Set realistic goals, says Fit First trainer

Kent Brown finds himself in a new fight.

Instead of duking it out with others, Brown, a former Canadian boxing champion, is helping others in their battle to lose weight.

He’s the fitness trainer on Fit First, a popular documentary series that follows four Aboriginal women in their quest to shed pounds and become healthy.
Fit First is in its second season and broadcast on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN).

Brown, a 40-year-old who is from the Fisher River Cree Nation located in Manitoba, is thrilled to be involved with the television program.

“I’ve always wanted to do something like this,” said Brown, adding he is friends with the show’s host and producer Stephanie Scott. “I’ve known (Scott) for a few years and I was bouncing stuff off of her for at least five- six- months (before the first season).”

Brown, who recently opened the Winnipeg Elite Boxing and MMA Academy, said there is no acting involved with his role on the show.

“You get the real me,” he said.

The participants in the show’s second season range in age from 23 to 63. And their weight ranges from 185 pounds to 280.

The oldest competitor is 63-year-old Geri Von Ramin, a great-grandmother who weighs 185. She does feel unhealthy but is not looking to lose a set number of pounds.

Brown said show organizers were looking to find participants at various stages in their lives.

“That’s the whole point, that they can do it,” Brown said of the show’s contestants.

The other competitors this season are Krystal Beel, Elizabeth Denny and Michele Henry.

Beel, a 23-year-old, began the season weighing 280 pounds. Denny, who is 38, was 270 pounds. And Henry, 45, was 211 pounds.

Fit First follows the lives of the participants over a period of six months. All four women share the same goal of changing their lifestyles.

Besides working with Brown, the competitors also benefit from the advice of a nutritional expert.

Brown though is hoping to help more people than just the four participants on Fit First. He’s hoping Aboriginal people across the country are inspired by the program and decide to take action themselves.

“I want our people to get back to our active society and doing things like living off the land,” he said.

Brown also said he gets upset when he hears about health issues Aboriginal people have, including the high number of those who have diabetes.

“That’s not us,” he said. “We need to get a healthier nation.”

Fit First is receiving some rave reviews.

“It says a lot when we’re running 8 p.m. on Tuesday night,” he said.

The first episode of Season Two aired Jan. 24. The second season consists of six half-hour episodes.

“We’re hoping for a third season,” said Brown, a past president of the Manitoba Amateur Boxing Association.
Other TV shows, most notably Biggest Loser, have a similar plot, following contestants in their quest to lose weight.

“I think ours is being more realistic and not putting unrealistic goals on these people,” he said. “The idea is you don’t have to lose 300 pounds to get healthy.”

As for his boxing career, Brown took up the sport in his teenage years. He had more than 120 bouts during his career and won 105 of them.

Brown was the Canadian lightweight champion in 1999 and 2000. And he won a bout at an Olympic qualifying tournament in Mexico, which gave him the right to compete at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in Australia.

But a day after his victory, Brown’s victory was reversed as judges said there had been a scoring snafu. As a result, Brown did not get to compete in the Olympics.
“It was horrible,” he said of the incident. “It left a bad taste.”

Brown did manage a career highlight a couple of years later. He won a gold medal at the 2002 North American Indigenous Games staged in Winnipeg.

Though he still steps into the ring to spar, Brown has not had a fight since 2004. But he said he is not retired.

He’s contemplating whether to enter the Ringside Boxing Tournament, an annual world championship that features boxers age 35 and over.

The 2012 tournament will be held in August in the Kansas City located in Missouri.

Brown has yet to compete in the Ringside Boxing Tournament.

“I might get to it this year,” he said.