (Visa
cards to FitBit Flexes)
o Individual
o Groups
 Personalized Workout Plans
 Must have signup sheet sent to Cathy Swick before
(Place date here)

44
Appendix K: Caloric Content Survey
1. Do you feel like the posting of the caloric content in Bon Appetit was helpful?
Yes or No
2. Do you feel like you made healthier food choices because you could see how many
calories were in your meals?
Yes or No

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