Article on Fitness Challeng-Long But Inspiring:

I am posting this really to em[phasize that what we are doing now never
ends if we want to meaintain weight loss and fitness. Skip it if you
are not into reality or long articles.

Carol
*******

How did Toronto Star fitness challengers do?
Stronger muscles and cardio capacity were only part of the
transformation
The real challenge was to stay positive and active after Star support
ended.

by
JUDY STEED
(editied a little for brevity)

The 2004 Get Healthy Challenge ended on June 25, we promised to to tell
you how our 14 Challengers have done.

Would they regain the lost weight? Let those new-found muscles melt
back into flab?

They'd checked in every week for four months as they worked out with
personal trainers, starting in March.

Selected from among thousands of applicants, our chosen 14 persuaded us
of the depth of their commitment.

Good health, we agreed, is not given to us by the health care system.
Transformation, we discovered, was the common theme that bound the
group. Developing muscle, cardio capacity and flexibility ‹ and
reducing the amount of fat they carried ‹ provided benefits far beyond
physical improvement.

So, how have they done?

You might be surprised.

Stress is a huge factor in outcomes. Among our Challengers, those who
perceived overwhelming levels of stress tended to drop their healthy
routines precisely when they needed them most.

Our Air Canada flight attendant single mom, had a stressful summer and
fall, as we'll see. She didn't exercise ‹ couldn't, post-surgery ‹ and
started smoking again (for a short time, to cope with stress). She fell
back into bad eating habits and gained weight. She started drinking
copious amounts of coffee (to reduce stress), and when I called in
early December, she was having trouble sleeping at night.

"I wake up exhausted," she said. How much caffeine was she consuming
every day? "Maybe six cups, my last one late in the day." Hmmm. How
about cutting out caffeine for a week and exercising again?

I said I'd check back in a week. In the meantime, father-daughter combo
Sara 21, and dad Darryle, 50, a corporate CEO, had conflicting
reports. It was Sara who'd e- mailed us initially, eager to prevent her
"Buddha" dad ‹ whose weight had hit 300 pounds ‹ from having another
heart attack.

Darryle became one of the stars of the Challenge: at the end, he was
down to 230 pounds and was exercising like mad.

Don't get me wrong. Darryle's not perfect. He probably smokes too many
cigars (having given up cigarettes) and perhaps drinks too much wine on
occasion, but he's lost another five pounds, he's eating well, and
enjoying life.

Recently divorced, he says he's "in love. She's young ‹ 32 ‹ she has
two kids and she's like me: outgoing, keeps in shape, runs 15 miles a
week. Fitness is a common interest."

Darryle's eating habits have improved. "I don't binge anymore. I eat a
lot of salad, drink a lot of water. No more fries. For dinner last
night, I had steak with salad and a piece of whole wheat bread."

Workaholic that he is, Darryle is reorganizing his business. "I'm
travelling a lot, I've acquired another company, and it's hard to get
to the gym, but I manage once or twice a week."

If the cup runneth over for Darryle, it was running a little ragged for
Sara. "The Challenge didn't really start till the post-Challenge," she
says. "When you've got to do it by yourself, it's hard." She stopped
exercising ‹ although she has an elliptical trainer at home ‹ and put
on 10 pounds. "I feel crappy not working out. The muscle has turned
back to flab."

She says she's "stressed out" by difficult choices about life, work,
education. Feeling "out of control," she's lived out of control,
overeating as she juggled overloaded credit cards. "Compulsive eating
and time management are big issues for me."

"What stuck with me from the Challenge is that I have to plan my day,
not let myself get overwhelmed ‹ when I do, I freak out and I overeat."

After our checkup, Sara got back on the elliptical trainer and started
shopping for healthier food ‹ chopping up vegetables for work, eating
hummus and fat-free yogurt.

Why did she stop looking after herself? "I got lazy. I like to sleep
in, which meant I didn't have time to get on the elliptical (trainer)
in the morning or prepare healthy food."

Being too busy is an issue for Harry, too.

Harry and Natasha? Our engaged couple got married in a splendid Hindu
ceremony complete with flowing chocolate fountain. That, and non-stop
pre-wedding, post-wedding feasts derailed Harry 's good intentions. He
gained 10 pounds during the Challenge ‹ "muscle weighs more than fat"
was his mantra ‹ and he continues to struggle.

