TOLEDO, Ohio — Our Super Fitness Weight Loss Challengers are about a month away from crowning their champion, and our host Kelly Heidbreder says these challengers are very involved in each event.
She introduces us to one challenger that just wants to inspire others.
“Losing pounds isn’t always the goal for our weight loss challengers," Josh Caraballo said. "Sometimes a healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body."
And that is what pushes Caraballo.
“I had so much anxiety signing up," he said. "I knew I wanted to do it, but my mind was playing games when I was trying to sign up. I'm like 'No, no, no, just don't sign up.' I was sort of in just a dark place mentally. So I figured I just wanted to make a change. I needed to make a change. So I wanted to just do this and see where it took me.”
And he walked into the Super Fitness Weight Loss Challenge. The scale says he’s lost about 18 pounds, but in his mind, he feels like he’s lifted much more off of his shoulders.
“It's really shown me what the power of the mind can do," Caraballo said. "If you really believe in something, you can really get it because the mind is so powerful. When I first started, I never imagined I'd be doing things like this."
It is his first season in the Super Fitness Weight Loss Challenge and he is a shining star, according to Amy Hemelgarn-Mauder.
“I barely could even do a mile on elliptical, so it's been a very humbling experience," he said. "All my frustration, sadness, anger, just all the negative emotions I channel is fuel and I just push. And even when I'm scared or I can't, I just keep going, keep going, keep going and just push."
At 27 years old, Josh wanted to make a major life shift. And he knew the challenge would get him on the right path.
“You can just be lazy and just don't push yourself," Caraballo said. "So what I say is just take the leap of faith. I've grown so much. I've experienced so much richness and happiness. So if you're thinking about doing it, just take it from me. Someone that could barely even do a mile. And I was doing just crazy things. Just do it. You won't regret it."
Trainers say he comes to each workout and each challenge ready to go. This healthy mental attitude has pushed him into the top five for three of the monthly events and he was the winner of the University of Toledo Football Challenge.
“My goal always obviously was to try to win," he said. "But more importantly, I think the goal I wanted to do was just try to inspire at least one person that sees this - they were feeling like I was - depressed, anxious, not happy with their physical appearance - just life was passing them by...if I inspire just one person [then it was worth it]."
The challenger's final event is at Fifth Third Field with the Mud Hens on May 6.
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