By NewsChannel 3 and azfamily.com staff

Registered Dietitian: Monika Woolsey

Monika Woosley

Monika M. Woolsey, MS, RD, President and Founder of After the Diet Network, is a registered dietitian and exercise physiologist with 22 years of experience in nutrition and exercise counseling. She received her bachelor's degree in Nutrition from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, and her master's degree in Kinesiology from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Monika has provided project development and counseling services to a variety of organizations, including Apple Computer, American Diabetes Association, IBM Corporation, Honeywell Corporation, Stanford University, Samaritan Regional Transplant Center, Arizona State University, HUGS International, Inc., Green Mountain at Fox Run, Human Kinetics Publishing, HealthSouth Rehabilitation Centers and Chicago Cubs.

Contact: (623) 486-0737 or P.O. Box 11985, Glendale, AZ 85318-1985

Personal Trainer: Bob Mathews

Bob Mathews

Meeting Bob Mathews is like coming face to face with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Maybe that's because he grew up with barbells in his hands during a childhood spent in the World Gym (Waikiki, Hawaii), where his dad was the owner, which meant training with The Terminator and other muscle men who made their way to the island.

Since then, the last 25 years of his life have been dedicated to personal fitness. He's been in body-building competitions, trained clients, maintained a steady interest in nutrition and clocked countless hours in the weight room.

Mathews is still going strong. Like Schwarzenegger, he has shifted interests. But Mathews isn't getting ready for a competition, he's not pursuing an acting career and, to his clients chagrin, he's not even personal training any more. He has, however, created the Perfect Body System.

The Perfect Body System is a program that combines sensible eating and a focused exercise regimen. And he practices what he preaches.

People keep telling Mathews he looks better than ever. Apparently, he's still evolving at 45 years of age. He's a solid 229 and 5 percent body fat, down from 251 pounds and 10 percent body fat a year ago.

Like a lot of people in the industry, he sprinkles his statements with fitness facts and news from the Department of Health and the USDA: You've got to choose change. Perfect Body System isn't a trend, he says. "It's not a fad. It's a life event. A life change."

Mathew's answer-ready-for-every-question approach is a combination of his years in the industry and his habit of researching and reading about nutrition. All of that has led him to the Perfect Body System, which he believes is a fundamental part of getting your body in balance. In the end, all that matters is if it really works.

Contact: (602) 266-2499 or www.PerfectBodySystem.com

Weight-loss contestant: Steve Bodas

Steve Bodas

Hi, my name is Steve Bodas and I am the Team #2 challenger on the Weight Loss Challenge. Over the past 10 years, I’ve gradually been gaining weight, and despite my efforts to avoid it (diet & exercise), I’ve had no success. Although on some level I was aware that this weight gain was bad for my health, I did not become concerned about it until about 4 years ago. What happened, you ask? I met my wife. I became fearful because I finally met the love of my life and I realized that my time with her could be cut short.

In 2002, as my wife and I were gathering photos from our pasts to be included in our wedding video, we came across photos of myself weighing 150 pounds less than I do now. My wife, who has never seen me looking any thinner than I am now, was amazed to see these photos of me and was really surprised to hear me say that it was only about 6 years earlier. It was then that it really hit home that I needed to make a change. If not for myself and my own health, then for my wife. As we’ve been married for a little over 2 years now, she and I would both like to have a long and happy life together. I’d like to do all that I can to ensure that we’ll see our 25th wedding anniversary together, if not our 50th anniversary.

To add to my struggle with weight loss, I was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor (non-cancerous) in November 2003. Fortunately, after about 9 months of medical treatment, the tumor itself is finally under control, but the inadvertent weight gain that was a “side effect” of the tumor is extremely difficult to shed. In addition to the weight gain, another problem arose. One that profoundly affects both my wife and I. This “problem” is infertility. We have been told that this infertility is just temporary and that it should resolve itself when I lose weight. I turned 40 this year and feel that my “biological clock is ticking.” I would like to be young enough and in enough good shape to keep up with and enjoy my child(ren)’s upbringing. To meet this goal, I sought the assistance of the Weight Loss Challenge staff to point me in the right direction so that I can finally win this battle of the bulge.

Over the years I have tried everything to shed weight (low-carb, no-carb, low-fat, low-cal, high-protein, high-fiber, liquid diets, etc.), but the pounds kept packing on. Despite all this, my weight has either remained unchanged or increased. As you might imagine, I became increasingly frustrated with my circumstances, yet I am renewed in my determination to at last lose the weight. Win or lose, I look to the Weight Loss Challenge to assist me as I get my life back. Please cheer for me and watch me lose the weight, get healthy and win.