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IVINS -- A resort in southern Utah is getting national attention for being very tough on its customers, but that's what they sign up for. If you've watched NBC's "Biggest Loser" you know what we're talking about: pushing people hard to change their lives.
If you've felt the pain of watching people trying to lose weight on the TV show, there's real agony for you near St. George. The resort at Fitness Ridge in Ivins was years ahead of the show. Now, with a new name, they're the exclusive "Biggest Loser" resort.
If you think it looks like a summer camp, you'd better think again. And although the food looks great, the experience is certainly no picnic. It's a weight-loss resort. Visitors exercise for 7 hours a day.
Fitness trainer John Yohman said, "Our guests are on a 1,200 calorie a day diet."
Customers pay up to $1,900 a week for what the folks like to call "a compassionate boot camp." There are no fad diets there or quick weight-loss gimmicks -- just a tough re-education about exercise and nutrition.
Aerobic director Sharon Read said, "Some of them have never worked out before."
"It's all basic science: calories in, calories out," Yohman said.
As brutal as it may seem, 50 percent of the clients are repeat customers, back for another dose.
Arline Wilson of Charlotte, NC, said, "I'm a repeat offender; this is my fifth trip."
Helene Hadfield of Houston, Texas, said, "It's my second time here. I'm here for four weeks. It is, I mean, I'm losing, losing, losing."
Which brings us to a certain TV show, NBC's "The Biggest Loser."
Resort co-owner Cameron Kelsch said, "The funny thing was, when we saw the show, we'd already been running for a few years. And we thought, they've really, they took the concept of what we're doing and made it into a show."
They approached the show's producers, and now they are full-fledged marketing partners. Fitness Ridge is now officially renamed "The Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge." The gift shop is crammed with Biggest Loser merchandise. The resort and the show are cross-promoting each other, including a visit to the Utah resort by popular Biggest Loser contestant, Tara Costa.
"Absolutely beautiful. And I got a major workout in, and my quads are hurting today, and it feels good," she told KSL.
The resort staff hopes audiences will see the show and realize they can get a similar experience in Utah.
"And they're seeing these people literally transform their lives. And people see this and think, ‘Wow! Maybe I can do that," Yohman said.
And believe it or not, there are some people who just plain like it.
"I'm just gonna keep coming back. This is my runaway, my mommy runaway spot," Wilson said.
For whatever reason, about 80 percent of the resort customers are women.
There's a chance future segments of the TV show will be filmed at the resort. The Utah owners hope all the attention helps them expand, possibly nationwide.
E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com