Natasha was dedicated to leading a more active life ‹ and true to her
word, she runs up and down stairs in their condo building and uses its
gym. She joined a weight loss group run by her physician. Smart woman.
She's lost five more pounds.

"I told my doctor that I was coming off the Challenge and wanted to
keep the energy going," Natasha says.

She's apologetic on behalf of Harry, who did not return my calls. "He's
been travelling for work," she says, "and he's having a hard time
getting to the gym." He's eating out with clients, and we all know what
that means.

Rosa, 20, also lost momentum.She's gained back the five pounds she lost
and her pants are getting tighter.

Although Rosa and her workout buddy, promised to keep exercising and
eating balanced meals, it's hard for students caught up in a university
culture of fast food and little physical exertion.

Rosa says it's "not possible to buy healthy food on campus. When I'm
with my friends, they eat pizza every day.

Why not make a healthy lunch at home and take it to school? "I don't
want to get up early to make lunch."

Yet Rosa, recently bought an exercise bicycle and set it up in the
living room. When her parents objected, Rosa explained that, "Instead
of lying on the couch, I'll get on the bike to watch the news."

During the Challenge, Wanda lost almost 18 pounds and regained
considerable strength and mobility, despite arthritis (for which she
took Vioxx). Since Vioxx was withdrawn due to negative side effects in
some people, she's been in pain.

Arthritis is exacerbated by weight gain and lack of exercise, so
Wanda's hopeful that as a new drug kicks in, she'll get back to walking
and working out.

Wanda's workout partner, Bruna, 39, hasn't stopped.

"I've kept the weight off and I joined a women-only gym near home,"
Bruna says. "I go with a neighbour three times a week."

A former Coke-aholic, Bruna and a friend both quit drinking cola. "We
went through withdrawal ‹ and I don't want to go back there."

Over the summer, Bruna participated in a 60 km walkathon fundraiser for
breast cancer. "I raised $5,800," Bruna says. "My feet were killing me
but I felt good ‹ you've got to give back to the universe."

She feeds her children differently: whole wheat bread and pasta, apples
and cheese after school instead of cookies. "We try a new vegetable
every night."

The challenge gave me a wonderful experience. I've been blessed by the
knowledge I've gained. It's such a gift ‹ to be a good example to my
children. I don't want them to go out into the world with bad habits
they got from me."

Barbara, 71, our retired grandmother of six, is glowing with good
habits. She joined the gym after the Challenge and goes three times a
week. "I know how to do weights and use the exercise machines ‹ thanks
to our personal trainer ‹ so I can do a pretty good workout on my own."

At the gym, she's inspired by "a couple of ladies who are older than
me. A lot of people feel, when they hit 60, that they're too old to
work out. Not true!

"The Challenge has given me the energy and mobility that was slipping
away from me. I could be stuck in a chair, watching TV. I'm so grateful
I escaped. It's a lot more fun this way."

What does she want for Christmas? "A stability ball."

Barb's workout partner, Kim, 47, a nurse who contracted SARS on the
job, is thriving. The Challenge helped build her strength and then, in
July, "Worker's Compensation arranged for us to get assessed at a rehab
Centre. I had to go three times a week; they took me out of work
completely. The treadmill is the main thing that's helped my breathing
‹ 36 minutes a session, intensifying the speed at intervals. And we do
a variety of upper body strengthening exercises."

She's done six months in rehab therapy; she's also working out at the
local community centre with her husband and has lost an additional five
pounds. She returns to work in January.

"I don't know if the tiredness caused by SARS will ever completely go
away, but I'm hopeful. My pulmonary function is up 27 per cent ‹ that's
a significant improvement. The muscles around and of the lungs are
strengthening."

Kim's last word is that, "the Challenge set me on the path again."

Ditto for our two male buddies, Toronto Police detective Michael and
Peter, a high school teacher.

During the summer, Michael stopped going to the gym. "I wasn't as
careful about my eating, I lapsed back into junk food and my weight
crept back up from 190 to 200 pounds."

