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Wendy Vranjes didn’t want to know her weight. She stepped on the scale and asked that the number not be revealed to her. Vranjes doesn’t even own a scale. “I just have to get healthy again,” she said. To do that, she’ll have to become a loser. A big loser. Vranjes is among the 76 people who recently registered for a 12-week weight-loss challenge in Franklin County that borrows its name from NBC’s popular reality show, “The Biggest Loser.”... Read more

Fifteen years ago, University of Vermont computer-science lecturer Robert Erickson hiked the 270-mile Long Trail end to end. He’s backpacked through Alaska, paddled much of Lake Champlain, and climbed to the summit of Camel’s Hump in the winter. Now that Erickson has two preschool-aged girls, however, he’s more likely to be found tramping the trails around his Essex home. And it’s more difficult than you might imagine.... Read more

In many ways Zachary Warshaw is like any other 17-year-old. He does impressions of his teachers, liberally sprinkles his speech with “like,” and gossips. A lot. But spend a little time with the South Burlington High School junior, and you soon discover that one thing moves faster than his mouth: his feet.... Read more

Never mind those doohickeys that allow you to read a magazine while running on a treadmill — pages and perspiration have never been particularly good companions. Still, 2007 witnessed the publication of a mountain of books dedicated to getting buff, biking, brain-training, baking treats for hungry skiers, and more. For the outdoors-oriented and fitness- or sports-obsessed recipients on your giving list, here are a few of the most intriguing reads.

Backcountry Magazine
(http://www.backcountrymagazine.com
888-424-5857)... Read more

Nobody, to my knowledge, has ever called me mami — “sexy” in Spanish slang. Salsa is something I buy at Shaw’s, not a dance I would perform in public. And my merengue has always been as stiff as, well, a meringue. But somehow, I find myself intrigued by Zumba, a Latin dance and fitness class that recently arrived in the Burlington area thanks to instructor Gen Burnell.... Read more

On a recent Saturday afternoon, Burberry-clad parents have descended on the Middlebury College campus, where the football team is spiraling toward a 22-30 loss to Williams. But just down the hill from Youngman Field, another set of Panthers is busy clobbering its opponents, on its way to a 58-3 victory.

“Touch, touch and pause, and . . . game!” yells the referee as he scrambles away from the rugby players representing Middlebury and St. Michael’s.... Read more

Forget business casual. Andrew Chmura’s office attire on a recent Wednesday afternoon is strictly Andre Agassi, circa 1989: orange Nike shirt, black shorts and matching Nike sneakers. An orange Head racquet rests on a chair near his desk in his home on Stowe’s South Main Street.... Read more

At the Catamount Outdoor Family Center one recent Sunday afternoon, a group of girls and women sit on a patch of jade-green grass and play a get-to-know-you game: “How many people have a pet?” and “Who likes potato chips?” are among the questions being lobbed around the circle. Then someone says, “OK, name your favorite singletrack.”... Read more

When I was pregnant with my daughter last year, I nearly burned my parents' house to the ground. I mistakenly lit the gas burner under an electric kettle for a cup of tea, then left the kitchen. I did other mindless things, too. I cut off a significant portion of my hair. I inhaled a Friendly's caramel cone sundae right before dinner. And I foolishly believed that my active life would return to normal once I had the baby.... Read more

Outside, rain drenches the town of Morrisville, running in rivers down streets as windshield wipers twitch in double time. But inside a caramel-colored building a mile or so from Main Street, it's toasty warm and dry. Men in aprons and shorts are literally whistling while they work. And why not? At lunchtime, they'll thumb their noses at the nasty weather and hop on one of the products they're making: a Concept2 indoor rower.... Read more