Bobbie Buehrle of Warren, a member of the Because We Can team in the 2018 Fitness Challenge, works out on the leg press at St. Joe's at the Mall. The deadline to sign up for the 2019 Fitness Challenge is Friday. (Photo by R. Michael Semple)

You can’t stop time from ticking ahead. But you can halt the bathroom scales from keeping pace with the hall clock.

The deadline to sign up for the 2019 Tribune Chronicle Fitness Challenge is Friday. Gather your hefty five-member team and join the community weight loss challenge that benefits local service organizations.

We’re looking for a new champion — two champions, in fact (more on that in a moment) — because last year’s big winners are just too skinny.

“I am 99.9 percent sure we will not be in it this year,” Stephanie Iacozili, captain of the 2018 victors Just Weight, said.

The quintet shed 16.9 percent of their starting weight — a full 4 percent better than second-place team Do It Again at 12.9 percent — to collect a $1,165 bounty for its nonprofit, the spinning program at Trumbull Family Fitness in Warren.

Iacozili said then that they wouldn’t be back: “We’re going to try to maintain (our low weight). We’re going to do it.”

And that leaves the field wide open — especially since the challenge will crown two champions this year. The 2019 Challenge features two divisions, the Dynamos and the Go-Getters.

If three or more members of your five-person team were on a Top 5 team in any of the last five years, your team will play in the Dynamo division. Everyone else can opt into the less intense Go-Getters division.

“Some teams were getting discouraged and felt like they couldn’t compete against the top teams,” Sue Shafer, Tribune Chronicle community events coordinator, said. Now they can.

ADVICE FROM LOSERS

For eight weeks, players will eat right and exercise in the light-hearted competition that offers heavy health benefits. The teams that lose the greatest percentages of their starting weights earn the largest chunks of the prize money to donate to the local nonprofit service organizations of their choice.

A Dynamo team that does plan on returning is Believers Disappearing Act, which earned $585 for the building improvement fund at Believers Church in Warren with its third-place finish of 12.2 percent of starting weight lost.

“I vowed not to return, but I’m back to try to get down to close to my high school weight,” team captain Rudy Pekarovic said.

“We have two new members on this year’s team,” he said. “Three of us that are returning have done fairly well keeping it off.”

He not only welcomes contestants — it adds motivation to the Fitness Challenge — Pekarovic wants to encourage newbies to jump in.

“For any new members joining the competition, I suggest you cut out MSG and fructose,” he said. “Increase your vegetable and fruit intake.

“Don’t go hungry. Eggs in the mornings are a good way to start the day. Protein is key. Carbohydrates need limits. Water is vital.

“Finally, if it comes off of a plant, it’s good. If it comes out of a food processing plant, read the label. It might not be that good for you,” Pekarovic said.

Oh, there’s one more key ingredient: “Work as a team. Everyone works better with encouragement.”

THE MENU

The entry fee is $250 a team, and all teams are guaranteed to send at least $225 of that money to their chosen service organization. The top five teams in each division will send more. How much more will depend on sponsors who wish to throw more seasoning into the pot.

Plus, the teams with the top single-week performance earn $10 bonuses each week to add to the total they will donate to their designated recipients.

The initial weigh-in is Jan. 17, and continues weekly through March 14. Both the initial and final weigh-ins must be done at St. Joe’s at the Mall under the careful policing of manager Shirley Lisk. This change was instituted last year in response to allegations that some players were loading their pockets to inflate their starting weights.

Especially for the initial weigh-in, participants must remove shoes and coats, and empty pockets of weights before stepping on the scales.

Gastric bypass surgery or other surgical means of losing weight are prohibited during the contest. And yeah, not that one of entering when you’re nine months pregnant, either.

The rest of the weekly weigh-ins may also be done at Trumbull Family Fitness, Warren; Kent State University at Trumbull, Champion; the Wellness Center, Niles; and St. Elizabeth Diagnostic Center, Austintown.

Weekly team results will be published on Tuesdays.

WHEN TO CHEAT

Manipulating your weight other than by reasonable and healthy habits is prohibited.

However, sending doughnuts and pizza to competitors is perfectly legal. Issuing challenges to rivals is encouraged. Silliness is welcome.

We want to lose weight for serious reasons — lowering blood pressure, quashing diabetes, lessening the risks of strokes, joint issues and cancer, as well as helping fantastic service organizations — but the scales aren’t the only thing we want to keep light.

“As always, we hope to help our readers kick-start healthier habits in the new year with fun, motivation and group support along with having a chance to help the charity of their choice,” Tribune Chronicle general manager Ted Snyder said.

Just let us know when you’re pulling (gentle) dirty tricks so we can take pictures. Fun with fitness needs to be shared.

bcole@tribtoday.com

xxxxx

Sponsors welcome

Encourage others in their health journeys by becoming a Fitness Challenge sponsor. If you would like to donate cash or other prizes, or add support in any other way, contact Tribune Chronicle community events coordinator Sue Shafer at 330-841-1696 or at sshafer@tribtoday.com.

All cash donated to the prize kitty will be awarded to charities designated by Fitness Challenge teams.

xxxxx

The rules

• Teams of five people must register by Friday in one of two divisions — Dynamo if three or more members finished in a top five team in the last five years; Go-Getters if not.

• Registration fee is $250 a team, with a $50 nonrefundable deposit due at registration and the balance due by mid-February.

• At least $225 will be donated to each team’s designated nonprofit service organization. The five teams in each of two divisions that lose the greatest percentage of weight win additional prize money for their charities. Bonuses of $10 are awarded to the team with the best weekly performance.

• Registration forms will appear in the Tribune Chronicle through Friday. For information, contact newspaper community events coordinator Sue Shafer at 330-841-1696 or email sshafer@tribtoday.com or follow the Tribune Chronicle Fitness Challenge on Facebook.

• Initial weigh-in is Jan. 17 and weigh-ins continues weekly through March 14. The first and final weigh-ins MUST be done at at St. Joe’s at the Mall, Niles. Other weekly weigh-ins may be made at Trumbull Family Fitness, Warren; Kent State University at Trumbull, Champion; the Wellness Center, Niles; and St. Elizabeth Diagnostic Center, Austintown.

• Initial weigh-ins must be done with shoes and coats off and pockets emptied of weights. Gastric bypass surgery or other surgical means of losing weight are prohibited during the contest.

• The Tribune Chronicle will publish weekly updates every Tuesday of the competition. Only team weights — not individual weights — will be posted in the weekly standings.