In September, Michael joined GoodLife. "It's taken three months to get
my strength back to where it was when the Challenge ended." He's using
his knowledge of weights and exercise machines learned from trainer
Colin Duncan, and he's back to doing an hour on the elliptical trainer
to burn calories

Michael's major problem is dealing with night shifts.

"You wonder why police officers have a 50 per cent divorce rate?" says
wife Joan. "It's the impact of shift work on them and their families.
Try not sleeping for a week and see what it does to you." Joan and
Michael are determined to make it.

Michael's workout buddy, Peter, left a message on my voice mail: "I had
an MRI on my neck, my back and knee are killing me, but I'm doing
great. I'm running the strength and conditioning program at school, I'm
coaching volleyball and taking my own kids to self-defence classes ‹
they always want to try out their moves on me. I'm walking the dog and
chasing my wife around the house."

When I finally I caught up to Peter at Silverthorn Collegiate ‹ "an
inspirational place to teach, with a great program for high performance
student athletes" ‹ he was still amazed by the response he's received
to the Challenge. Wearing his name tag at a recent parents' night, he
was approached by a woman he didn't know. "Congratulations," she said.
"I followed your progress in the Star and really enjoyed it."

Peter's take on the series' popularity is that "it lifts you up and
gives you hope, in a world in which we're inundated with so much
negativity and war, guns and drugs and killings."

The former pro volleyball player has decided to de-stress, permanently.
"I used to worry about all the things I couldn't get done in a day.
Now, I realize I can do only so much and the rest can wait till
tomorrow.

"The Challenge reminded me of the value of fitness ‹ not to stop. It's
so easy to stop. We have to recognize what the extra weight does to our
bodies, our poor old hearts."

Weight remains an issue for Barbara Macleod and Vanessa Carey, our
hardworking moms. Vanessa, teacher and mother of three, was one of the
most successful Challengers: she lost 20 pounds and got down to 178;
she wants to go further.

"I've just turned 40 and I don't feel fit, I feel fat at 40. But I
haven't given up."

For all the parents in our Challenge, one of the toughest issues is
managing children's activities and finding time for oneself.

When school began in September, Vanessa and two workout buddies aimed
to hit the gym twice a week, with Vanessa doing a third session on the
weekend.

"I've gained back five pounds because I haven't been exercising as
intensely as I was during the Challenge," she says, "but it's the usual
struggle, putting work/kids/other people first."

Exhaustion after surgery in July slowed down Barbara Macleod, 45. She'd
lived in fear of cancer for months ‹ but emerged with a clean bill of
health. Then the stress took over.

She wrote in a long, eloquent e-mail that said it all:

"Hi Judy, I just wanted to give you an idea of the stress I have been
under."

She listed items from #1 to #25, starting with the 9/11 terrorist
attacks on Manhattan's Twin Towers, where Air Canada flight attendants
used to stay in the Marriott Hotel that linked the towers.

Then Air Canada declared bankruptcy, Barb's shares in the company
collapsed, she had trouble selling her house (having already bought a
new one), her father got sick, her dentist was murdered, her
sister-in-law's kidneys failed, a close friend died of cancer, flight
attendants were forced to take a 10 per cent pay cut, she struggled to
pay her bills and keep her sons in hockey, and more.

"Last but not least, I put too much pressure on myself to lose weight
when I had too much on my plate. I could not give the Challenge the
commitment it deserved because I was not ready. Losing weight is like
losing a callous. Every layer lost makes you softer and I was afraid of
what was there, of exposing myself.

"Being fat was my protection. I've been slim and I know how people
treat you differently. As a single mom, I didn't want to be out there.
My weight made me feel safe. I blamed all the problems in my life on my
weight instead of myself. I have been truly overwhelmed trying to do it
all ... I am not the super being I thought I was ... I did use food to
soften the blows, but I don't need that crutch anymore.

"Stress takes a toll on your whole being. But many of these problems
have been rectified and I now feel a load lifted off my shoulders. I am
better able to control my destiny."

"I hope next year I will be at a comfortable weight and a more serene
lifestyle.

"I deserve to have a good life."

Amen.

By the way, Barb rejoined the gym, she's working out again, sleeping
through the night, and she's redecorated her house. "Now I can start
living again."