Losing with “Operation Muffin Top”

Michael Carozza does things a little differently at . Not many small gyms boast monkey bars along the ceiling, use giant tires and sledgehammers for workouts, and engage the community in fierce competitions — and nowhere else has clients with codenames including Miller Not So Light, Lady Gaga, Cankles, and Gonzo meeting for weekly boot camp classes and competing in a weight loss challenge

Operation Muffin Top, a concept inspired by a group of women complaining about the dreaded muffin top at the gym, is a weight loss competition that puts its participants through an eight-week fitness and diet makeover. Carozza Fitness runs four competitions each year and so far, participants have lost over 2,000 pounds.

The last Operation Muffin Top competition had 61 participants and Gonzo walked away with the $5,000 prize for losing 13.42% of her starting weight. In the eight weeks, 26 of the participants lost over 20 pounds and two lost over 30.

“We’re taking people who don’t work out and don’t each properly and we’re completely changing that,” Carozza told Patch. “Seven or eight people have come off the meds that they’d been on for awhile [due to their weight loss].”

Participants work out for at least thirty minutes every day, participate in group boot camp classes, and follow the Paleo Diet — focusing on lean meats and fruits and vegetables and banning processed foods, preservatives, and alcohol.

Participants also benefit from the expertise of Suzanne Palazzo, Carozza Fitness’s nutrition counselor, and half-priced sessions with both Palazzo and a team of personal trainers.

“They receive templates of a dozen or so workouts that they can do at home, a lot of the people on the bigger side like to be able to work out without going to the gym,” Carozza said.

Participants come by the gym to weigh-in each weekend and Carozza sends out a spreadsheet early in the week listing everyone's codenames and progress. Trainers send out their weekly availability and the weekly "offenders" and "rockstars" are identified based on everyone's progress and dedication.

While working at and going to school for physical therapy, Carozza decided to change directions and become a trainer. He has been a trainer in Stamford for 11 years now and owned his own gym for the past three. Carozza Fitness has been in its new location for only a couple weeks.

The next Operation Muffin Top competition starts on April 30. A $300 registration fee includes a diet plan, fitness plans, half-price personal training and nutrition consultations, six group classes at Carozza Fitness, and of course, a shot at walking away with the prize.  The first place prize is currently set at $3,500.

“In the future if I got over 100 people to sign up, I’d make it a $10,000 prize,” Carozza said.

Visit the Carozza Fitness website and Facebook page for more information about Operation Muffin Top and to find out how to register for the upcoming competition.