Man is proud of being a ‘Loser’

Photo

Aaron Thompkins

By William K. Alcorn

alcorn@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Aaron Thompkins, a Howland native who was a contestant on NBC TV’s 2010 “The Biggest Loser,” is helping himself by helping raise funds for Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley.

Thompkins is the 2011 Pound-for-Pound Challenge Champion for Second Harvest, which is participating in a national initiative encouraging Americans to lose weight and at the same time raise funds for their local food bank.

“I’ve found that weight loss is all about setting goals and then keeping yourself accountable through creating and reaching milestones,” Thompkins said. “I thought, what better way to make a commitment to lose weight than by pledging that weight with the Pound-for-Pound Challenge. People are not only helping themselves with this declaration, they are also helping their community.”

The challenge is sponsored by “The Biggest Loser: Couples,” General Mills, Subway and Feeding America food banks, of which Second Harvest is an affiliate, said Michael Iberis, Second Harvest executive director.

For every pound a Mahoning Valley resident pledges to lose on www.pfpchallenge.com, General Mills and Subway will donate 11 cents to Feeding America, which means a pound of groceries will be donated to Second Harvest, Iberis said.

People who don’t need to lose weight can help by logging on and pledging to maintain their weight, which will trigger an automatic five-pound donation.

Last year, residents in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties pledged to lose more than 14,000 pounds, Iberis said. Second Harvest distributes food to 153 hunger relief organizations in the tri-county area.

Thompkins, a former Howland High School and Edinboro University football player, says he weighed between 320 and 340 pounds when he played at Edinboro. That weight had ballooned to 468 pounds when he was accepted for “The Biggest Loser.”

At the show’s finale, however, he weighed 296 pounds. He admits he has gained 14 pounds since then.

Now, he says he is working to fulfill his “pay-it- forward” promise by taking what he learned on “The Biggest Loser” and sharing it with people and getting more involved in his community.

“I am excited to continue on my journey and honored to serve as the Pound-for-Pound Challenge Champion for the food bank. By simply logging on to www.pfpchallenge.com and pledging to lose pounds, residents can join me to help raise money for Second Harvest Food Bank to feed hungry people right here in our community,” said Thompkins, who now lives in Kent.

Thompkins, 29, the son of Gloria Thompkins of Howland, is a national spokesman for the American Diabetes Association and has created a health and wellness social Internet network known as Better Living 360 (www.BL360.org) geared toward helping men and women stay focused on achieving their fitness goals.

Also, he has started a weight-loss support group that meets from 8 to 9 a.m. Saturdays at Fizek Better Bodies By Design at 5555 Youngstown-Warren Road, Niles.

“If you want change, you have to put yourself around change. If you want greatness, you have to put yourself around greatness like the people at Second Harvest Food Bank,” he said.

He urged area residents to join the Pound-for-Pound Challenge and help themselves while also helping their neighbors.