THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 19, 1995 TAG: 9511210487
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: FITNESS QUEST
The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star asked for volunteers to join a
six-month weight-loss and fitness program.
SOURCE: BY DEBRA GORDON AND DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
HAVING hundreds of thousands of people read about his quest to lose weight and improve his health wasn't enough for Reginald Towns.
Four months into The Virginian-Pilot's Fitness Quest, he had only lost one pound and his measurements had barely changed.
But spending the night in a hospital with chest pains and sky-high blood pressure might just do the trick.
It happened to Towns earlier this month.
``I'm scared,'' admitted the 33-year-old Norfolk man a few days after he was released from the hospital. ``I should have adhered to what you all were telling me since July.''
He had increased his exercise, as instructed by David P. Swain, director of Old Dominion University's Wellness Institute and our Fitness Quest coach. But he hadn't made the drastic changes in his high-fat diet and high-stress life necessary to avoid this month's scare.
He will now. ``I have to stick to a strict diet,'' he said. ``It's kind of bland. No fatty foods. No fried foods. I guess you have to slap me in the face before I wake up.''
So maybe during December's weigh-in his weight will have dropped. This month, it was a pound higher than October's - 250 1/2.
The next six weeks will be the most challenging for our Fitness Quest participants. It's holiday season - which means cookies, candy and high-fat foods like butter-rich mashed potatoes and glistening gravy. It means cocktail parties and mulled wine and eggnog.
It means weight gain.
``It's going to be tough,'' admitted Fitness Quest participant Carolyn Sawyer. ``I'm going to have to start planning a strategy and saying, OK, if there are cookies and snacks, maybe one. Or try to have alternatives.''
Sawyer, who lost half a pound since last month's weigh-in, has gone through the holidays once before without indulging. Two years ago, when her weight was so high she couldn't fit into her clothes, she spent two weeks during the Christmas season sweet-free - even though she continued her regular holiday baking.
Dawne Brooks, our third Fitness Quest participant, isn't too concerned about the holidays. ``I never really thought of the holidays and eating as a big deal. I never ate more during the holidays than at any other time.''
In the meantime, she's doing great.
She's doubled her exercise regimen, spending nearly two hours a day walking or doing water aerobics.
She's at the lowest weight she's been in seven years, she said, has lost half a shoe size, is wearing a size-18 dress (``I have no clothes that fit,'' she moaned.) and has moved her car seat up closer to the steering wheel.
Can she maintain her regimen when the newspaper coverage ends in January?
``That kind of concerns me,'' she admitted. ``There's a lot of motivation when you know hundreds of thousands of people know what you're doing.''
Brooks has her own personal goal - she wants to be under 200 pounds by the first of the year. Swain warned against such a drastic weight loss, however. He praised Brooks for the 29 pounds she's already lost, and advised her to continue losing at the slow, steady rate she's maintained the past four months.
Doing otherwise, he said, she runs the risk of burnout or injury. Or, as the date gets closer and she hasn't met the goal, she may start starving herself. ``Rapid weight loss by fasting usually results in the person eventually gaining the weight back,'' he said. ``She should be very glad she's doing what she needs to and continue on that path, rather than worrying about this artificial goal for the new year.''
Brooks is a perfect example of how a combination of healthful eating and exercise can work, Swain said.
Whereas Towns, although he's increased his exercise, hasn't changed his eating habits. And Sawyer, while she's modified her eating habits, hasn't increased her exercise enough.
``It's a very nice comparison to show that if you do both (exercise and eat right) you might lose some weight,''said Swain. ``Do only one or the other and you might not.'' ILLUSTRATION: TAMARA VONINSKI color photos/The Virginian-Pilot
ABOVE: Carolyn Sawyer lost half a pound since last month's
weigh-in.
LEFT: Reginald Towns lost a pound - and endured a bout of high blood
pressure.
LEFT: Through diet and exercise, Dawne Brooks reached her lowest
weight in seven years.
Graphic
WELLNESS INSTITUTE
Old Dominion University's Wellness Institute and Research Center
is an outreach program whose mission is to enhance the community's
health and well-being through education, service and research.
The Institute offers a variety of programs, including fitness
assessments, body composition assessments (in which a person's
percentage of body fat is measured) and weight-loss programs. Fees
are charged. For more information, contact the Center at 683-3454.
by CNB