The members of FOOFFs (Fraternal Order of Fasting Fathers) at the final weigh-in of a biggest loser weight competition. Two local Catholic churches competed to see which team could lose the most weight. St. Raphael won the first round, and St. Mary’s won the second and overall pot. In a show of charity and sportsmanship, St. Mary’s split the winnings with St. Raphael and both teams donated the money to their church and schools. Center, from left, are Michael Rose of St. Raphael Parish and Victor Muzzatti of St. Mary’s Parish holding the championship belt. First row: Dave Desalle, Jose Carbonell, Mo Rowe, Tom Antonucci, Chuck Bartlett, Jeff Hannapel and Phil Aldridge. Second row: Mike Donahue, Bobby Maggio, Mark Hannan, Terry Kernan, Tim OConnor and Chris Rascher. Third row: James Conway, Kevin Rowe, Paul Lidberg, Bob Scanlon, Paul Wit and Tommy Sullivan. Not pictured: Ed Healy, JT Triandafilou and Bob Stephens, Michelle Aldridge
What started as a personal goal by one dad to get in shape became a friendly “biggest loser” battle between two local Catholic churches.
The group of dads joined together to become the Fraternal Order of Fasting Fathers or FOOFFs. The idea got started three years ago when Potomac resident Michael Rose attended a St. Raphael CYO basketball meeting.
“I was not feeling too good about where I let myself go. I saw my friend and doctor walk in the room looking just as robust as me. I started looking around the room and saw quite a few other friends and dads that could use a little bit of competition and help. I went up to my doctor after the meeting and asked him if he was interested in a weight loss competition. Before I got to the last word he said, ‘I'm in.’ All of the other 10 ‘apostles’ were easy pickings as well. I figured I wanted 12 apostles to be in the competition to reflect our religious theme. And I figured we needed to do a team concept so that people would stick to the program. It is easy to give up and let yourself down, but harder to let down others on your team. That first competition three years ago bred into this latest competition where we had 12 apostles from St. Raphael's challenge 12 apostles from St. Mary’s,” Rose said.
Captain of the St. Mary’s team, Victor Muzzatti, “was really excited to be a part of the competition between the two parishes, the concept is awesome. I wanted to be a part of the competition because I thought it would be a great way to lose weight and it is for a good cause. The feedback that I received from my team is that this competition jump started them to get off of the couch and start doing something to improve both their physique and their health and we all pretty much succeeded. With regard to my team, I actually had more than 12 that were interested in being a part of the competition and that caused me to have to pick and choose, we did include the ‘alternates’ in our back and forth banter.”
A friendly rivalry between St. Mary’s and St. Raphael’s parishes developed. “The thought of having two parishes involved in an ongoing competition is something that Victor and I have been dreaming up for the past couple years,” Rose said. “We have been trying to organize sporting events getting one parish against the other in order to meet more people and to incite camaraderie. This competition seemed like the best way to kick off our idea. The banter back-and-forth between the 24 fathers has been hilarious. We are all on one email chain and constantly are jawing back-and-forth to encourage each other or to just give people a laugh during the day. The best prank was a mountainous basket of Twinkies, Ho-Hos, MoonPies, Tastykakes etc. that was sent to me for my birthday by my good friends at St Mary's only days before the final weigh in.”
Dave DeSalle agreed: "I think it was great for fostering camaraderie among and between the St R's and St Mary's men.”
According to Rose, “As the competition went on, St. Raphael won the first round. And that caused the St. Mary's apostles to gather around and to really put it to us on the finals. St. Mary's won the second round and the overall competition so would have won the lion share of the $2,400 pot. But in the true act of sportsmanship and Catholic giving, the entire team elected to split the pot $1,200 per team. Both teams donated the money to their church and schools.”
The wives of all the FOOFFs are thrilled with the results as well. Tricia Rose said, ”My husband's commitment to the FOOFFs is a commitment to our family. The fact that he is taking steps to get healthier and to change his ways will only make him live longer and be more active so that my kids and I can have him for so many more years to come.”
Michael Rose agreed: “I know my wife is very proud of me and loves how I look and how I feel. And all of the other wives have come up to me personally thanking me forgetting their husbands involved. I think it is something that our children are learning a lot from as well as far as self-control, exercise, proper diet, commitment to yourself and your teammates.”
Lilly Muzzatti said, “I was pretty proud of Victor, considering the fact that we went on a spring break all inclusive vacation during the competition and stuck to his diet, which had to be tough as the girls and I enjoyed anything we wanted. He was thrilled to be able to fit back into his “skinny” clothes too (although I’m not planning on getting rid of the ‘bigger sized clothes’ just yet).”
As for Sue DeSalle, "I think Dave will keep the weight off if he stays away from potato chips and continues to abstain from late night eating — that made a big difference.”
Emily Hannapel thinks “it is a win-win-win competition where the men lose weight and get healthier, enjoy lighthearted jocularity, and this year raise money for their schools. It is always interesting to see the different weight loss tactics and results. Bragging rights are a big motivator for a lot of the guys, and they all are friends and have fun with the competition. Hopefully the guys will keep the weight off, or at least most of it. If not, they can always be a FOOFF again next time.”
Now that the dads have lost the weight, do they intend to keep it off for good or will it be hard to maintain the FOOFFs diet? “I think everyone is going to say that they intend to keep the weight off. But remember, this is the second competition that's a Raphael's has had to engage in over the last three years. Doing the competition over 3 1/2 months was the most grueling. It was not a get rich quick scheme. It was more intended to change your way of life. That translates into keeping a lot of the weight off in the first year. It's the second year that causes the trouble. We have all committed to a ‘where are they now’ competition for September. We want to make sure that we maintain our low levels. And if it takes more competition, so be it,” Michael Rose said.
Victor Muzzatti added, “I immediately put back on a few pounds but felt that I should try to make more of an effort to keep the weight off, especially since I feel so much healthier. It’s amazing how easy it is to put weight on and how difficult it is to take it off.”
As for the Biggest Loser of the competition, it was Tom Antonucci who lost almost 30 percent of his bodyweight and Paul Lidberg who lost almost 20 percent of his body weight. The rest of the weight-loss ranged from 5 percent to 17 percent of body weight.
Others who want to do something similar can call or email Mike Rose for advice at MPRose57@aol.com or 301-814-3200 for the rules and regulations as well as the spreadsheets that were used in order to have a competition.
“No sense in reinventing the wheel. I have a system that works, and would love to help change the lives of many others out there,” he said.