TOPS group begins new year
The TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) Club will begin the new year with a meeting at 6:15 p.m. Monday in St. Luke Clinic basement.
The club plans to begin the new year with new challenges, information, and incentives to help members achieve success with weight loss.
Anyone with a desire to lose weight is encouraged to attend a meeting.
Mary Olson's story
A new year brings the #1 resolution — lose weight!. You might say, "Yeah, right!"
That's what I said in January 2000. But something was different. I had dropped 20 pounds since August 1998, and was down to 180 pounds. So I began 2000 with the resolve to maintain that weight. Knowing I had lost and found myself several times during my lifetime, I decided I had to find a way to keep the weight off. But how? That was the question.
I admit I had another motivation. I had made the mistake of telling Dr. Don Hodson that I was probably going to have to come see him because cholesterol had tested over 300.
Of course, I didn't seem to find the time to go. But Dr. Hodson found a way for me to make time. He lured me into the office by not renewing a prescription I had taken longer than he was old!
I made an appointment.
After a short discussion about the prescription he hadn't renewed, he decided to have me try niacin to bring the cholesterol count down. I told him I got an upset stomach taking vitamins. He shrugged his shoulders, turned away, and said, "Oh, it will only give you a little hot flash."
Hot flash! I thought I was going to go off like a Roman candle! So after having this experience for awhile, he switched me to cholesterol medication. That proved to be a failure as well. The muscles in my legs began to ache. I tried another medication with the same results.
Returning to Hodson's office, I announced I was not going to be taking any medicine anymore. He proceeded to tell me I was probably not going to die of a cholesterol problem, anyway. (Just what I wanted to hear after six months of various remedies.)
During that time, however, I began to exercise, cut out my Saturday night hamburgers and figured out a few other ways to cut fat from my diet. My cholesterol count came down and so did my weight.
How was I going to keep from gaining the weight I had lost? I joined the local TOPS chapter in January 2000.
I thought since TOPS members routinely lose 10, 20, 30, 50, or even 100 pounds to reach their goal weight, they're probably tight-lipped, grim-faced devotees of denial, right? Wrong!
The key ingredient of TOPS members' success is fun! We genuinely have fun in our chapter. The losing comes easier when you're sharing a laugh and cheering each other on. After all, to lose weight sensibly, and keep it off, you've got to stay with it for the long haul. And when you enjoy the process of sensible eating and exercise, you'll never feel deprived.
I have now lost 75 pounds and have maintained my goal weight for six and one-half years. I could not have had this success without the support of my fellow TOPS Club members.
If you're looking for a way to lose weight, come see what TOPS is all about at 6:15 p.m. Monday, or call me at 620-382-3843. I'll be glad to teach you more about TOPS.
