Trying To Lose A Ton
In Dubuque, Iowa, as in most of the country, Americans are eating themselves to death. Sixty percent of the residents of Dubuque are either overweight or obese.
"If I could drop 40-50 pounds, I could bring down my blood sugar levels dramatically," says Dubuque resident John Marino, who is 85 pounds overweight and diabetic.
Many in Dubuque have tried dieting and failed. They know that losing weight is hard, lonely and tedious. What if dieting could be fun, something to do together with family and friends?
That's the idea behind a new program started by the city's Mercy Medical Center, called "Fight the Fat." Harold Dow reports.
Mercy Medical started the program because they have a large elderly population and Iowa gets one of the lowest Medicare re-imbursements only $3053(47th in the nation) compared to Florida $6937 (2nd in the nation). The program is a way to keep the hospital from going out business.
The 200 people who agreed to take part are divided into 20 teams of 10 people each. Each person is trying to lose 10 pounds.
The key to success is for each person to understand why he or she puts on weight and then make changes. To help them are nutrition experts
professional trainers, weekly weigh-ins and prizes.
48 Hours followed three teams as they fought the battle of the bulge.
Patty and Dean Millius are with the Mamas and Papas Team. Dean is an ad salesman and says he deals with stress by eating, especially chocolates. Patty, an elementary school music teacher, says her weight problem began in kindergarten.
"As a child," she says, "you come home from school, you have a snack. Well, I'm still coming home from school every day as an adult, and I am expecting a snack."
John Marino and his wife, Suzi, have gotten together with some friends to form the Less Is More team. John, who weighs 258 pounds, loves food - rich, high-calorie Italian food. Suzi weighs 158 pounds.
Ten nurses have teamed up to form the Shrinky Dinks. Their problem, they say, is they are too busy to exercise or eat right. Together, the nurses vow to lose 200 pounds in 10 weeks.
Since joining "Fight the Fat", shopping has become a whole different experience for the Millius's. Visiting a grocery store takes a lot longer, they say, because they stop to read labels and consider choices.
"You have to keep in mind what you are putting in your mouth," says Dean. Patti never like vegetables, but she has been eating a lot of them and it is paying off. In the first four weeks, they each lost nine pounds.
For John Marino and the Less is More team, eating vegetables is no problem. but over-eating is. "I used to eat until I was stuffed and be uncomfortable for hours," recalls John, who is learning that he still can eat the foods he loves but in smaller amounts. In the first four weeks, John and Suzi lost six pounds each.
In four weeks, the team of nurses lost 100 pounds – halfway to their goal. "The biggest adjustment we are all making," says one nurse, "is that we're exercising."
In Week 5, weight loss slowed. In Week 6, the whole group started gaining weight. But soon the losses resumed.
How did each team fare at the end of 10 weeks?
On the Mamas and Papas, Patty lost 15 pounds, five more than the goal, and Dean lost nine pounds, one short of the goal.
For Less Is More, John and Suzi each beat the goal, losing about 15 pounds each. And the Shrinky Dinks, who hoped to drop 200 pounds, actually lost 144 pounds.
After 10 weeks, the 200 people lost a total of 1,307 pounds. It wasn't the ton that they hoped to lose but it was a lot of weight.
What was important was not what they lost, but what they may have gained.
"I do not call it a diet," says Patty. "I call it a live-it because it's how I want to live the rest of my life."